Walking in November

[Gene Silva]

Rod and Katie wrote:

> Currently, we have some time in November around the
> Thanksgiving holiday that we could walk for about 6
> days.  We figure this will get us just beyond Cierbro,
> at 20-30km per day, but I was wondering if anyone has
> any experience walking during this time of the year.
> Are refugios open? How cold is it? (we are from texas)
> etc.  Any experiences about the camino would be
> greatly apreciated.

My first walking visit to Cebreiro was in January, 1972. It was cold and
misty with patches of snow on the ground. My recollection is that the
temperature hovered around freezing all day and it was lower than that at
night, but I did not have any measuring devices so cannot say with
certainty. It was extraordinarily beautiful. My last time there was in
September, 2000 on my walk from Leon to Santiago. Cebreiro was equally
impressive, but the temperatures were moderate during daylight hours,
falling to the low 50's down to perhaps the mid 40's in the evening. I have
passed through that part of Spain a number of times in between those dates
and have never felt particularly uncomfortable with the weather conditions.
In the winter, of course,  it would be advisable to wear a coat or jacket. I
had no need for one in September although there were some other pilgrims,
mainly women, who seemed to require extra clothing to keep warm.

Although I currently live in Texas, I grew up and was educated in the
northeast and mid west so perhaps that resulted in a greater tolerance of
cold and wet surroundings. Regardless, in my opinion, the passage from
Cebreiro to Santiago is worth the effort any time of year.

Gene Silva