The Pilgrimage experience: Hiking the Spanish Caminos

When I had planned my route through Western Europe I had chosen the Caminos very reluctantly. I knew that it would not be stellar hiking, but I had never been on a pilgrimage trail in all my hiking career and thought it was about time now. So what do I think of the Caminos - now that I have hiked on three of them for over a month? As you might have guessed: I did not really like them.

A63 on the Camino Primitivo

To understand the crux of the Caminos you have to go back to the Middle Ages, the time when they developed. Back then pilgrims wanted to get from their home town to Santiago as quickly and as safely as possible. Beautiful or spectacular landscape did not interest them - they just wanted to get from point A to point B. They chose the easiest routes in the easiest terrain and went from one big city to the next one. And this is exactly were nowadays motorways, highways and railways are built! So naturally hiking the Caminos nowadays means hiking on or near busy roads. Even when much effort is taken to route the Caminos off pavement you will almost always be within sight or earshot of motor traffic. You won't see much spectacular scenery either. So if you want to hike in nature or are looking for great landscapes you are wrong on the Caminos. But what are the pilgrims looking for then? What is the pilgrimage experience?

Hostel in Santiago

Most pilgrims like the sense of community, the sharing with other pilgrims. People, who would normally enjoy their holidays in hotels and apartments are now sleeping in dormitories with up to 50 other pilgrims. There is no privacy, sometimes bed bugs and always people snoring. But pilgrims find that so attractive that they get up at 5 am and start hiking before sunrise to secure a bed in these hostels before the others arrive! These pilgrims' hostels are very cheap, but the majority of pilgrims is not on such a low budget that they could not afford better accommodation. Hardly anyone is cooking, but the cafes and bars along the Camino are full with pilgrims for breakfast, lunch and dinner. The advantage of this run to the hostels is that you have the Camino all to yourself after 5 pm....

Cast off sticks

The pilgrim community feeling reminded me very much of the trail communities on the AT. But because the AT is longer and harder the friendships forged there tend to more intense. Compared with the camaraderie on the American trails the pilgrim community seemed just like a poor copy to me and with more and more people on the Caminos the morale seems to get worse and worse.With everyone and their mother now hiking the Caminos you see a lot of inexperienced hikers out there. I have never seen that many huge and ill-fitting backpacks before. Everyone  has a shell attached to the backpack. Instead of using modern lightweight trekking poles most pilgrims carry wooden sticks. I have even seen people dressed up in medieaval clothes to be more authentic pilgrims. And at the end of the trail these wooden sticks are left behind everywhere. My hostel and the pilgrims' office in Santiago were full of cast off sticks and at Santiago airport they even had a special trash can for them because some pilgrims try to take them on the plane which of course is not allowed.

Another locked church

I had first thought that people hike the Caminos out of religious reasons but this is mostly not the case. Although most pilgrims are on some sort of spiritual quest, very few do it with a Christian motivation. And the official church is definitely not helping them: Almost every church along the Caminos is locked. There are no masses, prayer services or any other spiritual guidance offered to pilgrims from the official Spanish Catholic church. There are only very few exceptions like the hostel of Padre Ernesto in Guemes or the German pilgrims' meeting in Santiago. The Catholic church is continuously losing members in the Western world and here is a chance to win some back. Thousands of hikers flock to Caminos looking for spiritual enlightenment and the Catholic church does not seize this opportunity and basically just ignores them. (If you are looking for a more spiritual experience try the lesser known pilgrimage trails in other countries. I myself have hiked the German pilgrimage trail "Elisabethpfad" on this trip and found it a lot better than the Spanish Caminos. Almost every church was open, the one and only cheap guidebook was a mixture of prayers, historical anecdotes and trail descriptions and of course there were also pilgrims' hostels.)

Coffee stall on the Camino Frances

To me in the end the "pilgrimage experience" seemed just to be a cheap hiking holiday with the Camino offering the comfortable logistics of cheap accommodation, luggage transport and menus del peregrino (pilgrims' menus in restaurants). I guess that you can still get a lot of the Caminos if you don't know any better hiking. And I have tremendous respect for all those overweight and/or out of shape pilgrims who struggle but make it to the end. They will find a sense of achievement, some enlightenment and trail friends. And if the Camino sparks their interest in hiking - more power to them. But you will find all these things in a much purer and intense form on other long-distance trails.

Bottom line: If you are a new to hiking the Caminos might be a good and easy way for you to get started. But if you have already hiked other more nature oriented long distance trails you will most probably be very much disappointed with the Caminos.

Camino Primitivo/Frances: Lugo to Santiago - the end

My last two days on the Camino Primitivo were rather uneventful and unfortunately back on lots of pavement. Because it was mostly on very quiet country lanes it was not too bad though and led me through more half deserted little villages. Camping was still great and I even had two very nice campsites -and no more ticks. I was now facing a new challenge: In order to receive the famous Credencial, a document saying that you have hiked the Camino, you have to hike at least the last hundred 100 km and prove it with 2 stamps daily. You can receive these stamps in the hostels and most bars along the way and so I started collecting stamps now feeling rather stupid and touristy about it.

At Melide I finally joined the dreaded Camino Frances and all my fears came true. The Camino Frances really is a hiker highway! I have never ever seen so many hikers on one trail. During the day I was never out of sight of another hiker. Taking a pee was almost impossible because of the constant stream of hikers coming down the trail. Consequently every little side trail that led you out of sight from the main trail was littered with used toilet paper - a disgusting sight. To manage these masses of people rest areas with tables and benches were set up every couple of kilometres and trash cans were placed all along the way. Even the dogs have specialised in pilgrims and were hanging around in the rest areas waiting for food scraps from the hikers

I was soon getting tired of all those hikers and the constant greeting "Buen Camino". The locals did not seem to mind though and still greeted the pilgrims friendly. But local economy profits a lot from the pilgrims. Every other house seems to be a private pilgrims' hostel and despite this being very late in the season in the evening I did see a lot of "Complete" (Hostel full) signs. Little food stalls were everywhere along the trail where you could buy coffee or pieces of fruit. Drink vending machines were also frequently along the trail being a rather odd sight in otherwise very rural Galicia.

