LIVE from the Camino On Viejo, Olvidado, Invierno

[Paulo Arantes]

@caminka @VNwalking and all others who got interested on this Camino I'm doing, started walking today.
For the last few months I've been preparing myself and studying the options I had to do this Camino.
And on the first day I had to put my studies to proof.
Yesterday rained A LOT in all north Spain. All north. Really pouring rain.
I arrived in Pamplona under heavy rain and received messages from 2 friends who are doing the Primitivo telling how hard it was because of the rain.
Went to Bar Gaucho and met a few pilgrims there, same story.
To add to that, the hotel I had booked for the end of the first day sent me a message canceling my reservation because they had some kind of electric problems because of the rain.
The place where I booked a room to rest on he end of the second day did not responded any of messages to confirm if they would keep it...
And then came the anxiety... Going on a new Camino with little peregrino support, the rain, not many options of places to stay...
Called my wife and daughter, talked to them and was decided to spend one day in Pamplona to decide what to do.
Then today I woke up early, thought for a while and decided to walk Carminka's path to Irutzun. And thank you Carminka, I was really happy to walk your path. It was a great day. Today I am at Irutzun and if the weather helps, tomorrow I'll climb the mountain opposite to the Brian and visit the Santuario San Miguel in Excelsis.

Santuario San Miguel in Excelsis · Uharte-Arakil, Navarre

maps.app.goo.gl

It is described in some books about ancient routes of Santiago. Then I'll choose a path to descent and be closer to Alsasua.

I think this way to start was a good way to test the alternatives I've been studying. I won't lie, it was hard when I arrived in Pamplona, so many things going wrong in so little time but these are the opportunities we need to grow.

Sipping a sidra now, relaxing and getting ready for tomorrow.

Below the favorite picture of the day...

 

[caminka]

A bit of a dodgy start but I am sure it will become a wonderful camino very soon. Wishing you the best weather possible and a buen camino!

 

[peregrina2000]

So good to see that you’ve started. I will follow closely because I hope to walk this way next year. I do have @caminka’s tracks for Pamplona to Hiriberri, which is a few kms after Irurtzún. Are there two different sets of tracks, one for Hiriberri and one for Irurtzun? (Maybe @caminka is better able to answer this question!)

Then I'll choose a path to descent and be closer to Alsasua.

So that means you won’t be staying at the monastery at Zamartze?

Buen camino, Paulo!

 

[Paulo Arantes]

So good to see that you’ve started. I will follow closely because I hope to walk this way next year. I do have @caminka’s tracks for Pamplona to Hiriberri, which is a few kms after Irurtzún. Are there two different sets of tracks, one for Hiriberri and one for Irurtzun? (Maybe @caminka is better able to answer this question!)


So that means you won’t be staying at the monastery at Zamartze?

Buen camino, Paulo!

Hi @peregrina2000 !!!
On my way down from the sanctuary I'll decide about the monastery at Zamartze. It is a possibility I'll stay there but I'm deciding as I go.

 

[Pilgrim 122]

Thanks for doing this 'live from the camino' I'm at Sanguesa on the Aragones at the moment and heading onto the viejo. Im quite a few day behind you but also hoping to go to the Sanctuary San Miguel , I look forward to your updates. Buen Camino!

 

[Kirkie]

@Paulo Arantes , you wrote: And then came the anxiety... Going on a new Camino with little peregrino support, the rain, not many options of places to stay..
This morning I read these words:
What looks like total failure and emptiness is often the doorway to a new life.
With a little stretch of the imagination, although your situation was not about failure, it could confirm your wise choice in being nimble footed and minded! and changing plans.
I am glad I opened your thread, I will be happy to follow your progress.

 

[caminka]

So good to see that you’ve started. I will follow closely because I hope to walk this way next year. I do have @caminka’s tracks for Pamplona to Hiriberri, which is a few kms after Irurtzún. Are there two different sets of tracks, one for Hiriberri and one for Irurtzun? (Maybe @caminka is better able to answer this question!)

Yes and no. (But mine is only one track and it goes through Irurtzun. There are others that stop in Irurtzun. Whoever's tracks were used for waymarked trails and mapy.cz are not mine because I didn't walk on the main road out of Pamplona.)

