Wheere i needx to have my wintery gear?

[wendysulda]

So I have been delayed (trouble with leaving China) So I will be getting into Le Puy around March 21 and leaving on the 22 to start. I had read the snow was still high. So I have my winter gear. BUT i really do not want to cary it if it is not needed. So I want to either mail it ahead to where I would need it or Carry it until I am done with it. So I am asking for some help. Where is it bad. Or where would i need the heavy clothes, the gloves and such. I am going Le puy to Lourdes to Del Norte . hiking at a slow pace till my body agrees to move faster.

Any and all suggestions are welcome. Thank you in advance and happy trails to all.
Wendy

 

[scruffy1]

Shalom Wendy
I will be in Le Puy on March 19 leaving a day or two later, just about the time you arrive. As we write it is 15C degrees in Le Puy the webcam operated by the Tourist POffice shows no snow on the ground nights the temperature falls to around 0. Aubrac is much higher altitude-wise and colder 8-9C degrees nights -2C degrees with a chance for snow/rain or mixed later this week. It will be cold, snow on the ground higher up and a possibility of more. I am planning on staying at the gite on rue des Capuchins and will be walking very slowly due to age and since I have never walked in snow. My picture is at the side, I do have a white beard and wear an Australian type hat as umbrella and sun protector-hope to see you-Bon Chemin!
Miki

 

[robertt]

Wendy, it may be worth checking threads about light layers, as opposed to bulk. Perhaps as well as some craftily calculated layers you might want to take one piece of extra clothing that is old but servicable, and which can be discarded.

I say this because in May of 2010 the weather got very cold indeed on the Chemin du Puy, even where I was by that time, in the Bearn, where it should have been warm and radiant. Even in late May there were widely reported weather probs in the Pyrenees.

One simple but sometimes overlooked tip is to wear everything and carry nothing in the cold. Also, stay dry, and treat your rainwear as yet another warmth layer when it's not raining.

I always walk in the colder times, and my next camino will involve some layers of Heattech or Icebreaker, a decent jacket, and my old-style (not clingy new style) Altus. If I have an underlayer that I want to keep clean, I'll wear it as a mid-layer. And there'll be one old rag for chucking as the weather warms.

Just some ideas, pretty incomplete, maybe too obvious, but I thought I'd mention them. My slogan: If it's not a layer, it's an at-home stayer!

 

[KiwiNomad06]

You will definitely need some warmer layers if you are leaving 22 March. I walked from Le Puy mid-April 2008 and encountered some snow on my first day in Montbonnet- which is about 500m higher in altitude than Le Puy. It can definitely be cold across the Aubrac Plateau, and also near Chanaleilles, Les Faux, Le Sauvage etc. In 2009 I remember someone writing in the Forum about how they planned to leave Le Puy at the beginning of April but couldn't because of the snow, but each year is different.
Once you descend down to St Chely d'Aubrac, off the Aubrac Plateau, you probably won't have the extremely cold weather. Here's a useful altitude chart so you can see how high you walk in the first week or so. http://www.xacobeo.fr/ZE1.03.pro.htm (Don't be put off by the very 'steep' looking profiles- the scale on the bottom is very thin.)
Margaret

 

[Kitsambler]

Tim just posted that SJPP had 8 inches of snow on the ground this morning. Truly this has been an unseasonably cold and late winter along the pilgrimage routes. Given that flights are delayed all over Europe, and you are beginning your journey in only one more week, I suggest you carry your winter kit with you. Once you are down off the plateau, you can reassess the weather conditions and perhaps ship home a few unneeded items.