- Time of past OR future Camino
- Except the Francés
I recently walked the last couple of weeks of the Olvidado, from Aguilar del Campóo to Ponferrada, following the new markings that go up into the high mountains. It was astonishingly, unforgettably, beautiful. I was lucky in only having one day of serious rain, so was often looking down from 1600m and higher, once with eagles circling below me, with views stretching over the Picos de Europa on one side and down to the distant flat of the meseta on the other.
It was occasionally quite gruelling, rarely actually climbing up or down, but often scrambling. I was told off for walking alone by one motherly old lady in one of the higher villages - "es muy peligrosa" - and I suppose she was right, as in some of the lonelier places days might pass before anybody else came past if you did have a fall, and mobile signal is often non-existent. The wikiloc tracks by enderjace are, I would say, quite essential. I'm sure I would have given up on at least a couple of the trickier sections without that lifeline, especially Guardo to Puente Almuhey vía Caminayo, possibly the toughest day (but the weather didn't help for the first 3 hours).
There are albergues, private and donativo, in Cervera de Pisuerga, Guardo, Puente Almuhey, Cistierna, Vegacervera, Buiza, La Magdalena, Vegarienza, Fasgar and Igüeña, and reasonably priced hostals everywhere else (mostly 20€, although I treated myself to a posh 35€ place at Vegacervera as I was soaked and freezing and knackered that day, and the hot bath was worth double the price). The albergues were mostly great, although I moved to the hotel in Puente Almuhey as there was no heating and no blankets in the albergue there - in the ones I stayed at (CdeP, Cistierna, Vegarienza and Fasgar) the lovely hospitaler@s made special efforts to ensure I was warm.
It was undeniably solitary. I never once saw anybody in the open countryside, and some of the villages I passed through were deserted as well. From Cervera de Pisuerga to Igüeña, 10 days, you are effectively never below 1000m in altitude, three times over 1600m, so if the weather closes in it could be nasty. I was never more than ankle deep in snow, but I wouldn't walk this way in February. Having said that, the people in the towns and villages were exceptionally kind and welcoming, sometimes perhaps a little curious about the foreigner walking so late in the season. And once I had to explain to some locals why there were strange yellow arrows painted on their lamp-posts, as they had no idea what they meant.
Once past the romanesque beauties of the Pisuerga valley, it has to be said that the towns were not beautiful - former mining towns fallen on hard times, in many cases. But the staggering beauty of the countryside between the towns more than compensated. I think it was probably the most beautiful and varied fortnight of my life.
It is not to be undertaken lightly, as this is not a walk on the beach - according to my (incomplete) wikiloc, I did more than 6000m of accumulated ascent in under a fortnight, a bit more than the height of Everest's base camp. But goodness it was worth it. And in spring or summer, with roses and flowers blooming all over the hills, it must be even more glorious.
In a word, inolvidable.
It was occasionally quite gruelling, rarely actually climbing up or down, but often scrambling. I was told off for walking alone by one motherly old lady in one of the higher villages - "es muy peligrosa" - and I suppose she was right, as in some of the lonelier places days might pass before anybody else came past if you did have a fall, and mobile signal is often non-existent. The wikiloc tracks by enderjace are, I would say, quite essential. I'm sure I would have given up on at least a couple of the trickier sections without that lifeline, especially Guardo to Puente Almuhey vía Caminayo, possibly the toughest day (but the weather didn't help for the first 3 hours).
There are albergues, private and donativo, in Cervera de Pisuerga, Guardo, Puente Almuhey, Cistierna, Vegacervera, Buiza, La Magdalena, Vegarienza, Fasgar and Igüeña, and reasonably priced hostals everywhere else (mostly 20€, although I treated myself to a posh 35€ place at Vegacervera as I was soaked and freezing and knackered that day, and the hot bath was worth double the price). The albergues were mostly great, although I moved to the hotel in Puente Almuhey as there was no heating and no blankets in the albergue there - in the ones I stayed at (CdeP, Cistierna, Vegarienza and Fasgar) the lovely hospitaler@s made special efforts to ensure I was warm.
It was undeniably solitary. I never once saw anybody in the open countryside, and some of the villages I passed through were deserted as well. From Cervera de Pisuerga to Igüeña, 10 days, you are effectively never below 1000m in altitude, three times over 1600m, so if the weather closes in it could be nasty. I was never more than ankle deep in snow, but I wouldn't walk this way in February. Having said that, the people in the towns and villages were exceptionally kind and welcoming, sometimes perhaps a little curious about the foreigner walking so late in the season. And once I had to explain to some locals why there were strange yellow arrows painted on their lamp-posts, as they had no idea what they meant.
Once past the romanesque beauties of the Pisuerga valley, it has to be said that the towns were not beautiful - former mining towns fallen on hard times, in many cases. But the staggering beauty of the countryside between the towns more than compensated. I think it was probably the most beautiful and varied fortnight of my life.
It is not to be undertaken lightly, as this is not a walk on the beach - according to my (incomplete) wikiloc, I did more than 6000m of accumulated ascent in under a fortnight, a bit more than the height of Everest's base camp. But goodness it was worth it. And in spring or summer, with roses and flowers blooming all over the hills, it must be even more glorious.
In a word, inolvidable.
But it may inspire others.
