Hospitales & La Pola routes: distance clarification please

[Jo H]

Hi. Previous forum posts inform me that the Hospitales route starts close to the Albergue Los Hospitales in Colinas de Arriba even though this is not evident to me on guide maps such as Gronze. So I am wondering if I did stay there and chose to walk the Hospitales route, how many kms is it to Berducedo from the albergue? (I am hoping it is less the 24.1kms Borres- Berducedo shown in Gronze for the Hospitales route.) Also is this the official waymarked camino route or a shortcut variant that is also waymarked?

 

[David with new Kit!]

We stayed there 2 weeks ago and it’s 21km to Berducedo. The start of the climb is immediately outside of the Albergue. Don’t get hung up on “official” routes, it’s just another way to get to the Hospitales route. It’s also very well marked.

 

[Anhalter]

I have not stayed in Colinas de Arriba, so no first hand knowledge. But from looking at maps, there is a way up to Hospitales of about 1,5km and then you just follow the normal route. It looks like it is in total a bit shorter than if you'd walk from Borres, maybe 1-2km. However, i would say it doesnt actually matter, with the Hospitales route the effort is in the elevation, not the distance, and that will be about the same either from Borres or Colinas (or Campiello, where i started)