What is the most you have walked in a day?

falcon269 said:

I love the mix of information and boasting; it is becoming difficult to separate the two.

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Or stupidity???? Most of my really long hard days have a strong dose of stupidity somewhere in the story.

48 km on Camino del Norte.
Got tired of all the "Bed-running" on del Norte. Short-distance-Walkers (<20 km) checked in at the next albergue before noon !! So I did, what I saw spanish pilgrims had done on the Camino Aragonés: They had a siesta for a couple of hours in the afternoon in a bar or just in the shadow in a village and walked on for a couple of hours late afternoon. I stayed in a hostal/hotel for the night. I didn't even look for the albergue at arrivaltime in the evening (8 pm). I walked in average 32 km a day on Camino del Norte.

Butterfly said:

Loving this thread and reading of all your achievements my son and I are somewhat limited on time and will have to average about 20 miles (just over 32 km) a day for 25 days - though we are hoping to get to orrison on the day of arrival and will have a little time on our home travelling day which makes for a little extra time. On a happy gym day I think yay most definately going to happen but then there is the doubter friends who say "no way" but reading this thread brings me back to no point worrying about it - just get going and keep walking hehe which was our plan in the first place - to see what we can see, talk to amazing people and experience the camino ! x

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Butterfly said:

Loving this thread and reading of all your achievements my son and I are somewhat limited on time and will have to average about 20 miles (just over 32 km) a day for 25 days - though we are hoping to get to orrison on the day of arrival and will have a little time on our home travelling day which makes for a little extra time. On a happy gym day I think yay most definately going to happen but then there is the doubter friends who say "no way" but reading this thread brings me back to no point worrying about it - just get going and keep walking hehe which was our plan in the first place - to see what we can see, talk to amazing people and experience the camino ! x

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Hey Butterfly!
Its absolutely possible! You dont have to run either. When 90% of the walkers stop at 1 o'clock in the afternoon you have a long nice lunch and then continue for a few more hours. You'll have the trail to yourself all of a sudden and you will be off phase with the typical camino stages wich makes it easy to find a bed. (Most walkers end up at the same place by following the stages) Just make sure to change socks after a few hours and take any chance to take of shoes and socks when you pause. Dry feet keeps the blisters away.
Buen camino

Christobal72 said:

Hey Butterfly!
Its absolutely possible! You dont have to run either. When 90% of the walkers stop at 1 o'clock in the afternoon you have a long nice lunch and then continue for a few more hours. You'll have the trail to yourself all of a sudden and you will be off phase with the typical camino stages wich makes it easy to find a bed. (Most walkers end up at the same place by following the stages) Just make sure to change socks after a few hours and take any chance to take of shoes and socks when you pause. Dry feet keeps the blisters away.
Buen camino

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Thanks for your encouragement and tips we thought we'd get going early and break it into 2 hourish segments ( generally can walk about 7 miles in 2 hours) with foody breaks, photo and "sight seeing" and a siesta in the hot hours of the afternoon or possibly a swim and we love playing games and then tag a few hours on in the evening - though have wondered if that might mean we'd struggle to get a bed as people seem to get that sorted early but then like you said we'd be out of sync with the main crowd - also have a camping tarp - so could set up a make shift tent with our walking sticks - have you seen this done ? ? ? Also do you know if ther is swimming pools or rivers .... To swim in ?

Check out these earlier Forum posts re swimming on the CF.

Buen camino@

Ne

Butterfly said:

Thanks for your encouragement and tips we thought we'd get going early and break it into 2 hourish segments ( generally can walk about 7 miles in 2 hours) with foody breaks, photo and "sight seeing" and a siesta in the hot hours of the afternoon or possibly a swim and we love playing games and then tag a few hours on in the evening - though have wondered if that might mean we'd struggle to get a bed as people seem to get that sorted early but then like you said we'd be out of sync with the main crowd - also have a camping tarp - so could set up a make shift tent with our walking sticks - have you seen this done ? ? ? Also do you know if ther is swimming pools or rivers .... To swim in ?

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I've never seen the trick with the poles but saw a few pools at some albergues The best river to swim in must be at Molinaseca. Had a lovely afternoon there in late october last year. About 25 degrees celcius and freezing cold water from the mountains

On the VdlP from Monesterio to Zafra, 45 Km in the heat last month, not through choice but "Albergue Completo" at Calzadilla de los Barros ( 27 km) and again at Puebla de Sancha Perez (41).

I've walked further in the UK but in very different temperatures.

supersullivan said:

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hahahaha!!! well, it is fulfilling to feel you are able to walk longer and longer distances, but to me, I appreciate a lot better shorter days than long challenging distances, definitely!

On Caminos my longest days have been around the 50km mark. A long time ago I did a 24-hour long fundraising walk and covered 110km. Very stiff and sore the next day!

micamino73 said:

Hi just wondering what is the most you have walked in a Day?

