Sarria to SdC in Sep 2012

[sandyaq]

Hi! I've been reading lots of good Q&As here for a few months. My high school classmates, a few hubbies, & I are super excited to walk the last 100km in Sep. We are in our mid 50s. I will be in Spain 10 days prior, meeting up with a friend, then we (about 15 total, for now) all meet in Sarria the night before. We've prereseved in pensions so we're not bringing sleeping bags & mats. I've been to Spain many times before but have never walked 100km in 5 days. We're all training for Sep & I will also let the camino train me! Needless to say we're all looking fwd to this trip & one day I want to start in SJPP!

How is the weather in Sep? I read that Galicia is very green due to the rain it gets all the time. How about temp? Also, I drink a lot so of course I need to pee often too. I would rather go into a bush than a stinky porta potty. What should I expect in terms of facilities and bushes in between villages?

Thanks in advance!

[HuskyNerd]

Hi Sandy ~
Wow, sounds like a fun trip. The weather in Sept in Galicia is wonderful. You may get rain, but temps will still be moderate. You'll find lots of services (bar/cafes and restaurants about every hour or so) along the way between Sarria and Santiago, so there'll be fairly little need to use the bushes. Porta potties are unheard of on the camino so no need to worry about them in advance. Buen camino!

[fabfrox]

Hi, My husband will be 70 this year and I will be 65 and we are walking from Pamplona to SCS - 704 km - that is the plan, anyway! We will see is we can do it. We will also be using outdoor loos but there seems to be plenty of bars etc. Good luck on the walk - we may see you!

[unadara]

Sept/Oct 19th 2011-31 days walking, got temps of 33` most days, practically unheard of and we suffered, but NO rain, no mud etc..I could not recommend Sept highly enough as a good time to walk, we did not get flies/insects either which was strange ?. I hope to be able to do a Camino in May and see the fields in all their glory. We did "use" the fields but bars are preferrable! any excuse to have another cafe or coke (which I never normally drink, but looked forward to very much).

[sandyaq]

Thanks for your replies! Wow, 30C in Sep - sounds like Madrid in July. I will still bring a rain jacket & pants & will be ready for rain & mud.

Are there enough trees near the trail for a siesta? I read of lots of fields & open space, but how about some shade?

[Leslie]

Are there enough trees near the trail for a siesta? I read of lots of fields & open space, but how about some shade?

Most places apart from a lot of the Meseta. This is something I did from time to time, though it was also good to get into an albergue and have an afternoon nap.

[Precious1]

.........You'll find lots of services (bar/cafes and restaurants about every hour or so) along the way between Sarria and Santiago, so there'll be fairly little need to use the bushes......

Very true, yet, to my chagrin, a regrettable blemish on the bucolic trek from Sarria to Santiago is the large amount of white tissue strewn along country paths on the way. This is sad because the camino in these stretches is old and full of bushes to retreat behind for one, then two, scooting the tissue under a rock or some leaves takes no effort and leaves the wonder of the surroundings intact for fellow peregrinos. There are stretches where facilities are more than an hour in between and sometimes, no matter how one plans, one just has to answer the call of nature and I am glad here my years as a girl-scout, and years of family camping, informed me as to what to do. :]

[sandyaq]

Yeah, I don't which is the worse offense: leaving tissue behind by the bushes under a rock or leaves which can fly off or putting the tissue in a plastic bag to go into a bin with the plastic bottles & other non degradable trash.

On another subject, my backpack has an external frame. In your experience travelling overseas, are you able to check in such a backpack assuming the weight & total inches of the bag itself is within regulations?

Buen camino!

[nathan]

the white tissue situation will not be helped by placing debris under rocks and leaves.Small mammals scent it and dig it up etc.There is an often quoted book"how to shit in the woods" that i would reccomend.Failing that keep a couple of small plastic bags in your pack and carry ALL waste paper and litter the half hour walk to the next village where it can be disposed off In all our travels whatever the destinatrion we should "tread lightly and do no harm"

[Precious1]

the white tissue situation will not be helped by placing debris under rocks and leaves.Small mammals scent it and dig it up etc.There is an often quoted book"how to shit in the woods" that i would reccomend.Failing that keep a couple of small plastic bags in your pack and carry ALL waste paper and litter the half hour walk to the next village where it can be disposed off In all our travels whatever the destinatrion we should "tread lightly and do no harm"

Hi Nathan,
I agree, the best thing is to carry plastic bags for paper, or any trash.
Talking about liquid waste, though....I know putting such paper under rocks or leaves works. The paper does biodegrade soon, we just don't have to watch it happen.lol
If it were solid waste, it is incumbent on one to dig a hole, even if with ones hands, and is more sanitary than carrying it with one. lol Wild animals do not dig up human waste, burying it is about not spreading bad germs particular to it....
In any case, anything would be better than what is now: and it must be the ladies, I hate to surmise. Only once had there been a suspicious odor, but it was not on the side of the path, yet to cause offensive olfactory sensations to waft in the breeze, it meant it had not been hygienically covered somewhere behind the undergrowth.
Ah, I can just smell all those bright spring flowers, and hear those birds in love singing as we are starting out of Sarria on a bright June 1st morning!! :]

[Precious1]

Edit: Oops! Can't use the same adjective twice in one sentence. :]

Ah, I can just smell those bright wild-flowers, hear those birds in love trilling as we are heading out of Sarria on a sparkling June 1st morning!! :]

[sandyaq]

Thank you for all your good advice!

Now, how about checking in for an international flight an exterior frame backpack? Will that go through assuming it's within the weight & total inches figures? That will mean bringing a plastic knife instead of my favorite one to cut bread & cheese but it will also mean less worry that my backpack is on the same plane as I am.

[unadara]

Curiosity on my part ! Why an external frame backpack ? How much does it weigh ? If you are not carrying a sleeping bag, staying in pre-booked pensions etc, you should be travelling extra light, maybe you are, just interested.
You will have a great walk and enjoy the whole anticipation part too. Where do you intend to stay in SDC.

[Precious1]

Used a 25 liter old Jansport back pack last year, and plan to use it again this year. :]

[sandyaq]

Unadara, External because it's what I have already. I am still recovering from sticker shock from my other purchases for the trip. It's my 1st camino & I am looking fwd to starting from SJPP - for that trip I'll definitely get a proper backpack. Yes prebooked pensions so no need for sleeping bag & mat. We are splurging in SdC - no, not the Posada de Reyes Catolicos, I wish! It will be the S Francisco monasterio.

Precious1, how did you attach the shell to your pack?