Reflections on the Lana, May-June 2023

[peregrina2000]

@C clearly and I walked into Burgos last Saturday after the Lana (me) and the Requena/Lana (her). We talked about starting a thread with overall observations on the Lana (and I think she plans to do something similar on her Requena from Valencia to Monteagudo de las Salinas, where we met up) — reflections, specific tips, etc. This will not be another “detailed planning thread,” since the two we have are still quite current. See Alicante to Cuenca and Cuenca to Burgos.

In no particular order, here are some takeaways. Written by a jet-lagged peregrina unable to sleep.

This camino has less asphalt than any I have walked, except maybe the Madrid.

There are some fabulous detours/stops that enhanced our experience quite a bit (rest day in Cuenca, Noheda Roman ruins, taxi to San Baudelio (though you could work out a walking option and stop in Berlanga de Duero), Clunia Roman ruins, Sad Hill, Desfiladero de la Yecla, Monasterio de San Pedro de Arlanza, church in Quintanilla de las Viñas. We did not make it to Tiermes, though @Bachibouzouk has raved about his decision to go there.

Movistar has better coverage. I had Vodafone and did not have coverage in Monteagudo de Salinas, Viana de Mondejar, Caracena, Quintanarraya and maybe one or two other places (locals could frequently point me to one specific spot in or near town that could pick up Vodafone, though). In spite of that, I will probably continue to use Vodafone because of the price and the ease (Vodafone employees will take our your home sim card and put in a new one; renewal was a snap and online).

Starting in Villajoyosa was a great decision for me and @Krimpa, who walked with me/us till Cuenca. Those first three days were in the mountains, lots of off-road. It adds a day to the Lana maybe, because we went Villajoyosa - Relleu - Torremanzanas - Onil - Caudete, whereas the “normal” Lana would be Alicante - Novelda - Sax- Caudete. And our Onil-Caudete day was quite the long penitential day, 38 km, which we could have broken up in Villena, so that might add yet another day to the Villajoyosa alternative.

Alcalá del Júcar is a touristy place, but there’s no denying its spectacular setting. Stopping there after 18 km allowed for an afternoon walk of about 15 km without backpack, further along the river, which I totally enjoyed.

Private accommodation is usually available and may range from basic pensión to upscale hotel. I went to private places when possible. But there was a stretch where that was not possible, and I was very thankful for the albergues. Villaconejos - Salmerón - Viana de Mondéjar - Cifuentes. All of them were perfectly fine, and we had some great camino experiences (many have described the bodega visit in Villaconejos, for an 11 pm bedrime; Salmerón’s albergue is allegedly in an Inquisition prison but equipped with everything you need; stopping in Viana de Mondejar allowed for an afternoon ascent to the Tetas, without backpack, which I would describe as exhilirating — there may be signs saying the trail is closed because of a rockslide, but it is perfectly and safely passable; Cifuentes was a hard nut to crack despite having been in touch with the ayuntamiento the Friday before arrival, and in the end the mayor himself had to come out to show us where the keys were hidden). We also stayed in the albergue in Quintanarraya, in order to make our visit to Clunia, and it too was very adequate for two old peregrinas. The current mayor enjoys checking in peregrinos and seems happy with the situation, but I know he has told others that the days of this service may be on the wane. With the closure of two private places in Alcubilla de la Avellaneda, this closure would complicate things a bit.

The towns of Trillo and Cifuentes were both full with workers who come twice a year to shut down and check up on the nuclear power plant. If you coincide with those schedules, you will find nothing for many many kms. But the public albergues are there.

I would not walk this camino without GPS tracks. If you look at my tracks (all on wikiloc under peregrina2000), you will see multiple times when I continued walking till wikiloc beeped at me and I backtracked to find the trail. Not having to walk looking at the GPS was very important to me.

In two situations particularly, when we were trying to take an off-road route from Peñacoba to the Desfiladero de Yecla and then from Santo Domingo to Sad Hill, our wikiloc tracks gave us some hiccups. Especially in the first case, where the only off-road wikiloc track I could find wound up having a short section of straight lines, indicating that the GPS had not been recording the member’s movements. We essentially lost the trail and thanks to C Clearly’s skills with contour lines, we navigated safely and without too many complications down to the start of the desfiladero. For the Sad Hill detour, instead of following the nice trail that the municipality has set up, we took an off-road wikiloc option that involved crawling through a hole in a barbed wire fence and heaving our packs over the fence. This just emphasizes maybe the obvious point that if you are going to navigate an off-camino track, make sure to try to have options, or to be in touch with the author of the track for advice. I did this on several occasions, but not in these two instances.