I don't know if the camino follows my tracks (I sometimes find out later that a route is now following the route I've walked when I walked it ).

 

[Paulo Arantes]

@Paulo Arantes , you wrote: And then came the anxiety... Going on a new Camino with little peregrino support, the rain, not many options of places to stay..
This morning I read these words:
What looks like total failure and emptiness is often the doorway to a new life.
With a little stretch of the imagination, although your situation was not about failure, it could confirm your wise choice in being nimble footed and minded! and changing plans.
I am glad I opened your thread, I will be happy to follow your progress.

Thank you for your words.
That is what I learned today. I studied a lot about this Camino and made a lot of plans. With all the problems I had, I took a step back and cancelled the plans. I have enough information to decide what to do on each situation. And the Camino provides. The changes were for the better.
I left Irurtzun and went all the way uphill to the Santuario San Miguel in Excelsis. And it was one of the most amazing trails I've ever done. Beautiful in every detail. It was hard, more than 900 vertical meters but worth every sweat drop.
A little too muddy, because of the rain of the last few days but still incredible.
On my way down, went to the monasterio in Ugarte Arakil, @peregrina2000 . It was closed. So I went to a bar and asked them about the monasterio and they told me most of the days they don't accept guests after 14:00. It was ready almost 17:00.
And the city has no places to stay. So I walked to Arbizu and I'm staying here for this night.
The San Miguel Sanctuary is beautiful and totally worth the visit, @Pilgrim 122 .
I'll leave a few pictures below.

 

[VNwalking]

Following, as I also hope to put virtual plans into reality next year.

I don't imagine you'll be going straight up the other side of the valley to Beriain tomorrow? What Caminka did sounds amazing.

 

[peregrina2000]

On my way down, went to the monasterio in Ugarte Arakil, @peregrina2000 . It was closed. So I went to a bar and asked them about the monasterio and they told me most of the days they don't accept guests after 14:00. It was ready almost 17:00.
And the city has no places to stay. So I walked to Arbizu and I'm staying here for this night.

Sorry it didn’t work out. That was another 6 km you went on to Arbizu, wow! Not sure I would have that in me after the ascent. Paulo, would you mind including names of places you stayed and prices? It’d be a great help to give us Viejo-wannabes that practical information.

And the beautiful San Miguel! And the beautiful views! And you are only starting. It looks wonderful.

 

[Paulo Arantes]

@VNwalking with the extra 6 km yesterday, I am a little ahead from the Berain ascent. I'll make today a lighter day to rest from yesterday.
The Arakil valley is not a very attractive place. Lots of factories and small villages with little support.
But the mountains on both sides are incredible. I think the best plan would be to keep walking on top of them and come down at the end of the Arakil Valley.
On the San Miguel Sanctuary they will build a a hotel with 27 rooms and a pilgrims hostal with 30 beds. It's planned to finish before 2027.
I am writing down all the places I'm staying as well as places I eat, @peregrina2000 and recording all the tracks I walk.
Finishing the Camino I'll share them with you all.

 

[Paulo Arantes]

I'm using this app to keep my family updated.
I'll leave the link here so you can follow me through the app too.

Follow me on my trip ‘Camino Viejo / Olvidado / Invierno’ at https://www.polarsteps.com/PauloArantes1/13872151-camino-viejo-olvidado-invierno

 

[VNwalking]

a pilgrims hostal with 30 beds

Oh!?
Hmmmm.

Paolo, during the planning thread, we played with ideas of detours to Beasain (to include the best day on the Vasco). With that new hostel, I'm wondering if this is actually a more realistic possibility or just pie in the sky. The landscape looks amazing, but a bit daunting. (There's also a shorter direct route, but involves much more uphill.) Do you think this is nuts?

Finishing the Camino I'll share them with you all

Excellent! Gracias.