My last campsite on the Camino looked rather nice in a Eukalyptus plantation. Sheltered from the wind and tucked away from the sight of other pilgrims. But I spent an almost sleepless night because it became rather windy and the Eucalyptus trees were shaken in the wind hitting each other which caused a dreadful sound that even my ear plugs could not drown out. I realised that it was rather improbable that a whole tree would come down but it still sounded like it and did not let me sleep. To make things worse some big insects had crawled under my tent and made funny noises that were magnified when I had my ear on my pillow. I constantly thought that a tree was about to be de-routed.

And so finally, on Wednesday, September 19th I walked into Santiago de Compostela, the terminus of my hike. I did not feel elated or very happy like you usually feel when you finish such a long hike. On the contrary: I was so dead tired that I did not even go to the cathedral but just went to my hostel and collapsed in my bed. The cathedral and all the other pilgrim's rituals had to wait till next day. At least I was very lucky with my hostel. Because I knew I would arrive rather late in the day I had made an online reservation for the Seminario Menor, a former boys' boarding school. It is a huge building complex that now houses hundreds of pilgrims in big dormitories ("snoritories") of 50 beds per room! But just paying 5 EUR more gets you a private room which is a very small and spartan "cell" but quiet and clean. I enjoyed the pilgrim feeling at the end and liked watching my fellow pilgrims in the evening.

The next day I finally went to famous Santiago Cathedral to visit the daily pilgrims' service. The huge cathedral was overflowing with pilgrims and other visitors. Dozens of security guards had to manage the masses and getting a seat was impossible. Pilgrims, backpacks and walking sticks were everywhere and several priests were celebrating the mass. I have never seen a church so full of people but was assured afterwards that this had only been a mediocre day. On weekends there are even more pilgrims and tourists! I found it hard to find a decent spot for a finish photo with all those people around.

Next I wanted to get my "credencial" but when I got to the "pilgrims' office" the waiting line was so long that I gave up on it. Hundreds of pilgrims were waiting for an hour and longer to get that document and the queue was well out onto the street. I resigned myself to just have a picture taken of myself outside the office. The only satisfying event that day was the daily German pilgrims meeting. A German church had started this initiative and a team of a priest and two volunteers were offering a daily German mass, a pilgrims' meeting and a spiritual sightseeing tour of the cathedral. I attended the pilgrims meeting and was surprised to see only three other pilgrims there! The idea of that meeting was to share the experiences had on the trail and talk about your feelings at the end of it. A great way to end a pilgrimage!

I wholeheartedly plunged into asking dozens of questions to the priest in order to find out what he thought of the "pilgrimage fashion" and what his experiences with the pilgrims have been. He seemed to like it so much that he even invited me to lunch and we continued talking for another hour. I wish I had found more of these "spiritual" services along the way, but the Spanish church is offering no "religious support" to the pilgrims except the masses in Santiago. In the end I even met to fellow pilgrims in the hostel and I felt a bit like on the AT again. I just wished I had had more time to thoroughly explore Santiago and indulge in the pilgrimage feeling, but alas I had to leave the next day and fly back to Berlin. Altogether this has been the most unexcited finish of a long-distance hike. My finish day just felt like any other hiking day on the trail and I did not even feel a bit special...

Camino Primitivo: Conclusion

 Although the Camino Primitivo has definitely not been the best trail on this trip I guess it is one of, if not the best Spanish pilgrimage trail and I quite enjoyed it. So what is so nice about it? It has a relatively low percentage of roadwalking. 40% pavement is still a lot for a normal hiking trail, but low for a Camino. But the even better news is that you never have to walk on really busy roads. Once you have passed the dreaded A63 motorway there aren't any big roads any more at all. You don't have to walk on them and there aren't any close by. Only the first days out of Oviedo and the last two days before joining the Camino Frances have a lot of roadwalking.

This Camino's trump card is the rural landscape. You walk through a mixture of pastures and forests and tiny villages that often consist of a few houses only. Very often I felt like 100 years ago. Time seems to have stood still in a lot of these places that are half abandoned with only a few old people left. And the locals like the hikers because they bring in fresh air - and money. Almost everyone I met was friendly and helpful. There are only two bigger cities along the way, Oviedo and Lugo, and both are nice and picturesque. They are big enough to have all amenities, but small enough to get around on foot.

Wild camping was very easy with lots of forest and hardly any people around. But there are also lots of pilgrims' hostels and plenty of cheap pensions and hotels. Because none of the villages and cities along this Camino is a seaside tourist place finding accommodation is not difficult even in high season.

Reservoir

Trail marking is excellent and finding water is easy, but you have to plan ahead for food as not many of the villages have shops. You sometimes have to carry food for more than one day which is unusual for a Camino.
The guidebooks make this trail sound difficult which is not true. It is not more difficult than any typical German hiking trail and you don't need hiking boots or mountain experience for it. There aren't any really steep ascents or descents. Would I recommend it to a friend? If you are looking for a great hiking trail I would not recommend any Spanish Camino. But if you expressively want to hike a Spanish pilgrimage trail the Camino Primitivo is the way to go.

Camino Primitivo: Oviedo to Lugo

I stayed in my nice hostal in Oviedo as long as possible and with a well meaning cleaning woman this meant 1 pm. I just wanted to do some last shopping and then hike a short day. But when I arrived st the supermarket it was closed. Guess why? There was a fiesta, of course! I could not believe this happening to me 4 times in a row. Every time I am in town shops are closed on a normal day because of some obscure fiesta. Luckily I still had some food and at least bakeries were open which meant I would not starve while the rest of Spain was indulging in a fiesta.

Motorway construction

Rather grumpily I left otherwise nice Oviedo and hoped for better trail. I had now changed from the Camino del Norte onto the Camino Primitivo, the oldest pilgrimage trail in Spain. In my German guidebook it was described as the most demanding, but also most spectacular trail. Unfortunately, the first couple of days were nothing spectacular at all, just the danger old road walks. Only the costal motorway was now replaced with motorway A 63 which was one huge construction site and an even bigger eye sore. I was really getting fed up with all these Caminos!

But then, after a couple of days things improved tremendously. Firstly, A63 was left behind and the percentage of road walks plummeted tremendously. I was now mostly on dirt roads and even single file trail was seen. Secondly, the landscape improved. This was hilly country and the trail rose up to 1,200 m. Though not the most breathtaking scenery it was a quite pleasant landscape. But most importantly, this was eventually a real rural area. No more big settlements, only small and tiny villages. Some fields, lots of pastures and eventually plenty of forest. Not even Eucalyptus, but pine trees. I felt like I was eventually hiking again instead of pounding pavement.

