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Search 69,459 Camino Questions

LIVE from the Camino Weather - Don't believe every thing you read...

dgallen

Member
Time of past OR future Camino
Camino Frances (6), Primitivo(3), Finisterre/Muxia (3), Aragones, Norte, Portuguese, Camino del Rey
Day 5 into the Camino from Pamplona. I arrived March 1st with a slight drizzle but since then all weather reports of rainy Armageddon on the Camino Frances (rain predicted every day) have been grossly exaggerated. I have not had to put on my poncho yet and most days either clear or broken clouds. So those anxiously checking all the weather reports... the best way to check the weather is to stick your head out the window, or in other words you have to be there.

For those starting Camino over the next week or so, some observations. Most of the camino water taps in towns have not been turned on and many bars and restaurants are still closed,so plan your water accordingly. Also the Albergue list posted in other threads is pretty accurate, so don't expect otherwise.

Jakue albergue in Puente la Reine has not opened the basement albergue, but if you go to the front desk and ask for an albergue bed they'll put you in a private room for 12 euro. I had a four bed private for the night. Another bonus of the "off season".

My secret hostel in Estella is still closed so I went to the old standby municipal, which to my delight have updated the bathrooms and showers. Unfortunately they no longer play Bob Marley to wake you up, "Don't worry about a thing..."

Tonight I'm staying in the outstanding Winederful Hostel in Logrono. Six months new, it is attached to a coffee bar in a renovated space 100 metres from the cathedral. It was beds with privacy curtains, bed linen, leather couches, immaculately clean, funky 80's music (think Elvis Costello or New Order)... great boutique vibe. World class hostel for 16 euro that includes breakfast. Best part is keyed access so you can stay out and partake in the best tapas and red wine in Spain. Can be booked via booking.com, and you are interested I'd book early because it won't stay a secret long.

Tapas tonight!!!!
 
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Down bag (90/10 duvet) of 700 fills with 180 g (6.34 ounces) of filling. Mummy-shaped structure, ideal when you are looking for lightness with great heating performance.

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Thank you for your live report on CF.
According to the accuweather Logrono Sunday 15c/5c cloudy, Monday 12c/3c light shower. Is the weather forecast accurate?

If it will be warmer than forecast, I will throw some clothes out of my backpack.
Will arrive at Pamplona on 3/25.

Thank you for your information.
Buen Camino!
 
I think that reports of severe rain and flooding relate to the Via de la Plata and Camino Mozárabe. Here in the south it has rained non-stop for a week and the forecast is for another week of the same.
 
Ideal sleeping bag liner whether we want to add a thermal plus to our bag, or if we want to use it alone to sleep in shelters or hostels. Thanks to its mummy shape, it adapts perfectly to our body.

€46,-
Yep, I've read here that they're getting rocked with rain on the VDLP. I was posting that for the past week the CF had rain predicted every day. Ive updated my Live from the Camino Frances post to only reflect my current experience on the CF. Right now in Logrono it is clear blue sky. But it can change on a dime... and tough to predict. Welcome to March.
 
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Yes, understand the unpredictable nature of weather.
Wish good weather will follow your steps.

Buen Camino!
 
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New Original Camino Gear Designed Especially with The Modern Peregrino In Mind!
The weather is really awful, but this is Camino. How could people of past thousend years ago manage these routes with the eqiipments of that time, if we don’t.”
 
Day 5 into the Camino from Pamplona. I arrived March 1st with a slight drizzle but since then all weather reports of rainy Armageddon on the Camino Frances (rain predicted every day) have been grossly exaggerated. I have not had to put on my poncho yet and most days either clear or broken clouds. So those anxiously checking all the weather reports... the best way to check the weather is to stick your head out the window, or in other words you have to be there.

For those starting Camino over the next week or so, some observations. Most of the camino water taps in towns have not been turned on and many bars and restaurants are still closed,so plan your water accordingly. Also the Albergue list posted in other threads is pretty accurate, so don't expect otherwise.

Jakue albergue in Puente la Reine has not opened the basement albergue, but if you go to the front desk and ask for an albergue bed they'll put you in a private room for 12 euro. I had a four bed private for the night. Another bonus of the "off season".

My secret hostel in Estella is still closed so I went to the old standby municipal, which to my delight have updated the bathrooms and showers. Unfortunately they no longer play Bob Marley to wake you up, "Don't worry about a thing..."