 

[caminka]

@VNwalking with the extra 6 km yesterday, I am a little ahead from the Berain ascent. I'll make today a lighter day to rest from yesterday.
The Arakil valley is not a very attractive place. Lots of factories and small villages with little support.
But the mountains on both sides are incredible. I think the best plan would be to keep walking on top of them and come down at the end of the Arakil Valley.
On the San Miguel Sanctuary they will build a a hotel with 27 rooms and a pilgrims hostal with 30 beds. It's planned to finish before 2027.
I am writing down all the places I'm staying as well as places I eat, @peregrina2000 and recording all the tracks I walk.
Finishing the Camino I'll share them with you all.

Interesting. I hope that part of the monastery complex will get converted into hotel and albergue, not that a modern building will ruin that special place.
But wonderful knews. I will peg this down for a post-2027 repeat, then.

 

[caminka]

Oh!?
Hmmmm.

Paolo, during the planning thread, we played with ideas of detours to Beasain (to include the best day on the Vasco). With that new hostel, I'm wondering if this is actually a more realistic possibility or just pie in the sky. The landscape looks amazing, but a bit daunting. (There's also a shorter direct route, but involves much more uphill.) Do you think this is nuts?
View attachment 178633


Excellent! Gracias.

Oh indeed! Lots of GR options up there.

 

[Paulo Arantes]

So, updating you all about the last two days.
Yesterday I left Abizu and walking to Alsasua would be a short stage (12 km). So I walked to San Roman, and it was longer than I expected (29 km).
Alsasua is a nice little town with lots of good bars and restaurants. The other villages after Alsasua are nice looking but with few options of places to stay or to eat. The roads here are ok, some really nice but others on tarmac and with nothing special. I'll post below a few pictures of this day.
View attachment 20241005_163010.mp4
View attachment DJI_20241005_124259_44_null_video.mp4
San Roman has a hotel that is a truck stop. Quite an experience. Nice clean rooms, fair food for a good price but lots of folks in a huge bar drinking and talking loud. Maybe it's because it was Saturday night. As a truck stop, it has a market with everything you could need . I think truck drivers and pilgrims share many needs.

Well, quite a different day today...
Started walking early, around 6:30, still dark. After 1 hour walking, my phone ran out of battery. Don't know what happened. I let it charge all night but maybe the power outlet was not working properly.
I did not find my power bank. Don't know where I lost it. As a forewarned pilgrim, got the printed stage and started following it. After a while, it started raining and in a few moments my printed stage fell apart... I did not bring one of those plastic bags for map reading in the rain.
I always study the stages the day before and was sure I would be able to remember the way...
After a while the rain stopped and I was able to see in the far a small town I was supposed to have gone through. So I walked to the next village and decided to take a bus to the end of the stage and call it a day.
The interesting thing is, other than other times in the past, I felt proud to not pursue to keep walking at any cost.
Someone told me that you can get your legs broken if you insist on doing so.
So... That was it for today.

 

[Isca-camigo]

I watched Alvaro Lazaga video for the stage he walked on the Camino Viejo today, him ard Paulo started off from the same place and finished in the same location. Alvaro had a difficult day following his wikiloc route, it was recorded two weeks ago and due to the high winds that have blown over trees since it has made the path difficult. He declined to go Paulo's way because two weeks ago there was road works blocking it.. I just had a look at Paulo,s photos, I don't know how he surmounted the road works if there was any , but it seems he had a beautiful sunny day above the clouds and the fog which Alvaro walked in. In summer they would be both beautiful ways, Paulo's the high mountain way on trails and Alvaro's will be hopefully on a cleared walk through the bosque on trails next to the Rio Ebro.

 

[Paulo Arantes]

Sorry for being so long away. Av
I met Alvaro and it was as you said. From Sobrón I took the mountain pass as Alvaro went through the river Camino. The mountain Camino was beautiful and I really encourage anyone to do it. I'll post some videos and pictures from the last few days and promise I'll be give more details on each stage as I reach Aguilar de Campoo.

 

[Paulo Arantes]

Here are they

 

[peregrina2000]

Ender has just finished the Viejo and has made a list on his wikiloc profile of all the tracks he used.

https://www.wikiloc.com/wikiloc/user.do?id=130959&event=favorites&listId=1445507

These are the tracks that Álvaro is following. It will be fun to compare your route, Paulo, with the one that Ender and Álvaro took. Especially in the later stages, Ender’s tracks seem very different from what you had planned to walk! This will give future Viejo pilgrims a lot of choices, it seems. Buen camino.

