Merging stages

[gavin01]

I'm starting from Le Puy on the 10th June and want to be in SJPDP on the 11th July. The Michelin guide and Miam Miam Dodo has this walk broken out into 32 sections, which is one more day than I have. I'd like to get suggestions as to 3 stages that would be easiest to merge into 2, or some other way to recover the extra day. I'm a fit 60 year old and I can do 25 kilometers in under 5 hours (on level ground) without any problem.

Many thanks in advance.

Gavin

 

[diverdan]

The stages are not set. I did not follow the 33 in my book. I walked two and more several times doing the trail in 20 days. I was a few months from 60 when I did the trail about 16 months ago.

 

[Kitsambler]

Welcome to the Le Puy community on the Forum. If you've looked at the elevation profiles you'll know already that the Le Puy route is far from flat, especially the first third or so (until Figeac). At home on level ground I have no problem making 5 km/hr with a pack. On the Le Puy I was happy to average 3 km/hr over the 6 hours of walking -- not counting morning, noon, and afternoon breaks. On the other hand, the German walkers are notorious for making 40 km in a day quite regularly. On the flatter sections, between Cahors and Navarrenx (where you pick up the Pyrennees foothills), you might be able to do longer stages. However, the towns are very widely spaced in that area; so while you could walk further, there might not be a town where you'd like to stop. You have plenty of resources for planning, in the MMD and the Godescalso site. And you can make adjustments once you are walking and can see how it is working for you.

 

[Thornley]

I'm starting from Le Puy on the 10th June and want to be in SJPDP on the 11th July. The Michelin guide and Miam Miam Dodo has this walk broken out into 32 sections, which is one more day than I have. I'd like to get suggestions as to 3 stages that would be easiest to merge into 2, or some other way to recover the extra day. I'm a fit 60 year old and I can do 25 kilometers in under 5 hours (on level ground) without any problem.

Many thanks in advance.

Gavin

25 km x 31days means you will finish.
However i would be careful at the start and you cannot do the Cele valley.
Kitsamber is correct about the distances after Cahor , but not the first day after Cahors if my memory is correct.
Once past Aire its 30km days if you wish.
***This is a very different walk/camino than the Frances Gavin, very different indeed.
Solitude , beauty and accommodation are on a higher level.
**If your world will not end or the company can survive [ and it will have to one day ] then stay away for a few extra days.

 

[gavin01]

Thank you all for the advice. I was wondering about the timings as shown in the Michelin guide and had assumed that the variations were due to the altitude. The fall back plan is that I don't reach SJPDP this time. My wife will be driving down from our house in the Dordogne to pick me up somewhere en-route. I'll then pick up from where I left off next year and do the missing bit and the CF with no date restrictions.