Happy to answer questions and reverberate more. C Clearly will have much to add to this thread, I think.

 

[Sunopo]

@C clearly and I walked into Burgos last Saturday after the Lana (me) and the Requena/Lana (her). We talked about starting a thread with overall observations on the Lana (and I think she plans to do something similar on her Requena from Valencia to Monteagudo de las Salinas, where we met up) — reflections, specific tips, etc. This will not be another “detailed planning thread,” since the two we have are still quite current. See Alicante to Cuenca and Cuenca to Burgos.

In no particular order, here are some takeaways. Written by a jet-lagged peregrina unable to sleep.

This camino has less asphalt than any I have walked, except maybe the Madrid.

There are some fabulous detours/stops that enhanced our experience quite a bit (rest day in Cuenca, Noheda Roman ruins, taxi to San Baudelio (though you could work out a walking option and stop in Berlanga de Duero), Clunia Roman ruins, Sad Hill, Desfiladero de la Yecla, Monasterio de San Pedro de Arlanza, church in Quintanilla de las Viñas. We did not make it to Tiermes, though @Bachibouzouk has raved about his decision to go there.

Movistar has better coverage. I had Vodafone and did not have coverage in Monteagudo de Salinas, Viana de Mondejar, Caracena, Quintanarraya and maybe one or two other places (locals could frequently point me to one specific spot in or near town that could pick up Vodafone, though). In spite of that, I will probably continue to use Vodafone because of the price and the ease (Vodafone employees will take our your home sim card and put in a new one; renewal was a snap and online).

Starting in Villajoyosa was a great decision for me and @Krimpa, who walked with me/us till Cuenca. Those first three days were in the mountains, lots of off-road. It adds a day to the Lana maybe, because we went Villajoyosa - Relleu - Torremanzanas - Onil - Caudete, whereas the “normal” Lana would be Alicante - Novelda - Sax- Caudete. And our Onil-Caudete day was quite the long penitential day, 38 km, which we could have broken up in Villena, so that might add yet another day to the Villajoyosa alternative.

Alcalá del Júcar is a touristy place, but there’s no denying its spectacular setting. Stopping there after 18 km allowed for an afternoon walk of about 15 km without backpack, further along the river, which I totally enjoyed.

Private accommodation is usually available and may range from basic pensión to upscale hotel. I went to private places when possible. But there was a stretch where that was not possible, and I was very thankful for the albergues. Villaconejos - Salmerón - Viana de Mondéjar - Cifuentes. All of them were perfectly fine, and we had some great camino experiences (many have described the bodega visit in Villaconejos, for an 11 pm bedrime; Salmerón’s albergue is allegedly in an Inquisition prison but equipped with everything you need; stopping in Viana de Mondejar allowed for an afternoon ascent to the Tetas, without backpack, which I would describe as exhilirating — there may be signs saying the trail is closed because of a rockslide, but it is perfectly and safely passable; Cifuentes was a hard nut to crack despite having been in touch with the ayuntamiento the Friday before arrival, and in the end the mayor himself had to come out to show us where the keys were hidden). We also stayed in the albergue in Quintanarraya, in order to make our visit to Noheda, and it too was very adequate for two old peregrinas. The current mayor enjoys checking in peregrinos and seems happy with the situation, but I know he has told others that the days of this service may be on the wane. With the closure of two private places in Alcubilla de la Avellaneda, this closure would complicate things a bit.

The towns of Trillo and Cifuentes were both full with workers who come twice a year to shut down and check up on the nuclear power plant. If you coincide with those schedules, you will find nothing for many many kms. But the public albergues are there.

I would not walk this camino without GPS tracks. If you look at my tracks (all on wikiloc under peregrina2000), you will see multiple times when I continued walking till wikiloc beeped at me and I backtracked to find the trail. Not having to walk looking at the GPS was very important to me.

In two situations particularly, when we were trying to take an off-road route from Peñacoba to the Desfiladero de Yecla and then from Santo Domingo to Sad Hill, our wikiloc tracks gave us some hiccups. Especially in the first case, where the only off-road wikiloc track I could find wound up having a short section of straight lines, indicating that the GPS had not been recording the member’s movements. We essentially lost the trail and thanks to C Clearly’s skills with contour lines, we navigated safely and without too many complications down to the start of the desfiladero. For the Sad Hill detour, instead of following the nice trail that the municipality has set up, we took an off-road wikiloc option that involved crawling through a hole in a barbed wire fence and heaving our packs over the fence. This just emphasizes maybe the obvious point that if you are going to navigate an off-camino track, make sure to try to have options, or to be in touch with the author of the track for advice. I did this on several occasions, but not in these two instances.