With these changes the camping situation also improved. I did not have to plan the while day ahead but was able to find possible campsites very frequently. But unfortunately another problem reappeared: Ticks! Ticks had not been a problem since I had left Germany but here they were out again in vengeance. Every night I spent a long time searching for them and usually found 20 (!) per night. I felt very uneasy about not being able to check my back but it could not be helped. Being a hypochondriac I now of course think that every little ache is a sign of Lyme Disease.

Fog on Puerta de Alto

I feel very tired right now and although I am enjoying my hike I am glad it will be over soon. I have therefore decided to finish it in Santiago de Compostella instead of walking 90 km further to Cabo Finisterre. I want to have a relaxed finish and some time for sightseeing instead of rushing till the very last day. I am taking it relatively easy now and hiking 30 km per day is not a problem in this easy terrain. My guidebook author however does not think it is easy here. He warns pilgrims of the stage up to the pass at Puerta de Alto: "Only attempt it when you feel mentally and physically prepared for it. Take enough food and water as the next bar is 22 km away!" As I had expected the stage was dead easy despite these warnings and an incredibly thick fog. I could hardly see 50 metres, but the route is incredibly well marked and you can't really get lost.

I soon changed from the province of Asturias into Galicia and to confuse the pilgrims a bit the way of waymarking changes here. The trail is marked with yellow arrows and the shell symbol. But whereas in Asturias the small side of the shell is pointing into walking direction, in Galicia out of the broad side. I am also curious to find out what fiestas they have here....

Lugo cathedral

I am currently having a Nero day in Lugo, my last town stop before the end of my hike. Lugo is famous for its completely intact Roman town wall and beautiful cathedral. I took a look at it on a Saturday night when weddings were taking place there like on a conveyor belt. Seems to be a very popular place to tie the knot. This being a weekend I was a bit worried about finding accommodation. I don't want to stay in the pilgrims' hostels and have to find alternative accommodation. The first hostal I walked in offered me a single room for a mere 12 EUR. I could hardly believe that such a bargain is still possible in a touristy place in Western Europe. The place is sort of a dive, but is clean and there is even a TV in the room. Writing about this place here the only light bulb in the room has just gone out...

But economy is bad here. Unemployment rate in Spain in Spain is 20% and probably much higher here on rural Galicia. When I treated myself to a cheap menu del dia yesterday the friendly waitress explained all the food options in perfect English to me. When I enquired where she had learned it she said she had a university degree in English but could not find any other work than as a waitress in a cheap restaurant. I am now waiting in my rather dark room for the cleaning lady to arrive and throw me out of my hostal to hike the last 4 days to Santiago. Still it seems like yesterday to me that I started this hike in snow at the German/Czech border...

Camino del Norte: Conclusion and tips

As I want to write a post about pilgrimage trails in general I will limit myself to observations specific to the Camino del Norte in this post.

First of all the usual two questions: Did I like the trail? Would I recommend it to a friend? In both cases the answer is a very definite NO. The Camino del Norte has been by far the worst bit of hiking on this whole trip. I would even go as far as to say that this has been some of the worst hiking in my entire outdoor career. Why has it been do bad? There are many negative factors:

Too much pavement: About 75% of this Camino are on pavement. This fact itself makes the Camino almost unacceptable as a good hiking trail but it gets worse. The remaining 25% are almost completely on gravel roads. There is next to no single file trail. The 75% pavement can roughly be divided into three equal parts. In the best case you are on a concrete pista which means no traffic. The next third is on quiet country lanes with very little traffic. But the last third, and that means 25% of the trail is on or next to major highways with lots of traffic. In most cases there is a shoulder or a side walk, but there are a few outright dangerous stretches on busy highways with no shoulder.

Ugly scenery: I do not need pristine wilderness to enjoy a hike, but there is very little nice scenery along this Camino. You have to get in and out of 3 metropolitan areas: Irun/San Sebastian, Bilbao and Santander. Each time that means at least one day of hiking through urban sprawl and industrial areas. The coastal towns are geared towards tourism including loads of apartment buildings and parking lots. And the coastal motorway is an eyesore.

Noise pollution: The costal motorway is paralleling the Camino as is the old National road. A lot of time you are within earshot of them and you cross the motorway endless times. Motorways are a fact of modern life but I prefer hiking trails that aren't constantly following them.

Disappointing coast line: Forget about picturesque fishing villages and pristine beaches. This is cheap holiday country with overcrowded campgrounds, monotonous apartment buildings and crowded beaches full of screaming kids. There are stretches were you can walk along the beach but it is no fun to trudge along the beach in stinky hiker clothes with a heavy back pack when everyone else is sunbathing in a bikini or shorts.

Illegal garbage dump

Difficult free camping: This is a very populated region and even in the more rural stretches there are houses almost everywhere and very little forest. Stealth camping needs a lot of planning ahead to end the day in a potentially good free camping area. Crossing the metropolitan areas you almost have no other choice than staying in a pilgrims' hostel or other paid accommodation. But if you don't mind asking people if you can camp on their property things will be a lot easier. Locals are very friendly and have a positive attitude towards the hikers so you should not have a problem finding a campsite this way. But being a single female I rather stealth camp so that no one knows where I am.

If you still want to hike the Camino del Norte here are some practical infos:

Trail marking: Generally very good though the quality varies a lot. It can be difficult in the bigger cities were trail marks disappear in city centres. But with a simple guidebook or by asking people you should not have any problem.

Santander

Guidebooks: By chance I ended up with three guidebooks for this Camino. I could not find any good maps for this trail that show the vegetation. This is an important information for stealth campers like me. The only guidebook in that direction is the Spanish guidebook "El Camino Norte en tu mochila" that has sketch maps showing forests and houses. Although these maps were pretty useful (and the only reason why I bought the book) it is otherwise rather useless with bad trail descriptions and little practical info. The red Rother guidebook available in German and Spanish has excellent practical info on hostels and alternative accommodation, sights and opening times. The trail descriptions are decent and there are maps (not showing vegetation). The German Conrad Stein guidebook has the best trail description but is otherwise pretty bad. Useless overview maps, no info on alternative accommodation and a horrible and confusing layout.

Water and resupply: There are water taps in almost every village and I never had to carry more than 2 litres. You come across a shop every day, often several times per day. Only beware of local fiestas when shops are closed.

