[Gocamino] Wintery Camino

[Grant Spangler]

Snowplow in Roncesvalles: 
http://www.diariodenavarra.es/actualidad/20070319/fotos/20070319175107347_500.jpg

I have been watching this situation in Roncesvalles, thus the Pyrenees, for 
over a week now. It started snowing on Monday, and is projected to continue 
through this Sunday. Snow levels got down to as low as 100 meters elevation, 
so the road past Pamplona was thick with the white stuff as well. Winds from 
the north and from the northwest were up to 35 km/hr, compounding the 
challenge for walkers. The INM 7-day forecast for Roncesvalles is found at: 
http://www.inm.es/cgi-bin/locali.cgi?ig=31630 . We have contiguous Camino 
Frances coverage for all the pueblitos at: 
http://groups.msn.com/ElCaminoSantiago/weathercaminofrances.msnw . As the 
temperature hovers near freezing, the snow reamains wetish, and the 
realative humidity is high. You end up with the worst of all worlds, wet, 
cold, windy and a bit of mud. This is a chill-to-the-bone kind of weather. 
If the temperature would drop and stay at -10C, it would actually feel 
better. Any crossing from Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port would be out of the 
question. Moral: Ask the locals, but confirm on the Internet what kind of 
weather is pending before you sally forth.


Buen Camino,

Grant

Grant Spangler
GASpangler at hotmail.com
http://groups.msn.com/ElCaminoSantiago
http://community.webshots.com/user/ElCaminoSantiago