Happy to answer questions and reverberate more. C Clearly will have much to add to this thread, I think.

Thank you, this is great. I think this might be my next camino, probably in October so keep the information coming please ! Susan

 

[filly]

Thank you Laurie! Off on Sunday and plan to meet the Alicante amigos on Tuesday and set off on Wednesday… Your ‘Penguin’ blog was much appreciated and enjoyed and I am grateful to know your Wikiloc handle now that I have begun to master that app.
ps perhaps you could give the link to your alternative blog for others…

 

[peregrina2000]

ps perhaps you could give the link to your alternative blog for others…

I don’t post much on the forum while I’m walking, because most of my family and friends are not on it. So, like a lot of us, I do a Find Penguins blog.

and I am grateful to know your Wikiloc handle now that I have begun to master that app.

Just two heads up:
My tracks from Peñacoba to the beginning of the desfiladero come with a warning. A road route is available and may be recommended, but it won’t be as much of an adventure!

My tracks to Sad Hill involved crawling through a barbed wire fence, so I would take the town’s route to Sad Hill, but from there to San Pedro de Arlanza and on to Covarrubias, the tracks are fine.

 

[filly]

Thank you, this is great. I think this might be my next camino, probably in October so keep the information coming please ! Susan

Dear Susan,

I admire you! Yes please undertake this Camino!! Even after my contretemps yesterday, I rate this one as a ‘tops’ and I already plan to do it again. I would probably start in Vilajoyosa UNLESS the Alicante St Johns festival was on! Alicante was great for museums/street life/swimming but the first few days were a little dismal. I would take an easy first day and stay in Orito which also gives you an easy second day to get your body/backpack time to settle in.

When to go is probably the main ‘issue’ but no wish to get ‘bogged down here’ ( lodo is the Spanish word for mud, I believe). I personally would probably go for autumn as it reflects my disposition…

 

[filly]

I don’t post much on the forum while I’m walking, because most of my family and friends are not on it. So, like a lot of us, I do a Find Penguins blog.


Just two heads up:
My tracks from Peñacoba to the beginning of the desfiladero come with a warning. A road route is available and may be recommended, but it won’t be as much of an adventure!

My tracks to Sad Hill involved crawling through a barbed wire fence, so I would take the town’s route to Sad Hill, but from there to San Pedro de Arlanza and on to Covarrubias, the tracks are fine.

Beautifully concentrated and precise. I can always rely on @ peregrina2000 for advice and clarity of peregrination.

However, this is actually my first ‘outing’ with subscribed Wikiloc (other makes ARE available as the bedevilled BBC insists on pointing out!)

Yesterday and @Cclearly timely observations on contour lines shows me that I need revelatory instructions.

Any chance of a moderator starting a ‘how to’ thread.. or have I yet again, missed something?!

 

[Sunopo]

Apologies if this link from Gronze has been posted already. https://www.gronze.com/sites/default/files/ruta_de_la_lana_2023.pdf
I would be interested in hearing from those who walked this year or last, how this information corresponds to your experience. Thanks !

 

[peregrina2000]

With a date of March-April of this year I think you can be fairly confident that the albergue info is up to date. I only stayed in 4 or 5 albergues (May 2023) so you will have lots of fallback to private places if needed. As the notes in that document say, advance notice is a really good idea. Not because things will fill up but because people may need to make arrangements to get you the key.

 

[debigetsout]

@C clearly and I walked into Burgos last Saturday after the Lana (me) and the Requena/Lana (her). We talked about starting a thread with overall observations on the Lana (and I think she plans to do something similar on her Requena from Valencia to Monteagudo de las Salinas, where we met up) — reflections, specific tips, etc. This will not be another “detailed planning thread,” since the two we have are still quite current. See Alicante to Cuenca and Cuenca to Burgos.

In no particular order, here are some takeaways. Written by a jet-lagged peregrina unable to sleep.

This camino has less asphalt than any I have walked, except maybe the Madrid.

There are some fabulous detours/stops that enhanced our experience quite a bit (rest day in Cuenca, Noheda Roman ruins, taxi to San Baudelio (though you could work out a walking option and stop in Berlanga de Duero), Clunia Roman ruins, Sad Hill, Desfiladero de la Yecla, Monasterio de San Pedro de Arlanza, church in Quintanilla de las Viñas. We did not make it to Tiermes, though @Bachibouzouk has raved about his decision to go there.