Tonight I'm staying in the outstanding Winederful Hostel in Logrono. Six months new, it is attached to a coffee bar in a renovated space 100 metres from the cathedral. It was beds with privacy curtains, bed linen, leather couches, immaculately clean, funky 80's music (think Elvis Costello or New Order)... great boutique vibe. World class hostel for 16 euro that includes breakfast. Best part is keyed access so you can stay out and partake in the best tapas and red wine in Spain. Can be booked via booking.com, and you are interested I'd book early because it won't stay a secret long.

Tapas tonight!!!!
Hi thanks for the information very handy as we are keeping and eye on the weather as we count down the days to our first Camino in 37 Hours 19 hours 35 minutes
 
Day 5 into the Camino from Pamplona. I arrived March 1st with a slight drizzle but since then all weather reports of rainy Armageddon on the Camino Frances (rain predicted every day) have been grossly exaggerated. I have not had to put on my poncho yet and most days either clear or broken clouds. So those anxiously checking all the weather reports... the best way to check the weather is to stick your head out the window, or in other words you have to be there.

For those starting Camino over the next week or so, some observations. Most of the camino water taps in towns have not been turned on and many bars and restaurants are still closed,so plan your water accordingly. Also the Albergue list posted in other threads is pretty accurate, so don't expect otherwise.

Jakue albergue in Puente la Reine has not opened the basement albergue, but if you go to the front desk and ask for an albergue bed they'll put you in a private room for 12 euro. I had a four bed private for the night. Another bonus of the "off season".

My secret hostel in Estella is still closed so I went to the old standby municipal, which to my delight have updated the bathrooms and showers. Unfortunately they no longer play Bob Marley to wake you up, "Don't worry about a thing..."

Tonight I'm staying in the outstanding Winederful Hostel in Logrono. Six months new, it is attached to a coffee bar in a renovated space 100 metres from the cathedral. It was beds with privacy curtains, bed linen, leather couches, immaculately clean, funky 80's music (think Elvis Costello or New Order)... great boutique vibe. World class hostel for 16 euro that includes breakfast. Best part is keyed access so you can stay out and partake in the best tapas and red wine in Spain. Can be booked via booking.com, and you are interested I'd book early because it won't stay a secret long.

Tapas tonight!!!!

Likewise I’m Day 7 today (my first rest day in Bilbao) on El Norte and until yesterday rain was predicted daily but we’ve had 12-18C and sun. I was happy to be between towns walking on sidewalks (vs muddy logging forest roads) when a 1 hour hard down pour came suddenly. I got to test my rain gear and was actually happily “singing in the rain”. Buen Camino !
 
The 2024 Camino guides will be coming out little by little. Here is a collection of the ones that are out so far.
The first edition came out in 2003 and has become the go-to-guide for many pilgrims over the years. It is shipping with a Pilgrim Passport (Credential) from the cathedral in Santiago de Compostela.
I'm at about the same latitude quite far easterly next to the Camino to Rome, and whilst we had a blizzard down here in the middle of the day last week (which I had *never* seen down here in 40 years), ultimately it just turned out to be a spell of extreme unseasonal weather in what has otherwise been a warm winter. FAR from the heaviest snowfall I've seen anyway, certainly nothing like the year my mum was able to do her food shopping on cross-country skis in Monte-Carlo two days in a row (happiest I think I ever saw her, barring the birth of my sister -- probably my only ever glimpse of her as she must have been as a girl) ...

Might be a rainy few months though, as both the Saharan and Siberian weather systems are strong over Europe this year. I'd guess a hot dry summer, if my guesses were worth anything, and probably not ; but the first hot Saharan winds here were in January, and a strong Siberian system in summer tends to keep the Gulf Stream northward.
 
Day 5 into the Camino from Pamplona. I arrived March 1st with a slight drizzle but since then all weather reports of rainy Armageddon on the Camino Frances (rain predicted every day) have been grossly exaggerated. I have not had to put on my poncho yet and most days either clear or broken clouds. So those anxiously checking all the weather reports... the best way to check the weather is to stick your head out the window, or in other words you have to be there.

For those starting Camino over the next week or so, some observations. Most of the camino water taps in towns have not been turned on and many bars and restaurants are still closed,so plan your water accordingly. Also the Albergue list posted in other threads is pretty accurate, so don't expect otherwise.

Jakue albergue in Puente la Reine has not opened the basement albergue, but if you go to the front desk and ask for an albergue bed they'll put you in a private room for 12 euro. I had a four bed private for the night. Another bonus of the "off season".

My secret hostel in Estella is still closed so I went to the old standby municipal, which to my delight have updated the bathrooms and showers. Unfortunately they no longer play Bob Marley to wake you up, "Don't worry about a thing..."