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65km walking into Santiago, 6 am to 9 pm with several breaks, lovely quite evening, sun setting as I arrived.

40km into Santiago on my last day... and it almost spoiled the entire experience. It was terrible and I learned that my not does NOT cope with that amount in one day, even after all the walking done on previous weeks.

.53Km , it was in the Landes forest .....straight , flat and even , the weather was mild and dry
I was fit and well used to walking , the kit and backpack had been adjusted for fit and weight
it wasn't hard really but it took a long day

micamino73 said:

Hi just wondering what is the most you have walked in a Day?

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Well. Im not sure. But im going to see if i can walk to my girlfriend's to try and save our relationship. Its a 50km walk. It is her birthday this weekend aswell. Sure hope i can make it

micamino73 said:

Hi just wondering what is the most you have walked in a Day?

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50km twice, once on the Frances and last year on the VdlP.

43,8km in hot summer sun in July 2019. From Puente de la Reyna (5:30am) to Los Arcos (2:30pm).

On Camino? I think about 32 kms. Belorado - Attapeurca.
My comfortable distance is 22-25.
I could barely walk after 34. I have bad knees and chronic achilles tendonitis.
On that first Camino I did a 2 or 3 days over 30 kms, and know I need to avoid that in future.

Longest day in hours? Now that's an altogether different story. As I tend to walk slowly....my average days are around 8 hours. 10.5 hours I think, to cover that 32 kms.

Auvillar to Condom in 2 days, 67.5 km, 42 miles. It's not just the distance, it's the terrain and the heat. I chose to walk in the mid 30s C. 10 or 15 degrees cooler and I'd have been ok. As it was, I limped in to Condom with a blister and heat exhaustion and had to take a day off. I had hardly stopped on either day and, consequently, didn't have time to enjoy the view. I was in my 60s and moderately fit, but it pays to know your limits. Nowadays I reckon 25 km/15 miles to be a good average, allowing time for a lunch, coffee stops (unheard of on the Puy route) and mooching around at least one village. As the French walkers very wisely say il faut aller doucement.

Our longest day was from Los Arcos to Logrono @ 27km. We stopped at Viana as my feet were hurting quite a bit (not blisters) so we stopped for a cerveza and a vino tinto to check out my boots. Guess what, the insoles had totally collapsed down to the thickness of cardboard!!

I always wondered why small villages had large camino shops, and now I know. One short trip to the one in Viana to purchase new insoles and I was on my way again.

We prefer around 22km sections though as that gives us more time for taking in the sights and for any unscheduled delays, it also gives us more recovery time at the coffee stops

Each to their own and if over time we can build up to nearer 30kms we would be well pleased with that

Our longest distance was 38km on the Camino del Norte between San Miguel de Meruelo and Boo de Pielagos.
My sister and I started our pilgrimage one day before in Laredo. Our idea was to "get in the mood" on the Norte and then turn off from San Vicente de Barquera on the Camino Lebaniego/Vadiniense.

Our original plan on this day was to take us "only" as far as Santa Cruz de Bezana. We wanted to compensate the detour along the steep coast by taking the ferry to Santander and arrived in Santa Cruz early. But there was a sign at the Albergue that it was closed today because of family obligations.
It was a Sunday, we couldn´t find another Hostel and nobody was on the streets of this small place.
After half an hour luckily we were noticed by a Spanish couple during our break who approached us. They reserved the last two free beds for us in Boo de Pielagos.

Then on the walk I asked an old lady if we had to go right or left at this crossing. I speak very little Spanish, but when she told us that we had to turn right, I pointed in that direction for safety's sake and asked again and she said very convincingly "A la derecha, a la derecha.

So we turned right and after ten minutes we heard shouts behind us - stop stop. A young woman came up to us out of breath and said: "My grandmother sent me, she has made a mistake with right and left, you are completely wrong here." Obviously she meant the other right

So we walked back, past the old lady who apologized to us a thousand times and walked the last few miles to Boo de Pielagos.
When we arrived at the hostel at about half past eight we must have looked terrible. Friendly pilgrims tore off our backpacks, took off our shoes and led us to the bench in front of the house.
Then they brought us both salty pastries and two big mugs of beer. This combination and the great care worked like a miracle for us two German pilgrims. After half an hour we made it to the first floor on our own two feet.

The meal in this Albergue was one of the best we ever had and we slept like a stone in this night.

Since the Albergue was right next to the train stop, we got on the train the next morning and crossed the river Pas, which was only possible with a big detour on foot, since the bridge is closed for pedestrians. We finished this day already after 20km at 1 pm in Santillana del Mar and slept on the meadow for the Albergue until it was opened.

Burgos to Castrojeriz 40kms.

Somehow, I always missed stay at Hontanas.

Next time.

