Vezelay to Compostella

[Jeffrey Crawley]

Hi Philippe and happy New Year to all.

I second all of what Bill says about equipment.

If you don't want to go to the trouble of even a light tent then how about a
gore-tex bivvy bag?
I took one on my frist trip and wished I'd had it on the second when the
refugios were all full one day (Roncesvalles to Pamplona in one go on the
second day was NOT funny). You might like to try :
www.jjraf-armysurplus.com where you can buy unissued British Army ones (ie
first class quality - your tax paid for it initially!) for just 25 UKP.
roll it up with your sleping bag and a kip map inside, when it's time to
sleep just shake it out and flop. I've slept outside in near torrential rain
and stay perfectly dry.

They also do surplus ponchos which you can also pitch over your bivvy for
extra protection as well as wearing it over yourself and your pack when it
rains (otherwise don't forget a pack liner, even a heavy duty rubbish bag
will do).

Trousers/shorts issue: why not buy two pairs of trousers with zip off legs
(of the same make) take both pairs of shorts but just one set of legs that
way you have up to four possible combinations.

If you go the silk sleeping bag route the ones from
www.silksleepingbag.co.uk now cost 21UKP but you can invert the top section
and stuff a pillow inside. Extremely light and folds to the size of a
paperback.

While on the subject of equipment for <camping sauvage> you can make
yourself the lightest possible stove from two cola cans, see the
www.pcthiker.com site for details. It's like a trangia stove but much
lighter; you can buy the alcohol in supermarkets in France and Spain
(usually amongst the cleaning section) and there are no unsightly gas
cylinders to dispose of.

Bonne chance et bonne route

Jeffrey


> Hi Philippe;
>
> I'm  64, walked much of the same route, GR7 & GR 64, this year and found
no
> pilgrims refuges before le Puy. I stayed in  camp grounds, one or two
hotels
> and camped free in the woods