GPS tracks needed to walk Olvidado?

[HeatherV]

Hi all,

I'm planning to walk the Olvidado in early April and I have the various guides and info sheets that have been referenced, but I'm also seeing a lot of references to tracks. For those who have been on this route recently, do I need to have the tracks or would I be ok just following the guides and the signage?

Thanks,
Heather

 

[peregrina2000]

Hi all,

I'm planning to walk the Olvidado in early April and I have the various guides and info sheets that have been referenced, but I'm also seeing a lot of references to tracks. For those who have been on this route recently, do I need to have the tracks or would I be ok just following the guides and the signage?

Thanks,
Heather

Hi, Heather,
I think it depends on whether you are planning to walk the mountain alternatives. If you have seen Ender’s guide, from Guardo to Puente Almuhey there is a short option (mainly on the road) or a mountain option. Same is true for Boñar to La Magdalena (3 days with mountains, two days on the road). I think that for the mountain options, a GPS would be a good idea, because some of it is pretty remote. If you are going in early April, I think it would also be a good idea to check on snow in the mountains. Buen camino, Laurie

 

[HeatherV]

Hi Laurie,

Thanks so much for your response! I'm starting from Bilbao and only walking 10-11 days, aiming to get to Puente Almuhey or Cistierna. I'd love to take the mountain alternative if the weather holds, but you've convinced me I need to learn to use the wikiloc tracks or stick to the road. I've been following some Spanish pilgrims on the route now and the section I'll walk looks clear of snow, but the forecast does look a bit dicey further out. My mountain Camino weather luck seems to be running out at last.

~Heather

 

[omicko]

Hi Laurie,

Thanks so much for your response! I'm starting from Bilbao and only walking 10-11 days, aiming to get to Puente Almuhey or Cistierna. I'd love to take the mountain alternative if the weather holds, but you've convinced me I need to learn to use the wikiloc tracks or stick to the road. I've been following some Spanish pilgrims on the route now and the section I'll walk looks clear of snow, but the forecast does look a bit dicey further out. My mountain Camino weather luck seems to be running out at last.

~Heather

Hello Heather, I'm a bit confused, are you on a Camino now following some Spanish pilgrims or are you following some Spanish pilgrims on their Blog? And if the latter are you still planning to do this Camino in early April?
A knowledgeable person told me after the 15th of April it should be snow free. That's why I left Bilbao on the 2nd of May. Some of the roads have 4m high posts painted red and white either side of the road. This is to indicate where the edges of the road are when there are heavy snow falls. See my photo signature that shows one of the two patches of snow I encountered.
When HIKING in an area that you don't know a map and compass is necessary. Modern technology now allows us to use a Track on a GPS. Saying that it is still recommendable to bring a map and compass in case there is a problem with the GPS. Guides and info sheets are not maps and by maps I mean good quality detailed maps like the Ordnance Survey Maps I have in England.
The signage on the Camino Olvidado in general is good. Being lost on some of the more common Caminos at times is part of the adventure, ( or for me it is ) where, for whatever reason, we miss a sign. My analogy for getting out of this is the 3,4,5 right-angled triangle, where we should be walking the 5 units of the triangle but we miss a sign and end up walking the 3 and 4 units of the triangle. 1/2 to 1 hour longer. You deduce this by instinct or by a local telling you. Nowadays using a GPS now and again is a great aid in this matter if you are having doubts about a route.
The mountain sections on this route are a different kettle of fish, you don't want to be lost here at all. Highest peak is just short of 1700 metres. ( Even in the smaller mountains in England you can experience all the seasons in 1 minute ). It is possible you could do the mountain tracks without a GPS but I wouldn't do it.The trails in the mountains with a GPS as a backup gives you that added confidence. The GPS Tracks also helped me when the weather changed for 30 minutes and visibility was very bad, in the mountains between ARROYO AND OLEA, (YOU'LL BE WALKING THROUGH THIS SECTION) where, when the clouds came down it was like pea soup.
So to summarise, in my opinion, GPS tracks are ESSENTIAL FOR THE MOUNTAIN SECTIONS ON THIS CAMINO. Don't be scared of the mountains just give them respect and you will thoroughly enjoy this Camino. Also start doing NOW all the techy stuff with the GPS and Tracks using the free software - it takes a long time. Cheers,Mick

 

[AlanSykes]

Strongly agree with Mick and Laurie that some form of GPS tracking is virtually essential for the highland sections of the Olvidado. For the section between Guardo and Puente Almuhey they are especially necessary. "Ender", the "Angel of the Olvidado" without whom the upland bits would effectively still be uncharted, has made wikiloc tracks for both upland and the former paths of the Olvidado. I'm quite sure I would have had to give up if I hadn't had them to follow - between Velilla del Río Carrión and Caminayo last November, for example, I lost count of the number of alternative possibilities for getting lost in beautiful thick woods, and without the umbilical cord of Ender's wikiloc (he uses the wikiloc name of enderjace) I undoubtedly would have done. According to the mayor of Caminayo, I was the first person on that route in over a week, so getting lost or injured would have been inadvisable. Also, at the time there were very few yellow arrows, although when I met Ender the following week he said he was planning to do some marking soon, so it might be better now.

