Camino del Norte 2024

The first day of the Camino del Norte is the hardest of the whole walk. We did the Norte in 2018 and skipped the first stage. This year we wanted to try it out, seeing that we were six years older. To make it even possible we did two things. We took a taxi up to the Guadalupe Sanctuario which saved four miles and 600 feet of elevation climb. We also decided to stop before San Sebastián which saved four miles. Still it was very hard, harder than we expected.

There are two routes from the Sanctuario: the official route, which is mostly flat except for a descent of 600 feet at the end, and is pretty routine. The second is the Purgatorio route which goes to the top of Mount Jaizkibel.

Right after the two routes split we climbed a ridiculously steep trail. Here is a photo.

After that it goes up and up and on and on. Quite rocky. But the route has spectacular views. Some photos.

Once you pass the mountain top and its towers, you start down. This is steep and rocky and slow going. Finally it merges with the lower trail and it is pretty easy into Pasajes.

Numerous times on the trail we wished we had taken the lower route but when we were back in Pasajes, after checking in and having a lovely meal we decided it was worth it.

Mountains climbed: 1 (1900 feet)
Distance walked: 6.9 (hard) miles (up 1300 feet, down 1900 feet)
Taxi rides: 1 (we skipped the first four miles and 600 feet up)
Maximum heart rate on ridiculously steep first part: 139 (I think my watch alarms when it passes 140)
Number of times during the hike when we wished we had taken the lower route: at least five
Number of times we wished we had taken the lower route after we finished: 0
Most expensive menu del dia: €31.5 (but it was really excellent)
Darling little seaside towns entered: 1 (Pasajes aka in Basque Pasaia was lovely)

We decided we could handle the Purgatorio route. We did but just barely. See a later post on this. There will also be one on Pasajes.

Cigarettes: 0 (Bridget had more)
Alcohol units: (Ditto)
Total solar eclipses missed by 1 hour: 1
Unpleasant transatlantic crossings: 1
American airport meals: 1 (not too bad)
Airplane meals: 1 (mediocre but not terrible.
Number of times the word claro heard in two overheard conversations in the Madrid airport: at least 40 (I didn’t understand any other word as it was all Spanish. Wynette told me they use it kind of like we would say “of course.” They always say it twice: “claro claro”.)
Spanish airport meals: 1 (very good and inexpensive, and good coffee)
Friendly passport agents: 1 (usually they are very businesslike)
Walks from airport to hotel: 1 (San Sebastian has a tiny airport, it was a 15 minute walk)
Sudden rain storms: 1 (walking from airport. It started sunny, then cloudy, then a few drops, then a cloudburst)

We were in the air between Albuquerque and Dallas during the eclipse, and outside of totality. We couldn’t see anything.

Spanish airport food is very good. We had focaccia bread with Spanish tortilla and ham.

As usual, economy class sucked. The main problem is you have so little space. Sleeping more than a few hours is impossible.

Northern Spain has very changeable weather. We put coats away because it was sunny and hot. The rain came quickly and got our suitcase wet inside, through the zipper. We dried it with a hair dryer.

It turns out that if your hands and screen are wet, touches do not register on your phone screen. That makes it hard to access the map app to find your hotel.