We are starting the Camino in late October and expect to encounter rain at times. We can't decide whether we should buy wet weather ponchos or complete waterproof pants and jackets (rain suits). We would appreciate any advice and suggestions from prilgrims who have experienced the Camino during wet weather.
Ross
I too was puzzled over this issue while planning for my April 28 (this year) del Norte. I asked my neighbor what he would suggest for wet weather gear, he having been a boy scout leader who went on many overnight hiking trips in California's Sierra Madre Mountains, said "lightweight and waterproof, keeping in mind that the jacket will mostly be used to help keep you warm as an outer garment windbreaker." I settled on a Marmot rain jacket and pants. The jacket has a foldable hood and the pants have snap cuffs with a long zipper that allow puuting on/taking off without removing shoes/boots. As I said in other posts on this forum, I only had one day of showers from April 28 to June 3, this year. There was rain though, ahead of, and behind me.
My rain jacket was in fact mostly used as a windbreaker. I did not pack my rain jacket in the backpack, but had it tucked under a strap at the top of my backpack and under my backpack rain cover, being immediately available if needed. I also had a collapseable umbrella available, bought at REI. The umbrella came in handy during the day of showers, sometimes being the only rain protection I needed, at other times, I put on the rain jacket. One time, on the rain shower day, I left the rain pants off. The shower became very heavy at one point, just outside Soto de Barco. From the thighs up I was dry. From the knees down, I was soaked to the skin, socks, feet and toes included. The pants and rain gaiters were in my backpack. From then on, I told myself that if rain was expected, jacket, pants and umbrella would be immediatly available.
On my next Spring camino, I will take the rain jacket and pants and the umbrella. I watched several people use the ponchos, some very expensive, and prefer the jacket and pants with the jacket serving multple purposes. If you take a poncho, you may still need to take a windbreaker jacket. Also, most of the really good ponchos were bulky and took up a failr amount of room when packed away.
As far as actually walking/hiking the in rain; light to moderate showers, yes. Heavy showers and continous rain, no! The del Norte has many ups and downs on the initial 6-7 stages. At the lower elevations the rain creates some significant obstacles, mud being a really big issue. On several days, after rain, the lower lying trails/path had edge to edge mud bogs. Some I saw were 10 to 50 meters in length. In some of those bogs I could see the tops of boots, sneakers and socks and other articles of gear, but mostly foot wear. On days with heavy rain, or continous light rain, the water does not drain very well from low lying dirt/mud. One day just outside Villaviciosa, about 3-4 days after any rain, there was a local municipal work crew creating drainage on the trail with a tractor and shovels. The way was almost impassable. With treeking poles being used to locate shallow water and hidden stones, I was able to make my way through about 4-5 areas otherwise impassable. I couldn't imagine trying to go through, or finding a way around, those same areas, during rain!
At this point, it becomes a matter of choice driven by necessity. What worked well for me may not work for you, but I hope this discussion will help in making your choice.
Buen Camino.
WV
, glad we still have our old ones which have been wonderful. If we needed new then we too would probably go for the Altus.