It was an astonishingly, jaw-droppingly lovely day - at one point I found myself at 5000' looking down on a pair of circling eagles - and I'd recommend it to anybody but, as Mick says, treat it with respect. The other mountain alternatives (Boñar to Vegacervera and La Pola de Gordón to La Magdalena) are equally beautiful but much easier to navigate.

Here are Ender's wikiloc tracks for that day, and you can compare them with mine, showing some of the times I missed the path.

ETAPA 10 B GUARDO - PUENTE ALMUHEY POR VELILLA Y CAMINAYO

ETAPA 10 B GUARDO - PUENTE ALMUHEY POR VELILLA Y CAMINAYO Hiking trail in Guardo, Castilla y León (España). Download its GPS track and follow the itinerary on a map. Camino Olvidado a Santiago: Etapa de montaña entre Guardo y Puente Almuhey por Caminayo. Etapa preciosa entre bosques de robles y...

www.wikiloc.com

Velilla del río Carrión to Caminayo, Camino Olvidado

Velilla del río Carrión to Caminayo, Camino Olvidado Hiking trail in Velilla del Río Carrión, Castilla y León (España). Download its GPS track and follow the route on a map. Record your own itinerary from the Wikiloc app, upload the trail and share it with the community.

www.wikiloc.com

 

[HeatherV]

I wanted to pop back in to thank Mick and Alan for weighing in and provide a couple of updates. I did write my "following" sentence in a confusing way - I wasn't on the trail until April, but was watching the facebook and instagram postings of people who were out in March, as well as following the weather in general since late February.

I walked April 4 to April 14. This winter was extremely mild with some very warm temps in February and March, so the melt was unseasonably early and there was no snow on the trail by then. But this was an unusual year, so there would normally be snow in early April and even mid-late April as we saw last week. Even with my "mild" weather I saw everything from sunny and low 60s to intense rain and sleet storms and nighttime temps dropping below freezing.

I didn't end up doing the mountain stage between Guardo and Puente Almuhey - I tweaked my ankle on the Cervera-Guardo stage and didn't want to risk aggravating it with the distance and the solitude. There were two pilgrims a day ahead of me, but I met no other pilgrims on the entire 11 days I walked. Because of the solitude, I'd recommend Ender's wikiloc tracks to anyone walking solo on any stage beyond Villasana or so. The marking is generally good, but it is still in flux and there are some stages with defaced arrows. One note - the tracks do not always match the signage from Santelices to Olea. Chuchi and Nerea in the Santelices albergue make and place the wooden signs on those sections and they told me they're still working with Ender to align the tracks and signage on a few parts of those sections. The forest and open hills between Retortillo and Cervatos and then between Cervatos and Olea are places where I had to choose between following the tracks and the arrows because they didn't match up.

As far as guides, I used Mick's services list, Laurie's very detailed 2014 guide, and Ender's 2019 Spanish guide. The services list was really helpful because there are so few services on some of the stages, but I found myself referring to everything. Laurie's has such good info on the things to see along the way!

Other than that, it's an absolutely stunning route with incredibly welcoming people. It felt like half the town of Villasana tried to direct me to a place to stay when the Hospederia Foramontanos ended up being temporarily closed due to a change in ownership.

On that note, is there a way to update Mick's document with new accommodation options or prices? Bar Trebol in Villasana offers beds in a nearby house for 20 euros with breakfast included, and the folks at the Santelices albergue wanted me to make sure people knew that they only charge 5 euros, not 6. (They will also call ahead to make sure pilgrims have a spot in the Camping in Arija and at Casa Miguel in Olea.) There is also an option to pay for dinner at the albergue in Guardo, so you don't have to buy food and lug it up the hill unless you're planning to do the mountain alternative the next day.
I think there is also now a bar in Tarilonte, which is key since the Cervera-Guardo stage now bypasses Castrejón De la Peña, but I have to double-check my notes. I just know that I found somewhere to stop before Santibañez de la Peña.

I'll update more if I recall anything else.

~Heather

 

[peregrina2000]

Heather, thanks for the memories! Oh, I remember those open hills before Cervato, we sort of felt like we were wandering in circles! Did you visit the church? Erotic capitals were something I had never expected to see.

And the Casa Miguel in Olea was such a nice surprise. I imagine that in summer there will be no room for pilgrims since it is essentially a tourist accommodation. We arrived unannounced and the family treated us royally.

When I walked the Olvidado a few years ago, my buddy left me in Aguilar and I was alone the rest of the way. This year I’m heading back to walk from Aguilar, hoping to do Ender’s mountain alternatives, and I’m likely to be alone again. So it’s always reassuring to hear that other solo walkers enjoyed it. I am sorry you didn’t have the chance to walk the mountain route from Guardo, fingers crossed I can do it (and I will definitely have GPS). Did you walk to Vegacervera or the alternative route through La Robla? The second was my only option when I walked and it was a bit tedious with a lot of road walking.

Thanks again for the update, buen camino, Laurie