A week to go before I leave for the Camino! I have been making a possible schedule and packing list. I'm also starting this blog... I don't know who'll be reading it, so please make a comment for me so I know.
Here's the schedule. There is almost no chance that I'll be exactly on this schedule. Part of the Camino pilgrim experience is going without knowing exactly where you'll end up that day. I have quite a bit of flexibility so if I need recovery days, it shouldn't be any problem. I might want to walk slower too.
| Days Walking | Destination | Notes | Target Lodging | Reserve ? | Km | Miles |
| Wed, Sep 14 | | Leave SMF (~18 hrs) | | | | 1 | 0.6 |
| Thu, Sep 15 | | Arrive in Toulouse in afternoon | Juliette will pick me up at the airport | | | | |
| Fri, Sep 16 | | Day in Toulouse | Stay at Juliette's
| | | | |
| Sat, Sep 17 | 1 | St-Jean-Pied-de-Port | Travel to SJPdP (by bus?). Try to arrive by Noon to get the good Albergue near the pilgrim office. Peek into the Municipal. | Au Chant du Coq (priv.) 0674.310.283 | YES | | |
| Sun, Sep 18 | 2 | Roncesvalles | Breakfast in Orrison | Colegiata (Conv.) 948.760.000 | no | 25 | 16 |
| Mon, Sep 19 | 3 | Larrasoana | Lunch in Zubiri but hike on to Larrasoana. Dinner at San Nicolas (reserve) | San Nicolas (Priv.) 619 55 92 25 https://alberguesannicolas.com/ | YES | 27 | 17 |
| Tue, Sep 20 | 4 | Pamplona | Eat at Cafe Iruna (Hemingway hangout) | Casa Paderborn (Assoc.) 948 39 54 23 https://jakobusfreunde-paderborn.com/unser-verein-2/casa-paderborn/ | no | 15 | 9 |
| Wed, Sep 21 | 5 | Puente La Reina | | Padres la Reina (Conv.) 948 340 050 | ? | 25 | 15 |
| Thu, Sep 22 | 6 | Estella | | Hospital Peregrinos (Assoc.) 948 550 200 | ? | 22 | 14 |
| Fri, Sep 23 | 7 | Sansol (6.8 km past Los Arcos) | | Sansol (Priv.) 948 648 473 | YES | 28 | 18 |
| Sat, Sep 24 | 8 | Logorno | | De Peregrino de Logrono (Assoc.) 941 248 686 | ? | 21 | 13 |
| Sun, Sep 25 | 9 | Najera | | Puerta de Najera (Priv.) 941 362 317 | | 29 | 18 |
| Mon, Sep 26 | 10 | Santo Domingo | | No advice (possibly nice hotel?) | | 21 | 13 |
| Tue, Sep 27 | 11 | Belorado | | Quatro Cantones (Priv.) 947 580 591 https://www.cuatrocantones.com/ | YES | 22 | 14 |
| Wed, Sep 28 | 12 | Ages (3.6 km past San Juan de Ortega) | Eat dinner at cafe El Alquimista in Ages | Fages 947 561 329 | | 28 | 17 |
| Thu, Sep 29 | 13 | Burgos | Archaeological sites in Ataprerca 2.5 km outside of Ages. After Orbaneja, watch for the path to the left after crossing Hwy AP-1 before the airport, if you miss it turn left and walk along the chain fence until you connect with the path that crosses the river. | ? | | 23 | 14 |
| Fri, Sep 30 | 14 | Burgos | Layover Day? Mueso de la Evolucion Human in Burgos | ? | | | 0 |
| Sat, Oct 1 | 15 | Hontanas (4.8 km past Hornillos del Camino) | Dinner on same side of church (in Albergue?) | Juan de Yepes (Priv.) 638 938 546 | | 32 | 20 |
| Sun, Oct 2 | 16 | Castrojeriz | | | | 10 | 6 |
| Mon, Oct 3 | 17 | Fromista | | | | 25 | 15 |
| Tue, Oct 4 | 18 | Carrion de los Condes | Clyde at Hotel Real Monasterio San Zoilo 979 880 050 | | | 19 | 12 |
| Wed, Oct 5 | 19 | Terradillos de los Templarios | | | | 27 | 17 |
| Thu, Oct 6 | 20 | Bercianos
OR
Calzadilla De Los Hermanillos | Two paths: Real Camino Frances (23.5 km)
OR
Via Romana (26.7 km) | | | 27 | 17 |
| Fri, Oct 7 | 21 | Mansella | | | | 27 | 17 |
| Sat, Oct 8 | 22 | Leon | | | | 18 | 11 |
| Sun, Oct 9 | 23 | Leon | | | | | 0 |
| Mon, Oct 10 | 24 | Villadangos del Paramo OR Villar de Mazarife | Mark recommended Casa de Jesus in Villar de Mazarife (artwork on the walls) | Casa de Jesus (priv.) 987 390 697 | | 22 | 14 |
| Tue, Oct 11 | 25 | Astorga | | | | 31 | 19 |
| Wed, Oct 12 | 26 | Foncebadon (5.3 km past Rabanal del Camino) | Pizza place- L’isola Che Non C’e (Neverland) down the street from Domus Dei. The albergue also serves a communal dinner. Get there early; pizza for lunch then do dinner later at the albergue. Albergue Parroquial Domis Dei - 11th century converted church. | Domus Dei (Par.) donativo old small church peregrinosflue@terra.com | | 26 | 16 |
| Thu, Oct 13 | 27 | Molinaseca | | | | 20 | 13 |
| Fri, Oct 14 | 28 | Villafranca del Bierso | | Ave Fenix (assoc.) 987 540 229 | | 31 | 19 |
| Sat, Oct 15 | 29 | O’Cebreiro | | | | 29 | 18 |
| Sun, Oct 16 | 30 | Samos (9.8 km past Triacastela) | | Monasterio de Samos (Conv.) donativo 982 546 046 | | 31 | 19 |
| Mon, Oct 17 | 31 | Sarria
OR
8.2 km more to Alb Molino de Marzan | 2 to 3 hours out of Samos we found a very nice cafe, Casa Savaldi. Maybe a late breakfast or early lunch. Small cafe in forest.