Tonight I'm staying in the outstanding Winederful Hostel in Logrono. Six months new, it is attached to a coffee bar in a renovated space 100 metres from the cathedral. It was beds with privacy curtains, bed linen, leather couches, immaculately clean, funky 80's music (think Elvis Costello or New Order)... great boutique vibe. World class hostel for 16 euro that includes breakfast. Best part is keyed access so you can stay out and partake in the best tapas and red wine in Spain. Can be booked via booking.com, and you are interested I'd book early because it won't stay a secret long.

Tapas tonight!!!!
Hi thanks for the information very handy as we are keeping and eye on the weather as we count down the days to our first Camino in 37 Hours 19 hours 35 minutes


Many thanks for your report.
I am starting from SJPdP on 19 March so your info was very helpful/
 
I never follow the weather report that much as it's an educated guess. When people ask me what I will do if it rains I simply tell them, "I'll get wet." But I will be thankful for good weather.
 
The one from Galicia (the round) and the one from Castilla & Leon. Individually numbered and made by the same people that make the ones you see on your walk.
Too good to last... the rains have come in the Burgos area. Yesterday was a steady light drizzle with a few bands of harder rain and this morning on and off showers but has cleared up tonight. Trails continue to be pretty good on the gravel infused or groomed areas with the usual puddles to navigate. As typical this type of year the harder rains occur overnight.
 
We are going for our fist camino on the 17th of March starting at SJDP we have plan only to take two changes of clothes a good jacket and a poncho will this be Ok for this time of the year with so much rain?
 
We are going for our fist camino on the 17th of March starting at SJDP we have plan only to take two changes of clothes a good jacket and a poncho will this be Ok for this time of the year with so much rain?

You should be good as long as the clothes are quick dry. I bring a pair of gortex rain pants too, to wear on rainy days (not over my zip off pants). Youll find regular pants get soaked where poncho ends and pants begin, and then water pours directly into ankles of shoes. I like my rain pants as they are really light, they breathe and i use them as lounging pants at night or when washing my clothes.

March can be wet, and if you get rain many days in a row, your clothes sometimes never quite dry. Also keep at least two shopping bags and use them over your socks but inside boots or shoes and tie them off at your shins for poor mans gaiters for rainy days... your boots or shoes may be wet inside but your socks stay dry. And dry socks are best protection against blisters!

Enjoy your first camino!
 
Technical backpack for day trips with backpack cover and internal compartment for the hydration bladder. Ideal daypack for excursions where we need a medium capacity backpack. The back with Air Flow System creates large air channels that will keep our back as cool as possible.

€83,-
You should be good as long as the clothes are quick dry. I bring a pair of gortex rain pants too, to wear on rainy days (not over my zip off pants). Youll find regular pants get soaked where poncho ends and pants begin, and then water pours directly into ankles of shoes. I like my rain pants as they are really light, they breathe and i use them as lounging pants at night or when washing my clothes.

Well, I walk in cotton, leather army boots, and my big black woollen pilgrim cape -- did so in fact yesterday in heavy rain.

"Quick dry" -- yeah, not exactly ... LOL

But it all dries anyway, even pilgrim passports soaked completely right through do as well BTW.

Water pouring "directly into ankles of shoes" ?? Not my experience. Ever. Not with hiking kit. Worst is boot leather being either pierced, or so saturated in heavy rainwater that it becomes porous -- but at that degree of things, no gortex will protect you ; holes in it will let water in just the same, and rainfall heavy enough to make army boots wet through and through won't protect your hi-tech feet from the wet.

(though the year I ended up having to walk 100s of K alternately barefoot or in cheap espadrilles was a standout -- an experience I do not recommend, particularly when you find yourself facing a viper on the path basically defenseless)

Yeah my cheap cotton t-shirt and cheap cotton jeans (black !!) get soaked, and ?? It's just water. What's so different about it versus the cold showers we had to take on the Camino in the '90s ? Or even the hot ones we take now ?

Try sleeping out with no cover in a military sleeping bag in a heavy thunderstorm, then you'll maybe stop worrying about the odd drop of water onto your toes.

---

Yes, there are some people with faster metabolisms and with low body fat etc more prone than others to exposure, and these do need to take particular care -- but in normal rainy conditions the hi-tech is of little advantage over the low-tech, price-wise in particular, whereas in the actual extreme conditions possible on the Camino there's not much advantage in extra expenses in most realistic price ranges except in certain types of military surplus kit.
 
Well, I walk in cotton, leather army boots, and my big black woollen pilgrim cape -- did so in fact yesterday in heavy rain.

"Quick dry" -- yeah, not exactly ... LOL

But it all dries anyway, even pilgrim passports soaked completely right through do as well BTW.

