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Del Norte

September 2023 - November 2028
A 1877-day adventure by Nipawin Read more
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  • TravelerDel Norte
    1
    1
    Day 10

    Day 6 Gernika to Bilbao 146.95 km

    September 28, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 30 °C

    This was a day of very rough trail conditions ....mud and rocks!

    Before I explain I want to let you know that every day I see a black cat🥺 Today it was a ceramic one in a shop I passed this am....Harley's spirit♥️

    Great day and only saw maybe 6 pilgrims total.
    I have taken shots of the different trail surfaces to give you an idea of what we walk on.
    We went through a forest that had used heavy equipment.

    Trees today were eucalyptus and pine. Some pine trees are dying and I wonder if they have pine beetle here??

    We didn't go thru any towns.
    About 12 km in A lady had a stand by the edge of the road with fresh fruit, nuts ( freshly roasted off their trees) .What a treat!!!

    I also saw my first fig tree today!
    Very hot High 20's.

    I have added on a better map of the stage I walked as the one on my Garmin isn't great.

    Took the train to Bilbao from Lemaza as there was no place to stay there or on the next stage.

    Oh and I tried my first pinxto. They are like tappas.

    I lost my sunglasses but got another pair luckily🤗    Read more

  • TravelerDel Norte
    1
    Day 11

    Day 7 Bilbao to Portugalete 163.44

    September 29, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C

    Oh my goodness! So hot today! It is supposed to stay this way for 10 days or so.

    Met a lovely girl from Winchester as a bunk mate. Her name is Julie and she was hilarious. I had the buffet breakfast at our hostel this morning with her. Then we walked together to the museum and parted ways She had been on a 5 day kayaking/hiking vacation with 12 of her friends. They were close to Santander a place called Llanes.

    Very dull walk today. Not many pics. I have been spoiled. A lot of people skip this part🙄

    I rode another Pickle boat. A guy on the boat tried scamming me for 50 Euros😳 Then the driver of the boat got into a shouting match with him. I had thought I was to pay him to go across but he was keeping the mone y. The Spanish get very excited when provoked😱

    Took my time walking today I stopped for lunch and bought a belt to keep my shorts from falling down.

    Love the Albergue here. Very nice Pilgrims. One of the ladies started from Holland 2 months ago Bernadette.

    I met a new friend Anja from Germany. I will tell you more about her later.

    Oh yes check out the guy with the 12 foot rod. I wish I knew what kind of fish was trying to catch.

    Going to bed now😔
    Rest day tomorrow😎    Read more

  • TravelerDel Norte
    1
    1
    Day 11

    Day 8 Reat Day - Portugalete

    September 29, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C

    Had a great sleep. Woke up early to say goodbye to Bernadette and Anna

    Anja decided to stay an extra night. We went out for a delicious lunch I had Sea Bass !
    Lots of bones so had to be careful.

    I met Anja in Bilbao. She was carrying so much stuff that a homeless person saluted her😅

    She bought a new backpack there and walked 10 km. She Stopped and decided to take the bus. She didn't know how so asked a garbage collector who in turn led her to the warehouse where about 50 men were gathered. No one aspoke English and only one spoke German. He was able to help her👍

    Today I helped her arrange her luggage transfer. She will do less km tomorrow than I.
    We will set out at 7 at the latest It looks like another scorching hot day.

    I must mention this Viscaya hanging bridge thing it transports people and vehicles over the channel in a suspended team for 50 Euros.....or you can pay 8.5 Euros to walk across the top of it!!! I could have taken it but didn't realize what it was. I thought it was just an ugly crane like structure Anja took it and had a blast😅

    There is an alternative route for tomorrow by the water so we will take that . I don't know how it will affect my kms for the day.

    A man in our Albergue got lost just trying to find this place. So many pilgrims go off track The Camino is very poorly marked and there are so many other trails as well. The GR trail is one marked by red and white stripes . It is used all over Europe. At this point I am navigating with a screenshot of a map/ downloaded map from All Trails app Google Maps, and the Wise Pilgrim app. I will be a pro with navigation after this experience for sure😉😅💪    Read more

  • TravelerDel Norte
    Day 13

    Day 9 Portugalete to CastroUndiales 191k

    October 1, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C

    Woke up at 430 am to the sound of a lot of talking. I believe it was Korea n? I know they like to start early......