Between Samos and Portomarin is a beautiful private albergue in an old converted mill. They also have dinner available which is good because it’s remote. Molina de Manzan. | Molina de Manzan (priv) 679 438 077 | | 23 | 14 |
| Tue, Oct 18 | 32 | Portomarin | Eat at Osterio El Italiano. It’s fairly close to the municipal albergue. | Portomarin (Xunta) 660 396 816 | | 16 | 10 |
| Wed, Oct 19 | 33 | Palas de Rei | | | | 25 | 15 |
| Thu, Oct 20 | 34 | Ribadiso | Old pilgrim’s hospital next to river. If it works out I recommend staying at the albergue in Ribadiso. I believe it’s the only one there. Converted pilgrims hospital. Beautiful setting by the River and there is good food at a nearby microbrewery. | Ribadiso (Xunta) 660 396 823 | | 26 | 16 |
| Fri, Oct 21 | 35 | Pedrouzo Arca | | | | 24 | 15 |
| Sat, Oct 22 | 36 | Santiago | | | | 20 | 12 |
| Sun, Oct 23 | 37 | | | | | | |
| Mon, Oct 24 | 38 | Finisterre? | By bus? | | | | |
| Tue, Oct 25 | 39 | | | | | | |
| Wed, Oct 26 | 40 | | | | | | |
| Thu, Oct 27 | 41 | | | | | | |
| Fri, Oct 28 | | Travel to Madrid, Night in Madrid | | | | | |
| Sat, Oct 29 | | Fly to SMF (20+ hrs) | | | | 793.1 | 492.8 |

I'm testing how pictures look in this blog. Here's a picture from my training hike up the Cold Canyon ridge yesterday looking down on Lake Berryessa. I went up and down about 1000 ft. twice with a full pack, but it's only half of what I'll have to do the first day on the Camino. It was a bit warm. I was the second to the last car to leave the parking lot at noon.
I'm reading!
ReplyDeleteI'm reading, too.
ReplyDeleteCan't wait to read about your adventures!
ReplyDeleteI'm reading with envy!
ReplyDeleteHi Bill! I hope you're still reading these comments. I mentioned to my cousins, Gary and Lynn Larson, that I dream of walking the Camino de Santiago. Gary said he has a friend who walked it recently and would I like his blog? Uh, yes please! I'm very excited to read your story and hope you will want to start a dialog around your journey from decision to the start of the pilgrimage.
ReplyDeleteQuestion: when did you decide to go and how long after that decision did find yourself on a plane to France?
Hi Deborah! Yes, I still get a notice when anyone leaves a comment. I am so happy you are reading my blog and I'd love to tell more you about it. Probably the best way is to connect with me directly via email. My address is billgrabertATyahoo.com. Of course you replace the AT with @. I think it's supposed to keep bots from grabbing email addresses but who knows : ) .
DeleteIn answer to your first question, I had been thinking about going for almost a year and I got the Brierley guidebook (A Pilgrim's Guide to the Camino de Santiago: St. Jean Pied de Port to Santiago de Compostela – by John Brierley) in December 2021. I had been training for a hike in the Grand Canyon in July so I was in decent hiking shape, and I had been thinking about starting sometime in early September . I didn't actually decide to go for sure, however, until about a month before I left. when I bought the airplane ticket in August. In fact, I was visiting Gary and Lynn when I bought the ticket. Over the next month, I bought a new backpack and new walking shoes, and did a little planning, but not much.
Buen Camino, Deborah!