Instead of walking the Camino del Norte I would rather cycle it. Most of it is on pavement anyways. And I would not do it in summer. It is very hot and what is worse, humid as well. Also accommodation is a bit of a problem in summer if you don't stealth camp. I passed several hostels that were already full in the afternoon. Spring and fall are much better and far less crowded.

Camino del Norte: Santander to Oviedo

Industrial area out of Santander

Before leaving Santander I wanted to go shopping - and ran into the usual problem. All shops were closed because of a local fiesta. The same had already happened in San Sebastian, Bilbao and now Santander. There seem to be a lot of fiestas in Spain... Hiking a whole day through ugly suburbs and industrial areas if another common problem on the Camino and of course hiking out of Santander was not much different. I am getting rather annoyed of this. To make things worse I had to follow the coastal motorway a lot of times which complicated camping. You do not want to camp next to a major highway and therefore I had to plan well ahead to end the day in an area that was forested or at least and away from the motorway. Not an easy task.

The motorway is not even finished yet and construction works are even disrupting the trail in places. It was heartbreaking to see that some of the few remaining unspoilt coastal are going to be destroyed by the motorway. Also generally speaking I get the impression that Spanish people are not very environmentally oriented. Urban sprawl is everywhere and there does not seem to be much planning behind it. New apartment buildings are erected along the coast line and there is nothing picturesque about them. Wild garbage dumps are everywhere. And the pilgrims are no better: every side trail is littered with toilet paper. "Pack it out" seems to be unheard of...

Horreo or storage space

Still camping was a bit better in this stretch a it was a bit more rural - if you can get away from the dreaded motorway. I made two more attempts with pilgrims' hostels. The first one was rather unintended. I was hiking through the little village of Serdio when I was spotted by the hospitalera. She immediately introduced herself and before I could say that I did not want to stay at the hostel I was dragged into the local bar, given a stamp into my credencial and asked for a donation of 5 Eur. As it was already late in the day and camping was allowed at the hostel I decided to stay there in my tent. It turned out to be a good decision as I met a Spanish pilgrim with whom I ended up discussing the fascination of pilgrimages till midnight.

Hostel in Serdio

My second stay in a pilgrims' hostel on the other hand turned me off them. It was a day when I either had to camp early or hike into the dark to find a campsite. Or stay at the hostel in Vega de Sariego. I decided to give the hostel a try. There were 3 rooms and as holiday season was already over I was hoping for a room for myself or with few other pilgrims. There was only a Danish couple in my room but the husband turned out to be a hardcore snorer. He was snoring so loudly that I decided I was better off sleeping on the roof terrace. What I had not realised was the fog. I slept much better on the terrace but I woke up with a soaking wet quilt due to the heavy fog. I decided that those hostels are not for me. If I ever use a hostel again I will camp there. Those dormitories are too much for me. The only positive experience had been to meet a Japanese pilgrim who was thoroughly impressed by my meagre knowledge of the Japanese language and my enthusiasm for his country.

Coastal motorway

Next day I hiked into Oviedo - another slog through suburbs and along major highways. I am getting tired of the Camino del Norte and hope that things will improve now on the Camino Primitivo. In Oviedo I treated myself with a real full rest day. Two nights in a single room will hopefully restore my good mood. And again I was lucky finding a cheap and quiet pension in the town centre where I am happily enjoying lying in my bed and not doing anything except eating in an AYCE buffet. I have two more weeks left on this trip and I must admit that I am getting a bit tired. The Camino del Norte has been the worst bit of hiking on this trip and had made it difficult to stay motivated.

Camino del Norte: Bilbao to Santander

Guggenheim Museum Bilbao

On my rest day in Bilbao I was very much torn between resting and sightseeing. This has often been a problem on this trip: you just want to rest in your bed but you also want to see the local sights... In Bilbao I managed to see the Art Museum (which was quite nice) and the famous modern Guggenheim Museum (which was rather disappointing: a lot of space and a lot of money for very little content). But what I enjoyed most there was a fantastic AYCE buffet and my single room in the youth hostel... Long distance hikers are bad tourists. I even missed the big fiesta that was going on in Bilbao with concerts and bull fights. Because of this fiesta it had been difficult to find accommodation in town and I had been very lucky to score a room in the youth hostel. But this hostel was rather weird. It has the charm and location of an Etap hotel: very clean and efficient and located right next to the highway. But it did not have any of the hostel amenities like a kitchen or a comfy sitting room. To my big disappointment there wasn't even a book exchange and therefore I had to buy new reading material in town.

Along the bike path out of Bilbao

The way out of Bilbao was as horrible as expected. A whole day you walk on pavement along old industrial buildings, run down high rises and motorways. There was absolutely nothing scenic about this stretch. Still in Bilbao I had run into two South African women who had come all the way from South Africa to hike the Camino - without a guidebook. They were completely lost and I helped them back on their way. But on this day I really started wondering why people come from that far only to walk on concrete through urban jungle and along huge highways and then sleep in huge dormitories with plenty of snorers.

It required a lot of planning to find stealth campsites every night but I was very lucky on this stretch. Although I mostly had to hike on highways through very populated areas I could always camp in the very rare forested areas in between. Forest here was another surprise: it feels more like Australia than Northern Spain because of the many Eucalyptus plantations. It smells very nice! But of course the forest floor is always overgrown with weeds and ferns and your only choice for a decent campsite is on old and abandoned forest roads.

I had not stayed in any pilgrims' hostel yet because I can't stand the dormitories, but my guidebook said that one of those albergues had a camping area. I hiked a 43 km day to get there and was not disappointed. Although the hospitalero could not understand why I insisted on camping instead of taking one of the free beds he assigned me a great camp spot. The hostel was big with 70 beds and offered communal dinner and breakfast. There is no fixed price for that: you pay as much or little as you can. The place is run by Don Ernesto, a Catholic priest and the next morning I had a long and very interesting talk with him.

Father Ernesto

He confirmed that the Caminos become more popular each year. He alone had hosted almost 6,000 pilgrims last year and expects more this year. The majority of pilgrims its from Spain, but Germans have the biggest portion of foreign pilgrims. The evening before I could see that hikers like me are really an exception. Everyone else was wearing "camp shoes" for dinner. I read the only one of 50 with only one pair of shoes... and a tent. In the morning everyone left really early in the quest for a free hostel bed in the next town. Only I was left behind chatting until 10.30 am, but it was only a short stretch to Santander.

