This was the summer for a jerry-rigged Camino. I started in Madrid and walked the Camino de Madrid to Sahagun (I've got a separate post on that camino). https://www.caminodesantiago.me/community/threads/my-leisurely-stages-on-the-camino-de-madrid.11148/
I then got on the Camino Frances and walked to Ponferrada, and then went onto the Camino de Invierno. The Camino de Invierno is open and ready for business! Since Reb wrote her very helpful CSJ online guide, there must have been several major arrow-marking and general signage efforts. You do not have to worry about getting lost (at least not too badly
). The scenery is just incredible, it's a very beautiful camino. I have sent my detailed walking notes to Rebekah for her to figure out what to do with, but if anyone else wants them before the revisions come online, just PM me.
I was surprised at the vehemence with which the hospitaleros in Ponferrada tried to dissuade me from taking this route. They told me it wasn't marked, that it was dangerous, that I shouldn't do it alone. And I was also surprised at the lack of knowledge on the part of the people in the tourist office. There is some printed information, and there are some signs in town describing the route, but the Camino de Invierno is still very much totally overshadowed by the Camino Frances. And that's fine, it's not a competition, but I do think there's a real value in having such a beautiful alternative, especially at the exact point where the crowds really start to heat up on the Frances.
Even more than the Camino de Madrid, this route is incredibly solitary, at least until you join up with the Via de la Plata at the albergue in A Laxe. I will admit that a few days were kind of hard on my spirits. I think in part that the shock of breaking off the Camino Frances (after about a week walking there and having made a couple of pretty tight walking buddies), coupled with already having walked a pretty solitary Camino de Madrid, made it harder. I vividly remember leaving the Ponferrada albergue early in the morning with my Camino Frances friend Paulette, and giving her a big hug and goodbye at the place where the sign pointed "Camino de Invierno." It was hard. I didn't meet one other pilgrim while I was on the Invierno, but the night before arriving in Santiago (by then the Invierno had merged into the Via de la Plata), I met another peregrina who had used Rebekah's guide and had been a day behind me on the Invierno. She said she had frequently thought she saw footprints, which made her feel less alone, and she assumes now that they were my footprints. So you can see that if seeing footprints makes you feel less alone, this is a VERY lonely camino.
It is also an incredibly beautiful and varied camino. There was so much to soak in, so much to appreciate of what these remote areas of Spain are like. I did spend a lot of time in public places, like parks, cafes, libraries, and had lots of frequent conversations with the locals. Without that contact, it wouldn't have been enjoyable. For some, having no human contact would be a real plus, for others a deal-killer, it just depends on you. I would walk this Camino again in a minute, IF I thought I was going to run into at least one or two others at the end of the day and/or on the road. If you don't like walking alone, this is not the camino for you. But if you do, go for it. It's totally safe, wonderfully off-road (with the road walking limited to roads that have no traffic on them) and a lot of different kinds of terrain.
Though the signage is now terrific, the pilgrim infrastructure lags behind. One private albergue has opened up in A Rua (currently 3 beds, plans for a bigger room with more), and there is a youth albergue in Quiroga, which is big and well maintained. There is also a relatively new albergue in the old school building of Xagoaza, which is a few km outside of O Barco de Valdeorras, and a couple of kms up a hill and off the Camino. I didn't hear anything about plans to build more, but there are two active Camino de Invierno groups, and they moved heaven and earth to get the signage up to a high standard, so they can probably help get some more albergues opened along the way.
I will describe my stages in the next post.
I then got on the Camino Frances and walked to Ponferrada, and then went onto the Camino de Invierno. The Camino de Invierno is open and ready for business! Since Reb wrote her very helpful CSJ online guide, there must have been several major arrow-marking and general signage efforts. You do not have to worry about getting lost (at least not too badly
). The scenery is just incredible, it's a very beautiful camino. I have sent my detailed walking notes to Rebekah for her to figure out what to do with, but if anyone else wants them before the revisions come online, just PM me.I was surprised at the vehemence with which the hospitaleros in Ponferrada tried to dissuade me from taking this route. They told me it wasn't marked, that it was dangerous, that I shouldn't do it alone. And I was also surprised at the lack of knowledge on the part of the people in the tourist office. There is some printed information, and there are some signs in town describing the route, but the Camino de Invierno is still very much totally overshadowed by the Camino Frances. And that's fine, it's not a competition, but I do think there's a real value in having such a beautiful alternative, especially at the exact point where the crowds really start to heat up on the Frances.
Even more than the Camino de Madrid, this route is incredibly solitary, at least until you join up with the Via de la Plata at the albergue in A Laxe. I will admit that a few days were kind of hard on my spirits. I think in part that the shock of breaking off the Camino Frances (after about a week walking there and having made a couple of pretty tight walking buddies), coupled with already having walked a pretty solitary Camino de Madrid, made it harder. I vividly remember leaving the Ponferrada albergue early in the morning with my Camino Frances friend Paulette, and giving her a big hug and goodbye at the place where the sign pointed "Camino de Invierno." It was hard. I didn't meet one other pilgrim while I was on the Invierno, but the night before arriving in Santiago (by then the Invierno had merged into the Via de la Plata), I met another peregrina who had used Rebekah's guide and had been a day behind me on the Invierno. She said she had frequently thought she saw footprints, which made her feel less alone, and she assumes now that they were my footprints. So you can see that if seeing footprints makes you feel less alone, this is a VERY lonely camino.
It is also an incredibly beautiful and varied camino. There was so much to soak in, so much to appreciate of what these remote areas of Spain are like. I did spend a lot of time in public places, like parks, cafes, libraries, and had lots of frequent conversations with the locals. Without that contact, it wouldn't have been enjoyable. For some, having no human contact would be a real plus, for others a deal-killer, it just depends on you. I would walk this Camino again in a minute, IF I thought I was going to run into at least one or two others at the end of the day and/or on the road. If you don't like walking alone, this is not the camino for you. But if you do, go for it. It's totally safe, wonderfully off-road (with the road walking limited to roads that have no traffic on them) and a lot of different kinds of terrain.
Though the signage is now terrific, the pilgrim infrastructure lags behind. One private albergue has opened up in A Rua (currently 3 beds, plans for a bigger room with more), and there is a youth albergue in Quiroga, which is big and well maintained. There is also a relatively new albergue in the old school building of Xagoaza, which is a few km outside of O Barco de Valdeorras, and a couple of kms up a hill and off the Camino. I didn't hear anything about plans to build more, but there are two active Camino de Invierno groups, and they moved heaven and earth to get the signage up to a high standard, so they can probably help get some more albergues opened along the way.
I will describe my stages in the next post.
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