Tents and cook stoves

[Ana Young]

--- Elyssa East <eeastaMAINE.RR.COM> wrote:
> Also, how much do people usually carry with them?
> I've done a lot of
> backpacking and have read suggestions to carry a
> small tent. Is a cook stove
> necessary?  Food I take it is not

Hi Elyssa,

A tent and cook stove are not necessary unless you're
camping out. Most pilgrims in Spain do not, as there
are refuges on each stage of the walk. You do need a
sleeping bag or at least a bag liner (better for the
weight in summer) because many of the refuges require
one because they don't have sheets. All towns have
stores where you can shop for your dinner if the
refuges have kitchens, which most do. So no one brings
a stove - again, unless they plan on camping out the
entire time. On the pilgrimage, weight is the primary
factor.

Even if you choose not to cook your dinner every night
in the refuges, restaurants and bars in Spain are
wonderfully cheap - at least compared to what
Americans are used to. You can get a full three-course
"pilgrim's menu" for 1,000 pesetas - right now about
$7. Many times you will have to pay more, of course,
maybe 1,200 or 1,500. But not much more.

This is not a traditional backpacking trip where you
need to carry your kitchen and full bedroom with you.
I ran into two German pilgrims last summer who had
theirs with them - they were loaded down with what
they thought were the "essentials" - a tent, cook
stove, umpteen food packets, pots and pans, etc. They
ended up sending most of it home when they reached
Leon.

Many of the grocery stores in the small towns have
some of those same food packets you see campers carry
- usually soups or stews where you just mix it with
water. I had some of them and they were not bad at
all. I also cooked pasta, sausage, chicken and mixed
vegetables during my stays in the refugios.

One refugio I was in, the one in Arzua, two stages
before Santiago, had a big kitchen and I enjoyed a
terrific chicken dinner prepared by a Portuguese
pilgrim who invited me to partake (yes, that will
happen. always accept). But the problem there was
there was no dish detergent or anything to wash the
dishes with afterward. So you may want to take a sec
before cooking and make sure there's something there.
If not, it might be nice to donate some dish detergent
which you can also buy at the local grocery.

Always take some fruit, bread, dried fruit, raisins,
etc. with you on the walk each day. These will provide
you with protein and energy until lunchtime. And, yes,
you can buy these each night in the groceries.

Hope this helps.

Buen Camino,
Ana




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