    Anyway, Anja is going to walk with me. Victoria from Florida lent her a day pack. She is sending her luggage ahead and has booked a place before my destination. She is unsure how many km she can do.

    We set off not on the original Camino but an alternative that Victoria told us about. By the ocean more and no senseless climbs in the mountains.

    Beautiful and stunning path today.
    The town of Verbenia had a German feel to it with the house style Bavarian looking.

    My pace was quite slow as I accommodated Anja. After La Arena I parted ways with her as I had about 10 kms more to do than her.

    It was sooooo hot But the path passed a Bar at the top with a view of the ocean😍 Topped up with Gatorade and CocaCola Zero .

    Passed a pilgrim wearing VIBRAMS. Barefoot alternative.
    He was walking on pavement!!! Yikes!!!

    Today I leave the Basque country and enter into Cantabria.    Read more

  • TravelerDel Norte
    11
    Day 14

    Day 10 CastroUndiales to Laredo 220.9 km

    October 2, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 24 °C

    Had a great sleep. Left later than usual 7:00am

    Very nice beginning to the day but starting at 20 C is tough.

    As you can see the scenery is stunning. However I thought I could handle the distance but the heat made it extremely challenging.

    I was fine until Liendo. As you can see looking at the map there are tons of alternative routes. I thought the one I chose was the shortest.....30 km later😱

    But the big roadblock was that MY PHONE DIED !!!!

    Yup. I know it overheated....battery fried!

    So I had no way to navigate my way when I arrived at Laredo.
    I had no address or phone number of the place. Luckily I remembered its name.

    I looked at a map at the Church of Santa Maria run by 2 Nuns in habits. But trying to find the signage on buildings is tricky. 2 people told me to go the Policia for help.

    By some miracle I found the place.....it was 530 at night!!!

    Then I was sooooo fortunate to find a phone place (same company that I bought my SIM card from) and bought a NEW PHONE

    I am the proud owner of a Samsung Galaxy A14 5G😂
    The lady spoke excellent English. I was also able to go to a shop to get the screen protector and case.

    Needless to say I was a wee bit weary....    Read more

  • TravelerDel Norte
    1
    112
    Day 15

    Day 11 Laredo to San Miguel 240.5 km

    October 3, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 21 °C

    Had a terrific sleep. Left by 7 am.
    I am only walking 20 km today. So not completing the 28 km stage

    Overcast with light rain. I packed my raincoat.

    Started with a 5 km walk to a point where a ferry would bring us over to Sonoma.

    All of a sudden pilgrims started appearing including Victoria !
    I was so happy to see her again.

    We had cafe con leche after we crossed. Vibram guy was with us on the ferry as well.

    While we had our coffee a dozen pilgrims passed😱 it was the most I have seen all trip. Yesterday I saw 3 pilgrims in total during the day.

    Victoria mentioned how she had suffered with the heat yesterday I guess a pilgrim was airlifted by helicopter off of a ridge ....heat exhaustion/ collapse.....very scary.

    So many varied ways today. Victoria is going a different way than me. We parted ways....

    Beautiful peaceful walking.
    Quiet countryside. It did rain a bit but no bother.

    Arrived at my destination early before 2 pm. 🙄
    Had Bacalou fish for lunch
    Very tasty after I removed the batter and skin.

    Very wonderful hostel. Immaculate and Fantastic shower.

    I have a long day tomorrow as I am going to Santander. Another ferry ride I am told. Yahoo!    Read more

  • TravelerDel Norte
    111
    Day 16

    Day 12 San Miguel to Santander 265 km

    October 4, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 22 °C

    Great sleep although I was up late looking at the upcoming stages I am thinking of going down the Primitivo way. There is a lot of road walking lately which I would prefer to be hiking more
    I will go to Oviedo and decide there I think

    Started walking in the dark on a narrow road with no shoulder. I had my headlamp on but it was not very good 😳
    I thought the road would improve but it did not all the way until we were closer to the ocean This is what I am not to keen on.

