Hi again - also starting our camino in May. That 1st day - hardest of course, is the whole 15 miles hard or would you say maybe the 1st 8 miles or so are? We did 10 yesterday here on hiking trails - TIRED - afterwards and know this is 15...so wondered if the whole 15 is hard or particularly the 1st so many miles? Thx
The hard part is the first 4 miles or so. Just take it slow...a hundred yards at a time, take a few pictures and enjoy it. It's the best day on the Camino and you will miss it when it's gone. If you look on Google Maps for The Refuge Orisson, that's where the hard part ends. The rest of the day is a nice easy incline, then once you reach the peak, it's a few miles of downhill to Roncesvalles. When you reach the peak there's a sort of sculpture and a signpost with different routes. To the left is the yellow/blue Camino marked route, but that is a steep/difficult downhill that is hard on the knees. To the farthest right is marked in red/white and is basically a little footpath through the grass, then connects to a paved road that's an easy grade that takes you around the edge of the forest and ends up in the back side of Roncesvalles. That's the way I take. No damage to the knees.
First, I want to thank you for all the fantastic content you create and share on your channel. I'm a first-time Camino walker, and I'm really excited to begin my journey on the Camino Frances this May! I'm particularly interested in the weekly data you share about registered pilgrims. Is this information available through a public webpage or API? If not, do you know resources where I could find such information, like nationality of registered pilgrims, starting points, and so on? I'm very interested in data and data representation, and I might even create a personal project if the information is publicly available. Thank you and Buen camino!
I don't think it's necessary but then I don't have feet that require them. I guess everyone's a little different. I'm a minimalist, so I don't think I would spend the money on them. There are two main things you want to accomplish with the insoles: First, you want your feet to stay in place. The arch support and heel cup give your feet something to grab onto so they are not sliding back and forth. I find this super helpful in avoiding blisters on the bottom of the feet. If you Google "blisters on the Camino" You will see what I'm talking about. People with blister problems often have them on the bottoms of their feet. So the insoles help to keep your foot from sliding around. The second thing I look for is the heel cup to wrap up around my heel so that I'm not standing on the edge of it. As I mentioned, if you try on your shoes without socks on you will feel it more clearly. If you try on shoes where the heel is too narrow and you walk around in them you can feel the sharp edge of the stock insole rubbing on the corner of your heel. After 15 mi you'll get a blister from that. So the inserts should have a deep heel cup that wraps all the way up around so that the weight is coming down inside rather than on the edge. As far as custom-made insoles go, I did spend some time with a woman on my first Camino who was walking with her dog. She was from Germany I think, and she had custom insoles made. I was talking to her in the pilgrim's office in Santiago when we were picking up our compostellas and she said she's really happy she got them. But she was carrying a very heavy pack, much heavier than I would ever carry. She had dog food and other supplies though, so she was packing for two. There's this Irish guy named Derek who makes videos and who walked at the same time, May of 2019, and he has her in one of his videos.... Big tall blonde girl with a dog.
You can search for webcams in the area you want to see. For instance, "webcam in Burgos" And there are several sites that have them. You can search anywhere in the world and usually find live webcams. I'm mostly concerned with the ones around Roncesvalles \ SJPDP.
I just looked at the date on this person's post and it looks like they are coming next week, not this week. But you can post on this same forum and probably find someone. www.caminodesantiago.me/community/threads/ride-share-23-april-2024-pamplona-to-st-jean-pdp.85420/