Santander Cathedral

It started drizzling that day and a 8 km walk along a major highway did not improve my mood. I took a ferry ride over to Santander where I found a rather incompetent tourist information where staff was not willing to find accommodation for me. They told me just to go to the pensions or hotels. Although they had assured me that it would be easy to find a room for the night the first for places were fully booked... But I made a wise decision and went to eat at an AYCE buffet. The world looked much brighter afterwards and I started calling places instead of going there. Immediately I was lucky and scored a very nice and quiet room for 27 Eur - where I stayed and relaxed the rest of the day and next morning. Because of the difficult camping situation I am spending more money here in Spain than on any other part of this hike...

Camino del Norte: Irun to Bilbao

I am now hiking one of the many Caminos and therefore I guess I am technically a pilgrim now! I must admit that I was a bit afraid of this stretch. I was worried about horrible fellow hikers, lots of pavement and boring hiking. And although some of this is true so far I am enjoying the Camino. There is a lot of pavement (and so much more than on any other part of this hike) but most of it is on concrete pistas with no traffic at all or very quiet country lanes so it is quiet bearable. The hiking has been very different but not boring. There definitely is no pristine wilderness here, but you see a lot of quite charming villages and a very different side of Spain. My fellow hikers have been a very positive surprise. After reading a couple of books written by ex pilgrims and visiting a German pilgrim´s forum I had been afraid that there would be more Germans than anyone else but the overwhelming majority of pilgrims are Spanish. Which gives me a great opportunity to practice my language skills.

These pilgrims are a very friendly community like long distance hikers in the US. Everyone greets me and some are really eager to talk to me. Although most other hikers are not very experienced they are very friendly and I enjoy talking to them - especially since my personal contact with other pilgrims is very limited. Unlike everyone else I am camping most of the time whereas normal pilgrims stay in pilgrims´ hostels. Camping has turned out to be as difficult as expected. I am walking through a very populated area that is also very hilly and the vegetation very dense. So first of all I find to find a spot away from houses which is difficult enough. Then this spot has to be reasonably flat and free of blackberry bushes that are scratching up my legs and arms. I usually manage to find something but mostly I end up totally scratched up or sleeping on a slope!

I reluctantly left Irun but there were so many cities coming up where I would have to stay in hostels that I could not justify a full rest day. Only 20 odd kms from Irun to San Sebastian but I could not make up my mind whether I would try stealth camping, a pilgrim´s hostel or a normal hostel in San Sebastian. After leaving Irun I first came through a little fishing town where everyone was gathering along the port entrance. I wondered what was going on and was told that everyone was waiting for a huge cruise ship that was so big that it would hardly fit through the port entrance. I guess the captain must have been really nervous as it really was a tight fit. I then ran into my first fellow pilgrims who kept me talking but then I decided to give stealth camping a try. It was still relatively early but hiking further would get me into the city. I had found a halfway decent site when I realised that plenty of people were walking around - and that I would have to wait before I could set up my tent. I still felt a bit uncomfortable about camping so close to civilisation when all of a sudden the music started: A music group had settled close to my spot and entertained me with loud medieaval music. Knowing that this is Spain I realised that the music would go on forever - and decided to move on. My guidebook listed a youth hostel nearby that doubled as a pilgrim´s hostel. The receptionist greeted me very friendly and although there was a bed available she suggested that I should move on to the bigger city hostel with shops and restaurants nearby. She called ahead for me and made a reservation. "Only 40 minutes walk", she told me. I don´t know how she walks but it took me 1 1/2 hours and a full culture shock to get there.

San Sebastian

The walk through San Sebastion took me along the main paseo along the beach - on prime paseo time Sunday evening. The street was so crowded that I could hardly make my way through. I must say that after 4 months in the boon docks I was shocked to see so many people - and so many girls in ultrashort shorts. Hiking gets you a bit out of touch with fashion.... At nine o´clock I finally arrived at the city hostel where I was given a bed - but no food. All nearby places were closed in August on a Sunday night and I ended up eating in a Doner Kebab place.... Not the best of food, but I was so hungry!!! Again, very reluctantly I left San Sebastion the next day after shopping for guidebooks and food. But five days later I would be in Bilbao and there I wanted to spend a well deserved rest day with museums and shops.

Those five days were pretty hard. Although the hiking is very easy compared with the Pyrenees I had not thought of the climate. It was hot, but more importantly it was very humid and that was the biggest problem. I was sweating so profusely that sweat was dripping onto my guidebook when reading it. The climbs are very short and not too steep, but only the slightest physical exercise and all my clothes were soaking wet. Chafing has become a big problem again. Although I take a sponge bath every night before going to bed I feel sticky and uncomfortable. And this is very hilly country. I am still doing 1,000 m of elevation gain per day! Although there is plenty to see along the way I have sort of lost interest in churches and local museums. All I can get excited about is a shower. I had been looking forward to Gernika with its Peace Museum but it turned out to be very disappointing. But now I am in Bilbao and tomorrow will be my rest day - hurray! Guggenheim Museum is waiting for me!

Hiking the Pyrenees: Conclusion and tips

The Pyrenees have been the most beautiful and spectacular part of my hike. There is no doubt about it. The Pyrenees sometimes even rival the High Sierra in the US in beauty. Also the weather in the Pyrenees is usually very favourable. There might be some thunderstorms (which of course I happened to run into), but usually there is hardly any rain but endless sunshine.

But did I like the Pyrenees? No, not very much. They will definitely not be my most favourite part of this hike. Would I recommend hiking the Pyrenees to a friend? Well, that depends on the friend. Some people would absolutely love it, and then there are people like me. So what was wrong with the Pyrenees? To put it in plain, short and simple words: For me in my situation they were too difficult and too demanding to really enjoy them. Now let me explain this in more detail:

There are people who surefootedly hop from one boulder to another, run down steep mountains over loose scree and find daily elevation gains of 2,000 m easy. Then there are people like me who have a sort of distorted sense of equilibrium, slight vertigo and very often more resemble a wet sack of potatoes than a surefooted mountain goat. The first type of people will love the Pyrenees and the second will have a hard time like me. I honestly think that the GR 11 is a bit too difficult and sometimes even dangerous for such a famous and well hiked trail. Passages like the Porta de Baiau where you have to descend more than 200 m of almost vertical elevation loss over loose scree is downright dangerous. Luckily there are not too many really dangerous sections but almost every day I encountered passages were I felt uncomfortable.