Movistar has better coverage. I had Vodafone and did not have coverage in Monteagudo de Salinas, Viana de Mondejar, Caracena, Quintanarraya and maybe one or two other places (locals could frequently point me to one specific spot in or near town that could pick up Vodafone, though). In spite of that, I will probably continue to use Vodafone because of the price and the ease (Vodafone employees will take our your home sim card and put in a new one; renewal was a snap and online).

Starting in Villajoyosa was a great decision for me and @Krimpa, who walked with me/us till Cuenca. Those first three days were in the mountains, lots of off-road. It adds a day to the Lana maybe, because we went Villajoyosa - Relleu - Torremanzanas - Onil - Caudete, whereas the “normal” Lana would be Alicante - Novelda - Sax- Caudete. And our Onil-Caudete day was quite the long penitential day, 38 km, which we could have broken up in Villena, so that might add yet another day to the Villajoyosa alternative.

Alcalá del Júcar is a touristy place, but there’s no denying its spectacular setting. Stopping there after 18 km allowed for an afternoon walk of about 15 km without backpack, further along the river, which I totally enjoyed.

Private accommodation is usually available and may range from basic pensión to upscale hotel. I went to private places when possible. But there was a stretch where that was not possible, and I was very thankful for the albergues. Villaconejos - Salmerón - Viana de Mondéjar - Cifuentes. All of them were perfectly fine, and we had some great camino experiences (many have described the bodega visit in Villaconejos, for an 11 pm bedrime; Salmerón’s albergue is allegedly in an Inquisition prison but equipped with everything you need; stopping in Viana de Mondejar allowed for an afternoon ascent to the Tetas, without backpack, which I would describe as exhilirating — there may be signs saying the trail is closed because of a rockslide, but it is perfectly and safely passable; Cifuentes was a hard nut to crack despite having been in touch with the ayuntamiento the Friday before arrival, and in the end the mayor himself had to come out to show us where the keys were hidden). We also stayed in the albergue in Quintanarraya, in order to make our visit to Clunia, and it too was very adequate for two old peregrinas. The current mayor enjoys checking in peregrinos and seems happy with the situation, but I know he has told others that the days of this service may be on the wane. With the closure of two private places in Alcubilla de la Avellaneda, this closure would complicate things a bit.

The towns of Trillo and Cifuentes were both full with workers who come twice a year to shut down and check up on the nuclear power plant. If you coincide with those schedules, you will find nothing for many many kms. But the public albergues are there.

I would not walk this camino without GPS tracks. If you look at my tracks (all on wikiloc under peregrina2000), you will see multiple times when I continued walking till wikiloc beeped at me and I backtracked to find the trail. Not having to walk looking at the GPS was very important to me.

In two situations particularly, when we were trying to take an off-road route from Peñacoba to the Desfiladero de Yecla and then from Santo Domingo to Sad Hill, our wikiloc tracks gave us some hiccups. Especially in the first case, where the only off-road wikiloc track I could find wound up having a short section of straight lines, indicating that the GPS had not been recording the member’s movements. We essentially lost the trail and thanks to C Clearly’s skills with contour lines, we navigated safely and without too many complications down to the start of the desfiladero. For the Sad Hill detour, instead of following the nice trail that the municipality has set up, we took an off-road wikiloc option that involved crawling through a hole in a barbed wire fence and heaving our packs over the fence. This just emphasizes maybe the obvious point that if you are going to navigate an off-camino track, make sure to try to have options, or to be in touch with the author of the track for advice. I did this on several occasions, but not in these two instances.

Happy to answer questions and reverberate more. C Clearly will have much to add to this thread, I think.

"This camino has less asphalt than any I have walked, except maybe the Madrid."
We have been home from walking the Mozarabe for a week now, and it is time to begin planning the next walk. I think the Lana is it!

 

[hollis]

I'm not sure if @peregrina2000 is Susan or Laurie but I'm writing to ask if anyone knows why there's currently no information on Gronze for the Camino de Lana? I use Gronze as my bible but all the links are vacant: https://www.gronze.com/ruta-lana

A little bit about me: I walked the Camino in 2004 from Pamplona and got the bug. My wife is from Santiago. In my early days, I would ask, what are all the people with backpacks doing? So I had to walk the Camino once I was versed and I just so happened to propose to my wife the night I finished. Fast forward and we're married with two kids in Barcelona now.

I've cycled every major Camino route some many times over. This summer, my goal is to ride through Lugo to plant an apple tree in honor of my father-in-law who passed a few months ago. It's my personal homage and closure. He was a big supporter of RC Celta so I'm thinking about wearing a jersey. If the mayor of Lugo is reading this, please holler with some suggestions for an area to plop a tree. I will arrive tired and my digging aspirations will be low!

