I did it wrong.
A truism of hiking is that we pack gear in response to what we fear. On the AT people pack weapons and mace because of bears (or for the far more dangerous two legged animals). I have always tended to carry extra water due to the realities of dehydration risk in Australia.
On the Camino I carried a tent and a couple of air mats. My fear was lack of (suitable) accommodation.
On the Camino you are not expected to tent. You are expected to stay in albergues (hostels). But my reading had made me concerned about
albergues that were full or worse, infested with bed bugs etc. So I reasoned about 2.5kg (5-6lbs) of tent and mats was a good insurance
against that problem. While we could have stayed in the tent on a number of occasions we did not use it at all. If I had not had it, the
resultant redistribution of gear would have made both our packs a few pounds lighter. As it was I generally carried a couple of pounds more
than I did on the AT. It was not a problem as the nature of the walk was much easier but it would have been nicer and my pack was very bulky
which was a nuisance at times.
I took one hiking pole and used it for 1km on the first day and it spent the other 779km strapped to the back of my pack. Annie used her poles all the way. A note on poles - most of the walk is on paved road or firm gravel/stone. Poles without rubber caps were a pain in the ass. "Nordic" walking techniques coupled with no rubber caps made for us referring
to many others as "tic tacs". One lady from Canada who passed us frequently (and stopped a lot) got the title with capitals. The typical backpack for a pilgrim was about 5 to 10kgs (10 - 25lbs) and for Americans Osprey packs around 30-40 liter capacity were the norm. I generally could make an accurate guess on nationality based on the brand of pack. Mine was the only ULA pack I saw.
The Camino as a trail.
The Camino is essentially a road walk. Every day my guidebook would say how many kms of paving and how many kms of loose surface was expected. The paved parts were often around 50% or more of the day. The non paved parts for the most part were broad smooth path similar to the Creeper Trail out of Damascus.
There were many rough bits and while the rocks are rounded smooth the "Roman Road" sections are as tough on ankles as Pennsylvania (well
nearly...). This doesn't mean it's easy, just that it's not a foot trail and you certainly won't find anything like the ascent of a New England mountain up an old watercourse. There are days on end that you walk down a path or minor road in a straight line with little or no variation in the elevation. The hardness of the ground means that you will find the soles of your feet complaining from abuse. I have found that about the 25km mark of any day on any surface my feet start to say they want to stop now, and the Camino did not increase this distance at all. The average demographic of the pilgrims is undeniably older than the AT (although not that much different from the Bibbulmun) and the level of complaints about the hardness of each section is no less (or really less justified) than those on the AT. Most people are lacking any real hiking experience and the Camino is the first long multi day walk they have ever undertaken. Most of those with experience seem to have the experience limited to previous Caminos.
The people.
The Camino is CROWDED!
The AT thruhiker bubble has nothing on the Camino Frances in September/October. The peak of numbers for the Camino is June/July/August but September is actually the 2nd busiest month for starts from St Jean. The bulk of the July/August numbers are Spaniards and they don't start from St Jean, opting for Roncesvalles or closer to Santiago. You rarely are unable to see people in front of you or behind you. Like the AT bubble, you find yourself in a "mobile village" with people who become friends (and some who don't). The same scenario of meet, greet, lose, meet again, lose again goes on all the way with different people. Many people, particularly after realising that it is harder than their dreamy expectations from watching the movie "The Way", disappear behind you, only to reappear in front after they bus a large
section such as Burgos to Leon. The real problem from all these people is the accomodation. The most common and cheapest accomodation is a
bunk bed in an albergue usually for 5 to 10 euro a night. You generally cannot book these beds and they are allocated on a first come, first
served basis. People start hiking around 6 or 7 in the morning and stop around 1 or 2 in the afternoon, claiming a bed as soon as possible. By
3 in the afternoon, many albergues are full - proclaimed by a sign saying "completo". Bear in mind that because Spain is on the same time
zone as the rest of western Europe sunrise in September is generally after 8am and the sun sets around 8.30pm. The early stop is not a bad
idea as the walk is essentially towards sunset so by 2pm you are starting to walk into the sun's glare. To avoid the "completo" problem you can phone the albergue and book your bed, but this is only possible for the smaller private ones, the larger (and cheaper) municipal ones don't do this. Many of the private ones also only do this for doubles or group bookings and you have to commit to the greater expense of a room at a price at least 2 or 3 times the price of a bunk (even when your "double room" contains a double bunk not a double bed). The bulk of ill feeling between pilgrims comes from the fight for beds, particularly in the last 100kms when large numbers of "short distance" pilgrims join the trail and make even more space issues. The fact that many of these late arrivals are not in an "asleep by 10, up at 6" routine" can cause irritations with those in a more traditional hiking sleep pattern.
