Walking signs n the Olvidado when walking away from Santiago dC

[peterott]

Hello, and presumably a strange sounding question at first:
I want to do a 400km roundtrip around Santander. After a small piece of the Camino del Norte, it continues with the Camino Lebaniego and half of the Ruta Vadiniense, when I will reach the Camino Olvdidado at Cistierena.

Now, I want to hike "back" on the Olvidado from Cistierna until Aguilar de Campoo (and then going back to Santander over the Calzada de los Blendios/Camino Besaya). Means: not in the direction of Santiago de Compostela on the Olvidado but in the other direction back towards Bilbao.

=> The question is: how good are the Camino signs on the Olvidado when travelling in the "wrong" direction?

Background of the question: Hiking in Germany on marked trails means mostly that signs are visible in both directions, especially when narrow paths are crossing, it's easy to spot which side-path to take in both directions. Not very common that one hiking sign is clearly visible from the path that shows both hiking directions (probably even with a dual-ended arrow below the sign). Is it the same for the Camino Olvidado or caminos in general? Or is the "going back from Santiago dC" less marked? Or are nearly all markings clearly seen from the path showing both directions?

And I also learned from @David Tallan that "there was a bit of discussion here a while ago when some hikers on the Camino Mozarabe who were walking north to south on that route (away from Santiago) had it made clear to them that the association albergues were not welcoming them, even with their credencials, as they weren't walking either to Santiago nor on their return from Santiago".

Missing a sign is always a pain as it requires more km to walk in worst case and that can happen even on nicely marked paths.
I want to get prepared with my question how good I need to have my eagle-eyes and concentration working and how often I need to "turn around" and check for signs showing the path in the "correct direction".

 

[dick bird]

The waymarks are not that great even when you are walking towards Santiago. From past experience, when walking a return camino, it is difficult to interpret waymarks even when they are plentiful. My advice is to download a track from an app such as Wikiloc and follow that.

 

[LTfit]

Hello, and presumably a strange sounding question at first:
I want to do a 400km roundtrip around Santander. After a small piece of the Camino del Norte, it continues with the Camino Lebaniego and half of the Ruta Vadiniense, when I will reach the Camino Olvdidado at Cistierena.

Now, I want to hike "back" on the Olvidado from Cistierna until Aguilar de Campoo (and then going back to Santander over the Calzada de los Blendios/Camino Besaya). Means: not in the direction of Santiago de Compostela on the Olvidado but in the other direction back towards Bilbao.

=> The question is: how good are the Camino signs on the Olvidado when travelling in the "wrong" direction?

Sounds like a great combo but walking backwards on the Olvidado may be tricky. It's definitely not marked both ways but then I don't know of any Camino that is except for maybe SdC-Finisterre/Muxía/SdC.

Of all the Caminos I've walked the Olvidado was the worst as far as signage is concerned although in the León province it improves greatly and so the section you mention may be doable backwards but don't expect markings.

I used Ender's Wikiloc Gps tracks (Enderjace on Wikilocs). He has a dedicated page for the Olvidado. Download those you need so that you can put your phone on airplane mode while walking.

 

[peterott]

Thanks guys for the answers and explanation. I've never hiked with GPS but for this trip I will really need to start using this wikiloc tracking it seems.

The German camino trails in my area (Franconia) are maintained by the same hiking association that manages also the normal hiking trails in the Franconian Switzerland or the Franconian Alb. And it is really tough to get lost as the signs are marked usually very good - just sometimes early in the year when the trees have lost some pieces of barks in the month before, one or the other sign could be gone, until they get renewed. So hiking without this "luxury" of a well-marked path, it may make sense of checking these GPS tracks, I agree.

 

[JerryStroebele]

Also use the Mapy.cz app and Buen Camino

 

[LTfit]

Thanks guys for the answers and explanation. I've never hiked with GPS but for this trip I will really need to start using this wikiloc tracking it seems.

The German camino trails in my area (Franconia) are maintained by the same hiking association that manages also the normal hiking trails in the Franconian Switzerland or the Franconian Alb. And it is really tough to get lost as the signs are marked usually very good - just sometimes early in the year when the trees have lost some pieces of barks in the month before, one or the other sign could be gone, until they get renewed. So hiking without this "luxury" of a well-marked path, it may make sense of checking these GPS tracks, I agree.

Having tracks on the Olvidado is not a luxury, I would still be lost in the mountains without them! I had never used or wanted to use gps tracks before but I was wisely advised to do so on the Olvidado. I still prefer to walk without them - I just like to follow the arrows - but sometimes it is necessary.