Water pouring "directly into ankles of shoes" ?? Not my experience. Ever. Not with hiking kit. Worst is boot leather being either pierced, or so saturated in heavy rainwater that it becomes porous -- but at that degree of things, no gortex will protect you ; holes in it will let water in just the same, and rainfall heavy enough to make army boots wet through and through won't protect your hi-tech feet from the wet.

(though the year I ended up having to walk 100s of K alternately barefoot or in cheap espadrilles was a standout -- an experience I do not recommend, particularly when you find yourself facing a viper on the path basically defenseless)

Yeah my cheap cotton t-shirt and cheap cotton jeans (black !!) get soaked, and ?? It's just water. What's so different about it versus the cold showers we had to take on the Camino in the '90s ? Or even the hot ones we take now ?

Try sleeping out with no cover in a military sleeping bag in a heavy thunderstorm, then you'll maybe stop worrying about the odd drop of water onto your toes.

---

Yes, there are some people with faster metabolisms and with low body fat etc more prone than others to exposure, and these do need to take particular care -- but in normal rainy conditions the hi-tech is of little advantage over the low-tech, price-wise in particular, whereas in the actual extreme conditions possible on the Camino there's not much advantage in extra expenses in most realistic price ranges except in certain types of military surplus kit.
Hmmm....
You do realize they make quite a bit of outdoors kit these days that are quite inexpensive and function much better than the wool and cotton stuff of old.
When I first went in the army we had canvas tents, leather boots, cotton clothing, woolen underwear. I can still smell it being issued to me, and also remember the smell of it when it got wet in the field.
Then things changed. Kits evolved. We got gore-tex jackets and wet/cold weather pants, polypropylene underwear, boots made with nylon and lighter. The old canvas tents were replaced by lighter, and more waterproof ones. Even our sleeping bags evolved to lighter, multi layered versions.
I definitely found the new, "high tech" kit to be better and lighter. In a sense modern backpacking gear mimics it, or it mimics modern backpacking gear. Either way, it is well worth bringing over the archaic stuff. I am sure if I took a time machine to the medieval Camino de Santiago and offered a pilgrim of old a gore-tex jacket he would not say "nay! I prefer my lice infested wool tunic!". ha ha
I spent a few nights (to say the least) in rainstorms while in the army. Not interested in doing that again. We did it because we had to do it. ;)
 
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Hmmm....
You do realize they make quite a bit of outdoors kit these days that are quite inexpensive and function much better than the wool and cotton stuff of old.

??? "of old" ?? "much better" ??

Had you some notion I was complaining about my cotton, wool, and leather ?

There is nothing wrong with the use of natural materials for hiking gear. Whereas my skin typically reacts very negatively to artificial fabrics made from refined petroleum.

lice infested wool tunic

Are you dissing the kind of kit you've never used yourself ?

My clothing is not infested with lice, amazing but true !!
 
Very light, comfortable and compressible poncho. Specially designed for protection against water for any activity.

Our Atmospheric H30 poncho offers lightness and waterproofness. Easily compressible and made with our Waterproof fabric, its heat-sealed interior seams guarantee its waterproofness. Includes carrying bag.

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Just finished a days walking from Roncevallis and it snowed all day......
 
Me too. Started 17 March and about to leave Pamplona. We have walked in rain, sleet, hail and snow, with bits of sun at times. I had planned for highs of 12-15 C but I was dreaming. Great walk. Grateful to be able to walk despite the weather.
 
I am hoping that a light poncho will do me for a start in May from SJPDP and no waterproof pants. Poor mans gaiters sounds like a good idea. Love the hostel recommendations.
 
St James' Way - Self-guided 4-7 day Walking Packages, Reading to Southampton, 110 kms
9 days out and keeping an eye on the weather!:oops: Is there an easy,"best" way to find weather forecasts?
 
The focus is on reducing the risk of failure through being well prepared. 2nd ed.
Too good to last... the rains have come in the Burgos area. Yesterday was a steady light drizzle with a few bands of harder rain and this morning on and off showers but has cleared up tonight. Trails continue to be pretty good on the gravel infused or groomed areas with the usual puddles to navigate. As typical this type of year the harder rains occur overnight.
Thanks for these updates.
We are in Barcelona atm heading to Burgos to commence walking in a couple of days. Met a woman yesterday who also started on March 1st. She said that it rained everyday except 1 and also walked through snow. Am getting concerned about the weather but hey can’t do much about it. I think I’ll shop for waterproof pants before leaving Barcelona.
Buen Camino
 

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