Did I like it?
I am often described as a glass half empty type person that is always looking at the negative so it may seem from many of my comments that I don't like many things. I definitely did like the Camino. Would I do it again? Probably not - but this is because of the long list of "new" places I want to walk rather than dislike of the Camino. I said at the end of the AT that I would never do it again, but now I'm not so sure so maybe the Camino will figure again. Certainly Annie and I haven't ruled it out. We both agree we want to see more of Spain and that walking is a great way to do it. Perhaps we will do one of the other Camino routes in a couple of years. Of course the Camino was special for me in that I walked with Annie, a far more consistently agreeable companion for me than IM.
Advice to others.
Research.
I strongly recommend the April/May timeslot for the Camino Frances. This was supported by every albergue owner or similar that was part of any discussions on the topic (many) that I joined in on.
If you want an easier hike that rekindles feelings you had on a hike like the AT it is not the right one. Dare I say it, the Bibbulmun track here is a much better alternative for that (hopefully supported by Violet after next April/May). The John Muir Trail, Long Trail, Pinhoti Trail... there are many USA options instead as well.
You don't have to be religious to enjoy the Camino but if you are, it can certainly help - especially at the end. An appreciation of European history certainly helped me enjoy what I walked through.
If you want to do it but want to reduce the crowd issue without pushing into shoulder seasons, consider one of the other Caminos, the Portugese or Via del Plata for example.
Don't pack a tent.
Like always take more money.
Away from the Camino wifi is hit and miss to get but it is readily available for most of the Camino. I used smartphone a lot but only with wifi,
never turned off flight mode.
if you don't have a good sense of humour, develop one. It's the kind of trail that it helps to laugh a lot.
Anyone seriously planning the Camino PM me and I will answer more specific questions etc.
OzJacko
A truism of hiking is that we pack gear in response to what we fear. On the AT people pack weapons and mace because of bears (or for the far more dangerous two legged animals). I have always tended to carry extra water due to the realities of dehydration risk in Australia.
On the Camino I carried a tent and a couple of air mats. My fear was lack of (suitable) accommodation.
On the Camino you are not expected to tent. You are expected to stay in albergues (hostels). But my reading had made me concerned about
albergues that were full or worse, infested with bed bugs etc. So I reasoned about 2.5kg (5-6lbs) of tent and mats was a good insurance
against that problem. While we could have stayed in the tent on a number of occasions we did not use it at all. If I had not had it, the
resultant redistribution of gear would have made both our packs a few pounds lighter. As it was I generally carried a couple of pounds more
than I did on the AT. It was not a problem as the nature of the walk was much easier but it would have been nicer and my pack was very bulky
which was a nuisance at times.
I took one hiking pole and used it for 1km on the first day and it spent the other 779km strapped to the back of my pack. Annie used her poles all the way. A note on poles - most of the walk is on paved road or firm gravel/stone. Poles without rubber caps were a pain in the ass. "Nordic" walking techniques coupled with no rubber caps made for us referring
to many others as "tic tacs". One lady from Canada who passed us frequently (and stopped a lot) got the title with capitals. The typical backpack for a pilgrim was about 5 to 10kgs (10 - 25lbs) and for Americans Osprey packs around 30-40 liter capacity were the norm. I generally could make an accurate guess on nationality based on the brand of pack. Mine was the only ULA pack I saw.
The Camino as a trail.
The Camino is essentially a road walk. Every day my guidebook would say how many kms of paving and how many kms of loose surface was expected. The paved parts were often around 50% or more of the day. The non paved parts for the most part were broad smooth path similar to the Creeper Trail out of Damascus.
