[Gocamino] Winter Camino

[Jeff Stys]

I recently returned from my "winter" camino.  I walked from Pamplona to Sagahun in 12 days.  It was an incredible trip - I previously walked from Leon to Santiago in September 2003.  Walking in the winter was exactly what I was looking for - the solitude, the people, the weather and other pilgrims I met along the way made it a very memorable trip.  

 

I experienced every type of weather imaginable:  thick fog in the Alto de Perdon (got a bit lost because I couldn't see a trail maker 5 feet in front of me); a half day of rain leaving Burgos, sun on the meseta, clouds for a few days outside Pamplona, very strong wind after Santo Domingo.  I was never really cold - walked with five layers and took them off and put them on as appropriate.  I carried a 20 degree sleeping bag so even if there was no heat in the albergue, I stayed fairly toasty.  

 

Albergues were for the most part open.  I always asked along the way and got pretty good information.  I only stayed in hotels two night.  For the holidays, I made sure that I ended up in decent sized towns so I could be sure to get a room for the night.  

 

I really got to experience the warmth of the hospitaleros.  I shared a long lunch of lentils and chorizo with the hospitalero in Burgos and experienced the warmth of couples' private hostel in Belorado.   Not much of  a town but their kindness made up for any lack of atmosphere.  The senoras of the tiny town of Hontanas made me an incredible dinner of sopa Castellano, pork loin and fried eggs.   In general, there were about 3 to 4 pilgrims per night.  

 

I stopped walking on Christmas day.  I woke up to about 2 feet of snow on the 26th.  I took a train to Leon and it was a white-out all the way.  It continued snowing all day and the cathedral covered in snow was amazing.  It had not snowed that much in years in Leon, and the Spaniards were enjoying the snow - lots of snowballs, snowmen and cheering when someone's car was pushed out of a snow bank.  

 

I walked with the corresponding pages of Linda D's and David G's book.  I thoroughly enjoyed reading about the history and art of the camino.  I had some amazing luck visiting some churches - heating oil was being delivered in Vianna, I (unfortunately) walked into a funeral in Estrella, got to see the tiny Romanesque octagon church in Torres del Rio (it was being cleaned), and several small churches were open because local folks were preparing the Christmas crèche.  I also got to see the cloister of the Romanesque church in Estella - which was pretty amazing.   

 

If you ever have considered walking in the "off" season, you'd get an enthusiastic endorsement from me.   

 

Jeff