In my long hiking career I have come across lots of different unpleasant moments on the trail. I have been yelling German obscenities at trail mark, hit trail posts with my trekking poles out of frustration and just started crying because the trail was so hard that I felt I could not go on any more. On the GR 11 I did not feel like that. I just felt uncomfortable. I felt uncomfortable on the steep stretches over loose scree and the endless boulder fields. I did not feel that my life was in danger. Those stretches are difficult, but not life threatening. But I know from experience that there is such a thing as bad luck. One wrong step, one slippery rock or boulder that moves and you are in the shit. You can sprain an ankle, break a leg or just hurt yourself very badly. If you encounter these passages only once a week, you just pay attention and very probably nothing will happen. But if you have to deal with this every day for several hours statistically your chances of bad luck increase dramatically. To nmake things worse I was in a rush. Instead of doing one pass every day I had to do 1 1/2. Therefore I ended up on those endless boulder fields at the end of the day when no one else was around. If I had had an accident then I would have had a real problem. I sometimes had to hike until sunset before I could camp because I had miscalculated the time again. Everything took so much longer in the Pyrenees than expected. I got frustrated because I was not making any progress. When I switched on my GPS at night I very often had to realise that it had taken my a whole long hard day to just cover 7 or 8 km as the crow flies.

I do not want to discourage anyone to hike the GR 11. It is beautiful trail and even people like me can hike it. You do not have to be a mountain god, even less athletic people can cope. But it will not be easy for them and you will sometimes feel uncomfortable. Do not even think that the Pyrenees are similar to the High Sierra. In California you have very well engineered easy trail with an easy gradient. In the Pyrenees you have boulder hopping and loose scree - and very often no trail or trail marking. But there are a few things you can do to make the GR 11 more enjoyable:

Time: According to the guidebook it takes about 45 days to hike the whole GR 11. Being an experienced fit hiker I thought I could do it in less time. Of course you can, but then you might end up feeling as uncomfortable as I did. You can definitely combine days in the beginning and end of the hike at lower altitude and sometimes even combine shorter days in the high altitude section. But keep in mind that this is a physically very demanding hike and you will need rest days, maybe more than you think. (Especially if you have hiked 3,000 km before and are tired already...). Also keep in mind that the daily stages are designed in a way that you have to do one pass per day only. If you combine two stages you will have to cope with 2 passes and sometimes 2,000 m of elevation gain. Plus you might end up in places where camping is less than ideal. I think that you should calculate at least 40 days for an enjoyable thruhike of the GR 11.

Trail marking: The trail marking has definitely improved since my last hikes in the Pyrenees more than 10 years ago. Often it is really good, usually it is decent - but sometimes it is almost non-existant. The trail marking is done by volunteers and depending who did it and when the quality varies greatly. You should definitely have maps and a GPS helps, too.

Maps and guidebooks: Thanks to a very generous donation from a German hiker I had gotten the Cicerone guidebook and the Prames maps for free. I think that this was the best combination possible, although it is far from ideal. The Cicerone guidebook dates from 2007 and urgendtly needs an update. The route between Burguette and Ochagavia has changed completely and is shown wrongly in the guidebook and even the latest edition of the Prames maps. The Prames maps are ok, but far from great. They only show elevation but not the vegetation type, so it is difficult to predict whether your chosen camp spot will have tree cover or not. Also not all side trails are shown and the maps generally are not very detailled. The times given in the Cicerone guidebook are ridiculous. The author, a middle aged man carrying a 15 kg backpack claims 5 hours of hiking time for a 16 km stretch with more than 1,000 m elevation gain. This is ambitious even under ideal circumstances, but utterly impossible in the Pyrenees for mere mortals. The times given in the Prames maps are generally 10 - 20 % longer than in the Cicerone guidebook and much more accurate. The Navarran government has produced a leaflet with elevation profiles and hiking times for the GR 11 stretch in Navarra and if you compare elavation gains and hiking times with the Cicerone guidebook you will realise that Cicerone also has incorrect elevations gains. You have to add at least 10 - 20 %, too. Still, the Cicerone guidebook has been useful as it shows water sources and potential campsites. The author only mentions campsites with water and if you are used to dry camping you will find a lot more camping possibilities.
On my GPS I had the Garmin topo for Spain and a track for the GR 11. The Garmin map was not really good either. No vegetation is shown like in France and the GR 11 is only partially shown - and then mostly wrong. Sometimes whole roads were missing and I guess Garmin´s data base is a bit outdated. The GPS track was like any track you download fromt the internet: You do not know what quality you get. Mine was sometimes incredibly good and you could see that the data was actually gathered while hiking and sometimes there were no trackpoints for a whole km.

Water and resupply: The water situation was generally very good. There were only a few stretches where there was no water for 5 or 6 hours. Usually you only have to carry food for a couple of days. In the villages there is usually a small supermarket. High prices and not much choice, but resupply is doable. Keep in mind that shops are normally closed between 2 pm and 5 pm.

Other hikers: Due to holiday time (I was hiking in August) I encountered more people in the Pyrenees than anywhere else. A lot of foreigners doing a thruhike and even more Spanish and French hikers, although they tend to do shorter hikes and stay in the refuges. Still the Pyrenees are not crowded, even in peak season.

I do not want to deter anyone from hiking the Pyrenees with this post. Just keep in mind that the Pyrenees are not a walk in the park. I think one day I will come back and hike them again - but with more time!

GR 11 Part 3

Canfranc station

 It took me a whole day to get from Bielsa to Canfranc taking 2 buses and 1 train and plenty of waiting time in between. Public transport if not very frequent in the Pyrenees but at least it exists. I had to get up at 6 am to get the first bus and arrived st Canfranc as late as 8 pm. But on the other hand hiking would have taken me almost a week.... I immediately remembered Canfranc's huge and empty train station although I had been there almost 12 years ago on my last hike in the Pyrenees. Unfortunately finding a campsite that late turned out to be a bit more difficult than expected and I ended up camping on the roof of an old bunker.

Being a hypochondriac I was worried about my knees now but beside the strange noises they did not hurt. Of course it helped that the gradients were a bit less steep now and the trail a bit easier with lower altitude. I was a happy hiker again!

