Invierno Planning Questions 2024

[Kiwi-family]

I was feeling disappointed at the thought of needing to rewalk from Astorga to Ponferrada to join my routes in a continuous walk - and now I'm excited at the prospect!

 

[AlanSykes]

Another alternative for avoiding the Francés between Astorga and Ponferrada is to take the Camino del Manzanal up over the Puerto de Manzanal and then on to Torre del Bierzo and Bembibre.

That was the route taken by Hermann Künig, a 15th century monk and guidebook writer:

El Camino del Manzanal – Camino del Manzanal

www.caminodelmanzanal.es

 

[Kirkie]

Another alternative for avoiding the Francés between Astorga and Ponferrada is to take the Camino del Manzanal up over the Puerto de Manzanal and then on to Torre del Bierzo and Bembibre.

That was the route taken by Hermann Künig, a 15th century monk and guidebook writer:

El Camino del Manzanal – Camino del Manzanal

www.caminodelmanzanal.es

As ever, more links to follow in my spare time! Thank you.
Retirement? Dream on!
Are we not lucky people. School was never like this.
At one stage in my teaching life I thought: school should be prohibited till at least the age of 19. Maybe I have reached that now?

 

[peregrina2000]

I had a hunch it might not be to scale

Drawn to scale? What’s that?

A few more bits of info.

All the tracks I have found for the Ruta de las Puentes Malpaso have it going from Riego to Molinaseca and not Ponferrada

When I walked from Ponferrada to El Acebo on the Puentes de Malpaso, Reb had the GPS tracks. So I didn’t download any, I just recorded my own walk and followed her. You can see those tracks here. We did not go into Molinaseca, as you can see. So it’s your choice.

Ponferrada a El Acebo (Las Puentes de Malpaso)

Ponferrada a El Acebo (Las Puentes de Malpaso) Hiking trail in Ponferrada, 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

Incidentally, the only thing I could find for Penalba was 2.4km away, required a two night minimum stay and cost more than it would cost me to fly to Australia.

Peñalba has an albergue. I have the contact number. The hospitalero doesn’t want it blasted all over the internet, but I can give it to friends.

I have walked into Peñalba from all three directions you see on the map. This last year I went via San Clemente from Ponferrada. My tracks here.

Ponferrada -San Clemente-Peñalba De Santiago-Montes de Valdueza

Ponferrada -San Clemente-Peñalba De Santiago-Montes de Valdueza Hiking trail in Ponferrada, 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

I went from Ponferrada - Peñalba - Montes de Valdueza. It is only 27 km, but there’s more than 1,000 m elevation. Stopping at Peñalba would be a VERY nice thing to do. There is a bar that serves food, the church is amazing, you can visit the cave of San Genadio - and you would have the 8 km to the monastery (which has some challenging parts, mainly in the descent) for the next day. I didn’t have the flexibility in terms of time to do that, so I continued on from Peñalba. I probably had a total of 2 hours in Peñalba before continuing on to the monastery. And I was at the monastery by around 3:30 I think.

you could head down the road from Acebo towards Compludo, cross the Rio Maruelo and backtrack towards the Herreria de Compludo and take the track to Espinoso de Compludo, then the road to Ponferrada. Would this work?

As you know, Rebekah and I walked from Ponferrada to El Acebo on the Puentes de Malpaso. But we have been to the Herrería — We slept in El Acebo and the next day walked to Peñalba via the Herrería de Compludo and a couple of nice little villages. This is probably the easiest way to get to Peñalba. But I remember the last kms as endless along a wide track with no shade, so I wouldn’t say it’s the prettiest. But the forge is very interesting - just stuck out in the middle of nowhere with no people and a few info plaques. Loved it! Taking a road alternative is always possible - these roads are very untraveled, but the trails are so beautiful that I wouldn’t make it my first choice.

El Acebo to Peñalba de Santiago

El Acebo to Peñalba de Santiago Hiking trail in Compludo, 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

So now what are you thinking, @Kiwi-family?

 

[Kiwi-family]

So now what are you thinking, @Kiwi-family?

Do you really want to know? (By the way, thanks for the rest of that message too - really useful. It's going to help inform my final decision I believe.
I'm juggling two thoughts.
The first is that in 2020 I was going to walk from Valencia to Muxia (Levante, de la Plata to Astorga, Frances to Ponferrada, Invierno and to Muxia), but COVID. I had made a journal, starting on Monday 20 April. The next time that day and date coincide is in 2026, so I was quietly hoping to get to use my journal then!


Subsequently I had decided it would be nice to walk the Zamorana from Zamora instead (especially as I had planned to do the de la Plata/Frances/Invierno combination after my Mozarabe earlier this year - which didn't happen) BUT friends just asked about walking a camino with us. Although we have travelled in Cambodia together and know we can rough it, for some reason they are reluctant to use albergues and at the same time think they will not be doing a proper camino if they don't! I know many people like to repeat the Frances, but I really don't want to and so I thought perhaps I could do my original Levante plan and they could join me in Ponferrada - I think I can convince them to stay in albergues like Villavieja and Diamondi!! If they have a bit more time we could meet in Astorga. Regardless, I need to get from Astorga to Ponferrada and so I'm looking at options.
If the friends decide they really want to go next year, then I would hope to do the Mozarabe that I had planned for this year (but I'll have to see what the Chief Financial Planner has to say about three long caminos in consecutive years!) That would actually be the best option because I would get the Invierno done at the end of the Mozarabe, and then could do the Zamorana in conjunction with the Levante. I don't mind drawing a new line on that map ^^ in my journal!

So nothing in concrete. Maybe I need to have a discussion at home about "doing a camino every year" being part of our planning for the future!!! Then the question would become "which one?" rather than "will we?"

I am also really keen to do a loop from Pamplona on the Aragones/Arles/Piamonte/Frances at some stage. That looks really beautiful.

I need a couple more three week tracks that could be tagged onto a trip to Europe for other purposes!

 

[VNwalking]

I need a couple more three week tracks that could be tagged onto a trip to Europe for other purposes!

Red rag to a herd of bulls, that.

 

[jungleboy]

Our next podcast episode (to be published next week) is about Invierno planning, so hopefully it will prove useful!

As promised, our Invierno planning podcast is here! It's episode 5.5 of 'Spirit of the Camino', wherever you listen to podcasts -- or link here to the website.

 

[domigee]

That was very good, very helpful, thank you!!

I just wanted to also recommend the CR in Lestedo, a few kms after the albergue in Outeiro.

Casas rurales ¡Wow! con piscina. Galicia. Sí, para ti.

Déjate mimar en nuestras casas rurales con encanto, cerca de Santiago de Compostela.Escápate de la rutina. Imagina un lugar tranquilo para disfrutar con tu pareja, con los mismos servicios que un hotel ✅ 【OFERTAS en Reservas Directas desde la web】 ☎ 698 148 323 ☎

www.casadecasal.com

I stayed there when walking the Sanabrés and also last year at the end of the Invierno. More pricey than an albergue of course but it includes a lovely meal and a superb breakfast. The house has got quite a history as well!
Hopefully I’ll be there again in a few weeks’ time

pS yes it has a lovely pool but… this is Galicia!

 

[peregrina2000]

I just wanted to also recommend the CR in Lestedo

Totally agree on that recommendation. Yes it is above the albergue price range, but it is a very wonderful place to sort things out before you head into Santiago the next day. Not that I ever really sort things out, but it is a very relaxing and tranquil place.