Helen1
Active Member
- Time of past OR future Camino
- London to Santiago (2014)
Narbonne to Oloron (2015)
Camino Portugues (2016)
Sentier Cathar (2017)
Thought I would start a new thread about the practicalities of camping rather than add to the excellent info already posted in the tents thread. Here are my thoughts...
Safety
This is such a personal thing. I think this gets easier the more you do it because you get used to it and there are fewer unknowns but camping, especially if you don’t have permission, is not for everyone. I’m much happier in a closed tent. I feel too exposed in a bivy or a net tent. If something feels wrong move on. The more remote I am the happier I feel. I cycled with a chap who had camped in parks and town squares all the way from Belgium but I would not feel comfortable doing that. Or you could do as David says and take a dog
Toilets
If there are no facilities then you have to go outside. If you can use a squat toilet you can cope. If your legs don’t bend (and many people’s don’t at the end of the day) things will be a bit tricky! You need to take things to clean up after yourself. If you camp just outside a village you can probably hold on until you get a morning coffee and use the facilities there.
Cooking
I’m not sure why you would cook on the CF unless trying to cut costs to a minimum. There are loads of places to eat and there’s almost always somewhere to get coffee in the morning. Bread, wine, olives, salami, tomatoes, and cheese makes a pretty good no-cook meal. Carrying a kitchen knife and a lightweight lunch box to store food in is super useful. If wild camping it’s not only the cooking gear and the food you’ll need to carry but the water for cooking too which could be quite a load. See Dave’s info about Jetboil type systems. I can’t imagine many people will do 30 days of camping/cooking but if you do, you’ll need to plan on purchasing fuel somewhere. The fancier your fuel the fewer options you’ll have. As Jeff says you can get the alcohol for Trangia type stoves pretty much anywhere. I like eating a menu del dia in the afternoon and having a beer/small snack in the evening but doing this is quite isolating.
Isolation
Definitely something to think about. Camping, especially wild camping, will be solitary bliss for some and miss the whole point of the camino for others!
Water
If wild camping you need to bear in mind how far you’ll be from a water supply. Don’t go overboard here, it’s the CF so you’re never that far from civilisation but you might need to carry a bit more to get you through the night/early morning.
Washing yourself
I think this is the big difference between a camino and a long distance hike. Long distance hikers are often pretty smelly because there are no facilities until they hit the next refueling/refreshing place. On the camino you’re in and out of towns every day and people are, on the whole, very clean. If there are no facilities wet wipes do a great job as a whole body wash, if that’s too astringent try makeup remover wipes. Public toilets can be very useful to clean up in. Obviously if the place you’re staying has facilities it’s not a problem.
Washing your clothes
Stop at a place with facilities! Not cool to put soapy suds in the local stream/river.
Bike safety
Standing your bike upright makes it more obvious, lying it down means that it might be in the grass and the saddle can get very wet with dew. Not everywhere has places to securely lock a bike but many places are so small you probably won’t worry about this too much or you’ll worry more about kids taking it to play with that it being stolen.
Evening walking
For me, this is one of the joys of camping. The camino is a different place in the early evening and wonderfully peaceful but this is not for everyone and may not fit with going to mass in the evening.
Pitch race
Can’t help thinking that with so many people wanting to camp to stay isolated there’s going to be a pitch race rather than a bed race…
Sure others have much to add...
Safety
This is such a personal thing. I think this gets easier the more you do it because you get used to it and there are fewer unknowns but camping, especially if you don’t have permission, is not for everyone. I’m much happier in a closed tent. I feel too exposed in a bivy or a net tent. If something feels wrong move on. The more remote I am the happier I feel. I cycled with a chap who had camped in parks and town squares all the way from Belgium but I would not feel comfortable doing that. Or you could do as David says and take a dog
Toilets
If there are no facilities then you have to go outside. If you can use a squat toilet you can cope. If your legs don’t bend (and many people’s don’t at the end of the day) things will be a bit tricky! You need to take things to clean up after yourself. If you camp just outside a village you can probably hold on until you get a morning coffee and use the facilities there.
Cooking
I’m not sure why you would cook on the CF unless trying to cut costs to a minimum. There are loads of places to eat and there’s almost always somewhere to get coffee in the morning. Bread, wine, olives, salami, tomatoes, and cheese makes a pretty good no-cook meal. Carrying a kitchen knife and a lightweight lunch box to store food in is super useful. If wild camping it’s not only the cooking gear and the food you’ll need to carry but the water for cooking too which could be quite a load. See Dave’s info about Jetboil type systems. I can’t imagine many people will do 30 days of camping/cooking but if you do, you’ll need to plan on purchasing fuel somewhere. The fancier your fuel the fewer options you’ll have. As Jeff says you can get the alcohol for Trangia type stoves pretty much anywhere. I like eating a menu del dia in the afternoon and having a beer/small snack in the evening but doing this is quite isolating.
Isolation
Definitely something to think about. Camping, especially wild camping, will be solitary bliss for some and miss the whole point of the camino for others!
Water
If wild camping you need to bear in mind how far you’ll be from a water supply. Don’t go overboard here, it’s the CF so you’re never that far from civilisation but you might need to carry a bit more to get you through the night/early morning.
Washing yourself
I think this is the big difference between a camino and a long distance hike. Long distance hikers are often pretty smelly because there are no facilities until they hit the next refueling/refreshing place. On the camino you’re in and out of towns every day and people are, on the whole, very clean. If there are no facilities wet wipes do a great job as a whole body wash, if that’s too astringent try makeup remover wipes. Public toilets can be very useful to clean up in. Obviously if the place you’re staying has facilities it’s not a problem.
Washing your clothes
Stop at a place with facilities! Not cool to put soapy suds in the local stream/river.
Bike safety
Standing your bike upright makes it more obvious, lying it down means that it might be in the grass and the saddle can get very wet with dew. Not everywhere has places to securely lock a bike but many places are so small you probably won’t worry about this too much or you’ll worry more about kids taking it to play with that it being stolen.
Evening walking
For me, this is one of the joys of camping. The camino is a different place in the early evening and wonderfully peaceful but this is not for everyone and may not fit with going to mass in the evening.
Pitch race
Can’t help thinking that with so many people wanting to camp to stay isolated there’s going to be a pitch race rather than a bed race…
Sure others have much to add...