As far as route, I'm thinking:

Train > Alicante

Lana > Burgos

Vasco > Vitoria

Olvidado > La Robla (to connect with Salvador)

Salvador > Oviedo

Oviedo > Stgo de Compostela via Primitivo

Due to some zigzagging I think that route will easily be 1300 kms, probably more. I tend to ride long aggressive days over 160 kms (100 mi) mostly off-road. My aim will be to ride about a week basically cycling from just before 7am until as late as 9pm.

I will think and rethink this route. I may simplify but at first glance this is what I'd like to tackle because the route is an amalgamation of many minor Caminos that I've never cycled. I do expect the Primitvo to be a lot of push-a-bike. I'm not looking forward to that as I know the province of Lugo can be a punisher. I can always opt for the road although I will try to stick to the Camino at all times. I just don't want to push my bike for 3-4 hour scenarios. I don't mind sufferfests here and there.

Just writing to see why there's hardly any info on the Lana? I would like to stay in albergues but I won't know where I'm stopping until a few hours before. So, I know this can bite me as most places aren't prepared to give me a key at the "tomar algo" hour of the day but such are the lows of a bike pilgrim. We can't anticipate like walkers can. I ride huge days and lodging is always a stressful piece. Like walking, some days are good and some are bad as far as accommodation.

 

[peregrina2000]

Just writing to see why there's hardly any info on the Lana? I

This online guide is really all you need. It’s pretty up to date, but things always change a bit. And here’s a list of services that is older, but still helpful. Looks like a pretty epic route, but the one connection I’m having trouble visualizing is how you get from Vitoria to the Olvidado. Good luck and buen camino, Laurie

 

[hollis]

This online guide is really all you need. It’s pretty up to date, but things always change a bit. And here’s a list of services that is older, but still helpful. Looks like a pretty epic route, but the one connection I’m having trouble visualizing is how you get from Vitoria to the Olvidado. Good luck and buen camino, Laurie

Thanks for the links, Laurie. From Burgos I take the Vasco to Vitoria which is on the Olvidado. I would take the Olivdado to the Salvador above Leon. The Salvador connects to the Primitivo which hits my goal to finish Stgo via Lugo.

 

[peregrina2000]

Vitoria which is on the Olvidado

Vitoria is not on the Olvidado, unless there has been some wild and crazy re-routing! Where did you see that?

 

[hollis]

Vitoria is not on the Olvidado, unless there has been some wild and crazy re-routing! Where did you see that?

Look at the branch from Pamplona:

Camino Viejo | Camino de Santiago | Gronze.com

El Camino Olvidado a Santiago o Camino de la Montaña o Camino Viejo es una ancestral ruta jacobea que desde Pamplona y Bilbao avanza por el norte del Camino Francés hasta unirse a éste en Cacabelos. El camino está hoy en día en fase de recuperación y son pocos aún los peregrinos que lo han...

www.gronze.com

Oh, I guess technically that's called the Viejo? I thought the whole brown route was the Olvidado collectively. I'll ride from Vitoria to la Robla on the brown route. No, actually, that site says it's the Olvidado either branching via Bilbao or Pamplona.

ps can you check your services link above it's broken on my end - are you referring to the pdf?

 

[peregrina2000]

Oh, I guess technically that's called the Viejo?

Oh of course. It’s at the top of my camino list so you’d think I’d figure that out! Sorry! There’s a great planning thread that we did during Covid, which might help you out. I will check for the services list when I’m back at my computer.

 

[peregrina2000]

Hope this link works.

https://www.peregrinoslh.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/Camino-de-la-Lana-desde-Alicante.pdf

And just an afterthought. Both the Salvador and the Olvidado have a lot of true mountain segmentss. I can’t I imagine a bike going, for instance, from Poladura to Pajares on the Salvador or on the Olvidado on the day into Vegacervera. But I am not a cyclist, so I may be way off base.

 

[hollis]

Hope this link works.

https://www.peregrinoslh.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/Camino-de-la-Lana-desde-Alicante.pdf

And just an afterthought. Both the Salvador and the Olvidado have a lot of true mountain segmentss. I can’t I imagine a bike going, for instance, from Poladura to Pajares on the Salvador or on the Olvidado on the day into Vegacervera. But I am not a cyclist, so I may be way off base.

No, you're probably not off base. I cycled from Barcelona to Pamplona and back (to see a concert coming out of Covid) via the monastery San Juan de la Peña above Huesca. One of your posts inspired me but I got into some trouble on that route. It happens. Mountains is where it's usually the worst but it can be difficult to know when to go road and when the trail might be OK. I'll try to make a note for the trouble areas your mention. I'm a little worried about the Primitivo to be honest.