Camping became somewhat of an interesting experience now. Instead of grizzly bears I now had to deal with cows, sheep and horses! Still being afraid of cows after my UK hike I always try to camp as far away from them as possible but in the Pyrenees they are free ranging and there are no fences between you and your bovine friends. So one night I had finally found camp site without cows and fresh cow shit. I was already cooking dinner when I heard the telltale cow bell ringing coming closer and closer. About 50 cows were happily passing by my tent on their way to their sleeping place. First I was about to freak out but I quickly realised that the cows weren't the least bit interested in me. They completely ignored me - and I relaxed!

Hunting hide

Two days later I had another scary camping experience. After passing several herds of sheep and horses I found a nice campsite in the middle of nowhere, far away from civilisation. I was just about to set up my tent when a hooligan on a dirt bike came roaring up the mountain. He scared me a lot because I don't want anyone to know where I am camped - and he annoyed me with the motor bike noise and smell. Half am hour later the presumed hooligan returned, but very slowly now... because he was moving sheep! My presumed hooligan was a modern shepherd. He waved friendly and disappeared with his woolly friends. I was expecting a peaceful night now but at three o'clock in the morning I was awoken by a herd of horses passing my tent. I had not know that horses are night active and was just hoping they were not night blind! But luckily none of the horses fell over my tent. There was a lot of nickering, stamping hooves and ringing of horse bells - and soon they had moved on.

By the way it was amazing hire many horses are kept in this area of the Pyrenees, especially mini horses that aster not shy at all. And I have never seen horses with horse bells before. But there where a lot of other attractions, too. Loads of old bunkers scattered all over the landscape and very elaborate hunting hides. I still don't understand why there were hundreds of them here and none at all in the rest of the Pyrenees.

Mobile supermarket

I also came across another great aspect of village life here. Coming into a little village I asked a local woman whether I could buy bread anywhere. The place was so small that there was no hope for a grocery store, but sometimes the local bar sells bread. I was told that no such a thing exists here but that she herself was just waiting for the bread man. The bread man turned out to be a man in a little van driving through all the little villages selling bread at a certain hour of the day. He was announcing himself by wildly honking his horn which made all the housewives come rushing out of their houses with money in their hands. I had just been very lucky to be at the right time at the right place. I happily bought a loaf of bread and wondered why the other woman was still sticking around. Two minutes after the departure of the bread man the fruit and fish man appeared in yet another bigger van. This was better service than in many supermarkets! I bought some peaches, had a great lunch and was a very happy hiker.

I really liked this last lower part of the Pyrenees where I was back to 30 km days but I was also looking forward to eventually getting out of the mountains. I had a parcel with guidebooks waiting for me in Irun which meant to either hurry and be there on Saturday morning or take my time and get there on Monday. I hurried and really made it in time for the post office. I decided I deserved a treat for that and found myself a nice and cheap hostal which was half a miracle as everything else seemed to be fully booked due to fiesta time. The hostal owner keeps talking to me in Spanish for hours and it is stinking hot in my room but I am happy to be done with the Pyrenees and lying on my bed not doing anything. Well, I am doing something: surfing the internet! This is a success in itself as I have had tremendous problems to achieve this. First I could not find a place where to buy a SIM card. Then I found and bought a SIM card but could not get internet reception. Then it dawned on me that the card did not come with an APN. I changed to the correct APN but still no reception for internet, only for calls. Eventually I found a shop that sold another brand of SIM cards with a friendly owner and no other customers waiting. Within 15 minutes I had a new SIM card that was actually working and had a decent internet flat rate. How have I hiked before without a smartphone?

Tomorrow I will start out on the Camino del Norte which makes me a pilgrim. Hopefully the trails will be easier now as there is a lot of sightseeing along the route. And hopefully it will cool down a bit. Despite being on the coast it is awfully and unusually hot right now: up to 35 degrees celsius.

GR 11: the decision

As I was slowly progressing down the GR 11 I had to realise a bitter fact: at this speed I would never make it to the end of my hike in time. It had been stupid to already book my onward flight and have a set date for my next adventure without enough buffer time in between. But as much as I lamented it now: it could not be changed. I could only learn a lesson for the future on route planning.

I therefore had three options now: 

• increase hiking speed tremendously which would be difficult due to the steep terrain. Also this would very much compromise my enjoyment of the hike. There is so much to see and I feel that I need more rest. I was also wondering whether I would even physically be able to hike that fast for the remaining 6 weeks.
• hike a shorter alternative but there was only one very unattractive option left: hike the GR 11 only until Somport Pass or Roncesvalles and continue on the Camino Frances. This Camino seems the most boring and definitely most overcrowded Camino of all to me. The vision of hiking with hundreds of other pilgrims next to major highways in the blazing August sun was a nightmare to me. I wanted to stick with the less popular Camino del Norte that also offered a nice changer of scenery by following the coast. 
•  skip a section of the trail which is totally against my principle of a continuous hike. But when I had studied the maps and guidebooks for the upcoming section it had dawned on me that I had already hiked it many years ago. I also realised that I dreaded these next days with thousands of metres of steep elevation gain and loss. My Achilles tendon is hurting and my left knee is making strange noises. I am not enjoying this Pyrenean mountain climbing.

Bottom line: I have decided to skip 120 km of the GR 11 that I have already hiked before. This seems like a short distance but it would have taken me at least 5 days. I will leave the trail at Bielsa, take bus and train to Canfranc and continue from there as planned to the Atlantic Ocean and the Camino del Norte.

I am not very happy about skipping a section but at least I have already hiked it before. It seems the best alternative for me. When I had made this decision it felt like a huge weight had been lifted from me. I felt so relieved that there world not be much more boulder hopping and continuous 2,000 metres elevation gains. After Canfranc the trail does not rise above 2,000 metres of altitude any more. Hopefully I well be back now to easier hiking!

GR 11 Part 2

The GR 11 has been very beautiful and very brutal. I am not quite sure whether I like it or not. My opinion changes everyday depending on how many steep metres of elevation gain I had to do...