 

[VNwalking]

Woo hoo!!
Going via Oña and PdS is very different than what our planning thread did. Though we yammered on about that possibility. Interesting! And...options!

 

[Paulo Arantes]

Sorry for not being so frequent on my updates. But I'm recording everything and it's being an incredible route. Really beautiful. The logistics are not very complicated and I'm actually making changes on the previously planned route as I go.
Casa Maté in Susilia was fully booked so I'm going to a hotel in Peñasalve that seems like a nice option.
Today I'll go to Orbaneja del Castillo, from Pesquera de Ebro, a day to rest. Then it's Polientes, Peñasalve and Aguilar de Campoo.

 

[Paulo Arantes]

Just adding, I'll review them, add notes, check pictures, etc when I get back home but if you want a preview of where I've been through, check my profile on AllTrails.

https://alltrails.com/members/paulo-arantes-4?utm_campaign=mobile-android&sh=zwizi3

 

[VNwalking]

This is so exciting, Paulo. No stress. Enjoy and post as you can!

Polientes, Peñasalve and Aguilar de Campoo.

Peñasalve, away from the road and the river. A relief, too, to know that it's not necessary to walk a 40+km slog into Aguilar de Campoo.

 

[peregrina2000]

Woo hoo!!
Going via Oña and PdS is very different than what our planning thread did. Though we yammered on about that possibility. Interesting! And...options!

I think the planning thread diverges from Ender/Álvaro’s route in Oña. The planning thread did a northern loop to Aguilar, while Ender did a southerly loop. Having watched Álvaro’s first two days on the southern route through Poza de la Sal, though, I think accommodation is an issue. In Poza, he had a contact, and in Sedano, he was all set to sleep on the floor of the old theater, but someone saw him asking for cardboard in a store (to make things more comfortable) and invited him into her home. So it seems a bit more challenging, though there are some really beautiful waterfalls, and other water features on that southern route.

 

[VNwalking]

I think it'd be possible to go from Oña and Poza de la Sal back over to the Ebro (didn't @Sheffield James go that way? Vague memory.) All sorts of options there.

 

[Paulo Arantes]

I think the planning thread diverges from Ender/Álvaro’s route in Oña. The planning thread did a northern loop to Aguilar, while Ender did a southerly loop. Having watched Álvaro’s first two days on the southern route through Poza de la Sal, though, I think accommodation is an issue. In Poza, he had a contact, and in Sedano, he was all set to sleep on the floor of the old theater, but someone saw him asking for cardboard in a store (to make things more comfortable) and invited him into her home. So it seems a bit more challenging, though there are some really beautiful waterfalls, and other water features on that southern route.

Well it may be some bad luck of him or good luck uf mine but I did not come any closer to that. I've been staying in nice places and the only "trouble" I had was not having a restaurant open on Miranda de Valdevielso. But had a bar open and all solved. If it wasn't for the bar, there are SO MANY FRUITS along the road... Not on the farms, on the road. Apples, pears, grapes, peaches, raspberries, blueberries, walnuts, chestnuts... I could easily have meals all days with fruits... It's being really incredible and in 2 days I'll be in Aguilar de Campoo where it meets the Olvidado.
I'll return soon with more news.

 

[Paulo Arantes]

This was not on the side of the road...
8)

 

[Paulo Arantes]

Aguilar de Campoo!!! I arrived today with an incredible sense of accomplishment. I am very happy with all the learning I have had so far and I have decided that I have had much more than I could have expected from this path. I am very grateful to all of you for all the tips, support and patience. They were certainly essential for me to succeed.Soon I will bring all the photos, videos, GPS routes and information I gathered along the way. I can tell you all that it was an incredible route. With spectacular natural beauty, I consider it an excellent option to connect Pamplona to the Camino Olvidado.I will bring more information soon! Again, THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!

 

[Paulo Arantes]

From here I will go to Madrid and then return to my family and process all the teachings and consolidate the growth I have had on this path.

 

[Pilgrim 122]

Well done! I have enjoyed following you to see what was ahead. I finished in Dobro yesterday but have not been as adventurous as you!