~65K 5 or 6 times, both on the Camino Francès and the Via Romea along the coastal Francigena route.

My best walking performance ever was 115K over two days -- a 65K followed by a 50K arriving in Rome at the end of it.

(sigh, nowadays 25K+ is a very good day on these poor knees of mine ... )

Sahagun to Mansilla de las Mullas: 60km+ (with bonus bus trip to Leon!)

Day 17: I had ended up on a different schedule than the two friends (will call then R & J for their privacy sake) who were on the Camino with me. One, J had finally gotten to a doctor after the bottom fell out of one of his cheap shoes on DAY 1 of the Camino and the diagnosis was, he had pulled (near to tear) some tendon and continuing to walk would do irreparable damage. His Camino was done. As the tech and communications person of our group I was working with out travel agent to get him to Madrid and a flight home. He had a phone but only wifi service in Spain. Meanwhile due to my slow walking style and having walked ahead a few towns to Sahagun, my remaining compatriot R was an hour or so behind me. I woke up in Sahagun to this mess and very little way to handle it other than sit tight in the nearest cafe until I could speak directly with the guy in charge of the card that would be used to get J on a plane to the States.


(Yes, I am badly burnt... that is a story for another thread)

Unbenknownst to me, my friend R had decided make some new friends and was taking a slow path with them checking out each town. He had no idea that J was finally out of the Camino, or that I needed him and his authorization to get J home. He chose to do the Camino sans technology including a phone (this would prove great for him, stressful for me!)

When he finally sauntered into Sahagun at 11:30a I explained the situation and a remedy came for J. He was off to Leon and then on to Madrid and home and we two were united again. The friends he made were continuing their slow walk which permitted me to walk with them. But I had been hatching a plan since that night to do a nice long and relaxing night walk across the meseta as my burns and my ankles were proving to make for a slow pace and being left behind for Leon would be bad.

My INTENTION was to walk to Calzadilla De Los Hermanillos, sleep for the afternoon, take a shower and then sneak out and back on the trail out to the outskirts of town, wait for sunset and then head out across the meseta to Mansilla de las Mulas, have a relaxing and slow breakfast in the morning, nap on a bench and then walk the day to Leon. All together it should be 55.1km but over ~30 instead of my regular speed of 20km over 8 hours. I could do it, and though I hadn't ever been on a night hike, the trail had been incredibly easy to follow since then, the yellow arrows were easy to see! This would be no problem.

I convinced R, and with that, we were off across the hot long meseta trail! When we arrived early in Calzadilla de los Hermanillos, we jumped into bed at the Municipal and took a much needed nap! Around 6 or 7 we got up, grabbed some food and showers and snuck back out on the trail. Thinking back I am sure that no one cared but I felt a small amount of guilt for "wasting" the bed.

We came across a Peregrino we knew who was camping out on the outskirts of town and told him of our plan so he offered his space to let us chill, and we talked and eventually he decided a night hike would be lovely and he'd join us!



As the sun went down, we gathered our gear and prepared for a lovely walk in the dark... But that is not what happened.

At some point our compatriot decided he wasn't into night hiking and wanted to re-camp and just watch the stars and sleep... so he did. And R and I continued on.... and on... and on... but there began several hours where we saw no yellow arrows. And then a T in the road.... to which we decided to go right as we could see more lights that way. It was pretty clear we were lost... around 3am we found ourselves tired and cold and stumbling into a town called La Aldea del Puente. It was dead silent, and pretty obviously NOT on the Camino de Santiago. We crossed through small streets and quiet courtyards until we found hope: N-625 and a sign that told us EXACTLY how far from Mansilla de las Mulas we were.... around 17km. Summoning every ounce of everything I had we continued in to Mansilla de las Mulas and around 6 or 7am we found a bench to huddle and nap until the cafes opened. Fortunately we saw friends taking a break outside their cafe and joined them for a quick bite. I was able to connect to wifi and after some calculations realized I'd just walked a little more than 60km and the trauma of the stressful night of being lost along with the realization and the adrenaline drop... well lets just say the other 17km to Leon were NOT happening for me.

R decided to keep walking and I opted to take a bus. My thinking was, I'd had a good enough Camino "lesson" to deserve to make it to Leon (and also I had to be in Leon because we were wanting to say goodbye to J as his train wasn't leaving until that evening. Also, the next day I would hold our group's gear while everyone (but me) doubled back to Pamplona for San Fermin as a pause in our journey (R wanted to Run with the bulls).


Not knowing where we were, or if we were going the right way, in the pitch black of the Meseta was hard... and the long long walking were harder, but the next day that I walked I was certainly faster and more agile on my feet, I'd grown from the experience and that was worth it for sure.


So, between 11:30a and 7:00am (19.5 hours) we walked a little over 60km and R walked 78km!
Me, happy to be somewhere with a bed.