The worst part so far has been Portella de Baiau, a high mountain pass. First there had been an endless ascent of almost 2,000 metres straight. But this had been nothing compared to the view down the other side of the pass: several hundred metres of almost vertical descent over loose scree. I could not believe that this was seriously meant to be the GR, but there was no other way... And of course no waymarks. So very slowly I started to descend, sometimes sliding down on my butt and always scared shitless of killing myself. It wasn't only me who was scared. A Spanish hiker behind me said that he as well thought that this was too dangerous for a GR. He skied down constantly falling. After that you descend over more boulder fields and of course again no waymarks when you need them but a posh refuge. I wish they would spend the money on marking the trail better and making it safer instead of splurging on refuges.

Thus had been the worst post do far but almost every day I fight with incredible steep ascents and descents and scramble over boulder fields. For me, this is not fun! I wonder why it is do difficult here whereas I can't remember anything that difficult on the PCT! Are the mountains so different here? Why can't there be nice and easy trail like in the Sierra?

Every day I kept running into my Spanish friend. In the beginning he was very shy but after I talked to him in Spanish it turned out that he had just hiked the Camino del Norte and Primitivo that are next on my list. He is also hiking the GR 11 in my direction. Although he is a much faster and younger hiker than me he takes as long as I do because he is taking hourlong breaks. His biggest problem is food. He is convinced that dehydrated crap hiker food will kill him and insists on a diet of brown rice. Only that he could not get brown rice in the last resupply town of Espot. I found resupply options pretty decent there but he could not find anything for his ecological palate. Despite having no money he decided to eat in the refuges instead and was surprised when he had to pay 18 EUR for 3 crap sandwiches. Other hikers took pity on him and gave him some dehydrated noodle soup but he told me he could not eat it after reading the ingredients. Last time I saw him he was so hungry he wanted to leave the trail. I thought of giving him some of my food but he would not eat that either... Some people have too delicate a stomach for the trail.

But I had another great encounter on the trail. I tan into an American hiker and after chatting a minute I told him about the triple crown. He then asked me whether I am the "famous" German Tourist! What a surprise! It turned out that he had hiked the AT the same year I had and had always been only a couple of days behind me reading my register entries. The hiker world is so small and I could have chatted with him forever. It came as a great relief to me that Two Litres (that is his trail name) found the trail as demanding as I do. He was well behind schedule as well. And I had thought that it was just me who suffered...

But it was not all suffering. I had a lovely half day rest in Espot where I decided to treat myself to a restaurant lunch that filled me up so much that I rolled out of the restaurant. And then I discovered a free swimming pool! It was a beautiful sunny day and I spent the afternoon with a full belly lounging in the pool and lying around reading. Wonderful! The next stage was through the National Park of Sant Maurici where camping is prohibited and I did not want to risk a fine. The park was full of tourists and rangers but luckily I managed to make it through the park in one day.

The weather is usually great but I managed to run into one of the rare extended lows. Of course this also happened to be one of the more difficult hiking days. The whole day I hiked under black clouds and rumbling thunder. Progress was incredibly slow and boulder hopping almost all the time. This is not made easier by wet rocks and I started to hate the GR 11. The weather threatened to be really bad and I wanted to camp as low as possible. I had just made it to the first rare trees when a storm was rolling in and I set up my tent not a second too early. It turned out to be a horrible night. The first storm raged for an hour and ended in bean size hail. I was worried how my tent would hold up to these big hail stones. To my very positive surprise my tent survived the rain, hail and wind almost dry! Outside you could barely see and the landscape got white with hail. I managed to fall asleep when two hours later the next storm moved in, again with heavy rain and hail. I thought it would never stop and it continued until daybreak. I woke up to singing when a hiker group passed next to my tent...and there was beautiful sunshine now. I was fed up and just wanted to get to Benasque.

It still took me half a day with no food left. When I arrived I went to the first restaurant and ate before finding a hotel. Benasque is quite nice although overpriced. I managed to buy a Spanish SIM card but no internet coverage. At least there was wifi although it does not seem to work very well on my smartphone.

I am hiking out today and hope to soon be done with the high mountain stuff. I want to hike, not climb...

GR 11 part 1

L'illa refuge

Connecting to the GR 11 had brought me into Spain but the trail would soon pass through Andorra. The weather was threatening to turn bad and I hurried to the first refuge. L'illa was a huge unmanned hut and a big group of hikers were sitting outside. Immediately I disliked them and was right. They were all cracking stupid jokes, smoking and mainly guarding their huge supply of beer cans that they were cooling in the water fountain. Inside the hut it didn't get better. A big group of Spanish hikers had arrived who now very noisily had lunch that mainly consisted of a bottle of wine each. No wonder the officials had placed a big trash can outside the hut that could be helicoptered out. It was full to the brim with beer cans and bottles. There was no tranquillity at this hut and the main target for local hikers seemed to get drunk.

When the weather cleared a bit I left wondering how far I would get. The weather forecast had been really bad predicting thunderstorms in the evening. All the ensuing huts were also full of merry hikers and so I hiked on and on despite black clouds in the sky. And then it started thundering and I realised I was in trouble. No campsites in this steep terrain. Luckily I had a guidebook for the GR 11 and that promised a shelter soon. I more or less ran down the trail hoping for the shelter to appear. Just minutes before the deluge started I saw it. Just in time!

The shelter was huge and nice but it had one big problem. It was meant to be a barbecue shelter and had a rough and uneven stone floor. Outside it was just pouring down flooding everything. It was one of those thunderstorms you don't survive dry in no matter what tent. When the rain let up a bit I checked the ground outside. Everything was still flooded and I had to face sleeping on the rough stone floor. To say it was uncomfortable is an understatement. At midnight I gave up and moved my tent outside. But as soon as I had settled in it started raining again. My tent was only sloppily set up in freestanding mode and would not withstand serious rain in this setup. Grudgingly I moved back into the shelter.. After about 1 hour of sleep I was woken up by loud techno music. Apparently some kids in the valley had decided to have some impromptu after hour techno party in an empty parking lot and noise travelled very far in the valley. At 7 am I gave up and packed. Not a minute to early as soon the first hikers appeared.

View over Encamp

Grumpily and tired I walked into Encamp in the valley. I was completely out of food and hungry on top of being tired. Things improved after a huge breakfast out of the local big supermarket. My French phonecard would not work here any more but then I discovered free wifi. At that point I decided to once be reasonable and stay. I walked into the first hotel and was surprised how cheap it was. I paid 43 Eur for a fantastic room, great AYCE dinner and breakfast buffet and free wifi. Having a rest day here had been a very wise decision. I had slept well, could repair my gear and update my blog. Life is good again!