I’m back. Although I really don’t know if I’m not still there. This Holy Year extended by the pandemic, I wanted to do the Camino Primitivo in winter. Yes, I knew it was going to be hard. Yes, I knew it was going to rain, snow and eat mud. Yes, I knew that many of the albergues were going to be closed. Of course I was aware of all the limitations but I also know that doing it in winter is special and even more so this Primitivo. Because of the hardness but also because of the people that El Camino puts to walk with you.
First, the data
A very brief summary:
- Departure: Oviedo, 26/11/2022 (Saturday)
- Arrival: Santiago de Compostela, 08/12/2022 (Thursday), Day of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary.
- Total km (according to track): 323.11 km
- Total stages: 13
- Fellow pilgrims with whom I met: Between 4 and 8 (we arrived in Santiago 4).
Track of the Primitive Way in winter
I leave embedded the complete track of the Camino Primitivo in winter this year. You can follow it directly from the Wikiloc application or download the track in GPX directly from there (about 20k points). If you want the high resolution, just ask me for it.
As you can see, there are two very different sections: the Asturian including the first two stages in Galicia until O Cadvo and the Galician, especially from Lugo and once it joins the French Way in Melide. I feel sorry for my Galician friends but I prefer the Asturian section both for the landscapes and for the welcome in the hostels, whether public or private.
Here you have the details of the 13 stages. Of course there are more alternatives always taking into account the availability of the hostels but these are mine. Main criterion: availability of public hostels. These hostels are the ones that keep open these less travelled Caminos than the French and Portuguese (take a look at the statistics…).
- Day 1: Oviedo – San Juan de Villapañada (30.95 km)
- Day 2: San Juan de Villapañada – Salas (21.72 km). Mythical hostel even if you have to make a small detour.
- Day 3: Salas – Tineo (20.34 km)
- Day 4: Tineo – Pola de Allande (26.46 km)
- Day 5: Pola de Allande – La Mesa (23.20 km). Passing through the Puerto del Palo (1.176m).
- Day 6: La Mesa – Castro (22.83 km). Passing by the Grandas de Salime reservoir.
- Day 7: Castro – A Fonsagrada (21.33 km). We enter Galicia.
- Day 8: A Fonsagrada – O Cádavo ( 25.49 km)
- Day 9: O Cádavo – Lugo (31.01). Start of the last 100 km
- Day 10: Lugo – San Román de Retorta (20.77 km)
- Day 11: San Roman de Retorta – Melide (28.57 km). The pilgrims of the French Way join the pilgrims.
- Day 12: Melide – O Pedrouzo ( 36,97 km). Includes a small “detour” to get to the hostel 😉
- Day 13: O Pedrouzo – Santiago de Compostela (20.89 km)
Primitive Way in winter in 3D
I also leave you this 3D visualization so you can see where the Camino Primitivo passes through in winter, the beauty of the areas it crosses… and the slopes, both uphill and downhill: 8,150m of positive and negative slope.
The best of the Primitive Way in winter
This year I wanted it to be special: Holy Year and walk the original route of the first pilgrim, King Alfonso II El Casto. Added to that I always do it in winter so the doubt was how much water or snow was going to fall or what temperatures I was going to have especially when passing the area of Puerto del Palo. In the end we were very lucky, only three days of rain out of the thirteen we walked… although that did not prevent us from having to deal with the accumulated mud.
The landscapes, the forests, the thousand streams, … are a marvel. To see them in all their splendor, from the morning frost to those autumn/winter colors, is a privilege. As I said before, the difference between the Asturian stages (including the first two to O Cádavo in Galicia) and the Galician ones is very marked. This brings me to the people part.
As you can imagine, in winter the number of pilgrims doing the Camino drops a lot. And if this is true in general, extrapolate it to less traveled paths than the French. To give you an idea, this year I have met less than 10 people on my same “day”. And this year I have been incredibly lucky again with the fellow pilgrims with whom I have had the pleasure (and honor) of walking. Each one more interesting: Alessandra, Jesús, Miguel Ángel, Alberto,… and also Pilar and Pepe or Miriam.
And not only my fellow pilgrims. The welcome as well. The hospitaleros of the public hostels but also of the private ones have been very attentive to us. Making the end of the stage easier, helping us with the restaurants or the washer/dryer… or preparing dinners that were not even half normal (olé for Begoña). Things change when you approach the last 100 km (Lugo) and especially the French Way (in Melide). The number of pilgrims goes up and the hostels, even the public ones, become more “professional”, more “cold”… and especially in Galicia.
Anyway, the result, what counts the most is everything that is behind this photo. Those stories, those beers, those pains, that effort (that everyone has to make… nobody walks it for you), that reward of the arrival, …
And a thousand other moments…
Truly, this has been a special Camino.