    My pictures will show how narrow the road was....buses and big trucks are on it. Not Pilgrim safe at all🥺

    I have a pic of an elderly gent walking and who was listening to Opera....

    The countryside really is stunning.

    I had the best tortilla ever for breakfast! With fresh orange juice 🥰👏

    The views of the ocean from the path along the cliff were Spectacular!!!

    Huge beach. It must have been a couple km long for sure. It reminded me of the West Coast trail beach walking.

    I used my GPS to navigate where I was to go after it.....and almost missed the tiniest sign that said 'ferry".

    There were delightful people from Italy, Nomads from the USA they have an address in South Dakota....it's a long story ...and a guy and his wife from Victoria Lex and Peter. She is suffering with a leg compartment syndrome😥but is improving.

    Took the awesome ferry over to Santander. A pirate ship was docked close to where we got off. 3.30 Euros for the ride.

    Found my hostel. Very nice indeed.

    My watch wasn't charged enough and turned off early. I clocked 25 km today. Sunny and very warm😎    Read more

  • TravelerDel Norte
    1
    Day 17

    Day 13 Santander to Boo 279.5km

    October 5, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C

    Woke up at 530. Bunk mate from China was up as well. She was taking the train to Madrid. She completed the Del Norte from Irun to Santander. She will come back next year to do more.

    This place had a freshly ground coffee machine which was FREE.
    I had a few cups after I got it to work. They had a timer on it set for 830.....

    Set off and met a few pilgrims . Apparently the main Albergue in Santander was closed for some reason so people were struggling for accommodation last night

    Walked to Boo today. 15 km the stage was 38 km in total. Way too far for me.

    I have never seen as many arrows as I did today?? Why ??

    My Albergue doesn't open until 230 so I am having tortilla at a bar with a mini Coke Zero.

    I will rest and plan some more. So much road walking again...I miss the dirt trails at the beginning🙄

    Very pretty countryside. I saw my black cat for the day👍🤗

    Not a spectacular day at all. Very hot! at 111 in the morning.    Read more

  • TravelerDel Norte
    1111
    Day 18

    Day 14 Boo to Santillana del Mar 302 km

    October 6, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C

    Had a lovely breakfast at 7. Left for the train station. We had to take the train to the next stop for safety reasons.

    Got off. Very cool and misty walking. Very peaceful listening to the birds.

    Love seeing the livestock. Seeing the burros just made my day!!

    I also saw my first pig but the picture didn't turn out well

    Long stretches of pavement but this place is so cool!!
    The convent is so nice. I can't wait for the Pilgrim:s blessing and supper tonight.

    Everyone is here from the Albergue in Boo. Nice to see familiar faces for sure.

    The shower was the best by far on the Camino to date.

    Chris and her group from Alaska shared their pizza and salad with me for lunch. Amazing what good food can do to boost your spirits.

    The heat reminds me of the Meseta last year....very weird for coastal walking I think.    Read more

  • TravelerDel Norte
    11
    Day 19

    Day 15 Santillana to Comilles 325.59 km

    October 7, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C

    Had a terrific sleep! My bunkmate loves sleeping with the window open👍

    Out the door by 7. I am trying to leave earlier to beat the he.at.

    Beautiful stars this morning. I even saw a shooting star.

    Lovely walking although very steep inclines and declines. I used my walking backward down the hills to save my knees and give my quads a break.

    Had breakfast with Camilla from Hungary at a bar. Anne Marie joined us. Freshly squeezed OJ and tortilla.

    It got very hot once the sun came out. However most of the walking was in shade and lovely forested roads.

    Much nicer conditions today and eventually we got back to the ocean.

    Lovely hostel. We have cubed beds which offer curtains for privacy.

    Went and got groceries for tomorrow

    Had quite a pivotal moment when I had trouble with my pack transport. Long story short.... I am taking the train to Oviedo tomorrow and starting the Primitivo route Monday morning.

    I decided to switch a bit earlier than planned......but so it goes.

    I have felt very frustrated with this walk ever since Bilbao. I think the best part was Irun to Bilbao.

    The change in plans took awhile to do tonight so I am keeping this short.    Read more

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