There were many rough bits and while the rocks are rounded smooth the "Roman Road" sections are as tough on ankles as Pennsylvania (well
nearly...). This doesn't mean it's easy, just that it's not a foot trail and you certainly won't find anything like the ascent of a New England mountain up an old watercourse. There are days on end that you walk down a path or minor road in a straight line with little or no variation in the elevation. The hardness of the ground means that you will find the soles of your feet complaining from abuse. I have found that about the 25km mark of any day on any surface my feet start to say they want to stop now, and the Camino did not increase this distance at all. The average demographic of the pilgrims is undeniably older than the AT (although not that much different from the Bibbulmun) and the level of complaints about the hardness of each section is no less (or really less justified) than those on the AT. Most people are lacking any real hiking experience and the Camino is the first long multi day walk they have ever undertaken. Most of those with experience seem to have the experience limited to previous Caminos.
The people.
The Camino is CROWDED!
The AT thruhiker bubble has nothing on the Camino Frances in September/October. The peak of numbers for the Camino is June/July/August but September is actually the 2nd busiest month for starts from St Jean. The bulk of the July/August numbers are Spaniards and they don't start from St Jean, opting for Roncesvalles or closer to Santiago. You rarely are unable to see people in front of you or behind you. Like the AT bubble, you find yourself in a "mobile village" with people who become friends (and some who don't). The same scenario of meet, greet, lose, meet again, lose again goes on all the way with different people. Many people, particularly after realising that it is harder than their dreamy expectations from watching the movie "The Way", disappear behind you, only to reappear in front after they bus a large
section such as Burgos to Leon. The real problem from all these people is the accomodation. The most common and cheapest accomodation is a
bunk bed in an albergue usually for 5 to 10 euro a night. You generally cannot book these beds and they are allocated on a first come, first
served basis. People start hiking around 6 or 7 in the morning and stop around 1 or 2 in the afternoon, claiming a bed as soon as possible. By
3 in the afternoon, many albergues are full - proclaimed by a sign saying "completo". Bear in mind that because Spain is on the same time
zone as the rest of western Europe sunrise in September is generally after 8am and the sun sets around 8.30pm. The early stop is not a bad
idea as the walk is essentially towards sunset so by 2pm you are starting to walk into the sun's glare. To avoid the "completo" problem you can phone the albergue and book your bed, but this is only possible for the smaller private ones, the larger (and cheaper) municipal ones don't do this. Many of the private ones also only do this for doubles or group bookings and you have to commit to the greater expense of a room at a price at least 2 or 3 times the price of a bunk (even when your "double room" contains a double bunk not a double bed). The bulk of ill feeling between pilgrims comes from the fight for beds, particularly in the last 100kms when large numbers of "short distance" pilgrims join the trail and make even more space issues. The fact that many of these late arrivals are not in an "asleep by 10, up at 6" routine" can cause irritations with those in a more traditional hiking sleep pattern.
Did I like it?
I am often described as a glass half empty type person that is always looking at the negative so it may seem from many of my comments that I don't like many things. I definitely did like the Camino. Would I do it again? Probably not - but this is because of the long list of "new" places I want to walk rather than dislike of the Camino. I said at the end of the AT that I would never do it again, but now I'm not so sure so maybe the Camino will figure again. Certainly Annie and I haven't ruled it out. We both agree we want to see more of Spain and that walking is a great way to do it. Perhaps we will do one of the other Camino routes in a couple of years. Of course the Camino was special for me in that I walked with Annie, a far more consistently agreeable companion for me than IM.
Advice to others.
Research.
I strongly recommend the April/May timeslot for the Camino Frances. This was supported by every albergue owner or similar that was part of any discussions on the topic (many) that I joined in on.
If you want an easier hike that rekindles feelings you had on a hike like the AT it is not the right one. Dare I say it, the Bibbulmun track here is a much better alternative for that (hopefully supported by Violet after next April/May). The John Muir Trail, Long Trail, Pinhoti Trail... there are many USA options instead as well.
You don't have to be religious to enjoy the Camino but if you are, it can certainly help - especially at the end. An appreciation of European history certainly helped me enjoy what I walked through.
If you want to do it but want to reduce the crowd issue without pushing into shoulder seasons, consider one of the other Caminos, the Portugese or Via del Plata for example.
Don't pack a tent.
Like always take more money.
Away from the Camino wifi is hit and miss to get but it is readily available for most of the Camino. I used smartphone a lot but only with wifi,
never turned off flight mode.
if you don't have a good sense of humour, develop one. It's the kind of trail that it helps to laugh a lot.
Anyone seriously planning the Camino PM me and I will answer more specific questions etc.
OzJacko
Resident Australian, proving being a grumpy old man is not just an American trait.
