I had just missed a big dump of wet spring snow. It was March on the Camino de Santiago. I missed the snow but the stories abounded: most of them of pilgrims being caught off guard and unprepared for this weather. It meant that the pilgrims could not take the country paths but had to follow the N120 highway a longer route with traffic. I was horrified to hear about the person who insisted on keeping going through the snow in his hiking sandals. Others were horrified too and after one day, in the evening, a priest had found him to give him a pair of boots. This kind man had been stopping at the albergues along the way to find this pilgrim. What a Biblical tale!
I arrived in Sahagun on the train from Madrid, and though the snow was gone the cold and wind had not. I promptly went to a small clothing store and bought a polo neck sweater. That evening at the albergue I heard the stories of the snow. The next morning, was day one of my third visit to complete the Camino along the Camino Frances across northern Spain to the city of Santiago de Compostela. I was on the Meseta continuing the path where I had left off in October. The Meseta is a vast plateau stretching north from Madrid; the Camino crosses the northern part. As I set off I could feel that cold wind sweeping down from the north off the coastal Canatabrian Mountains.
The walking the next day was helped along by the fact that my backpack was lighter – I was wearing any extra clothing. That evening in the albergue in Calzadilla de los Hermanillos, the atmosphere was warm and cordial but the temperature was not. We sat around the central table with all our outer clothes on. At bedtime, I put on my PJs and put all my clothes back on top.
That was as close as I came to walking the Camino in winter. Winter Camino is very calm, there are few pilgrims. Many of the albergues are closed. If you have good boots, your long johns – which can double as PJs – I think it would be a wonderful time to walk. There are mountains and some high altitudes so you could meet snow but you are still in a climate that warms up nicely, even in winter. You will meet a few pilgrims but I think more locals, and you will avoid the tourist buses.
I did the first half of the Camino, in two visits in September and October. That is truly a beautiful time to go. The weather was temperate and the light was wonderful. I loved walking through the vineyards especially in La Rioja province. In many vineyards, the rows of grapes have a little sign identifying what the grapes were – many Tempranillo. I would see those grapes, ripe and ready to burst their juice. But they were not picking them yet. Every day I expected them to be picking. Every morning, a few men would be in the vineyards to test the grapes for their sugar continent and maybe other markers. They would decide when to give the word that the grapes should be picked.
Many of these grape-growing communities share a Protected Designation of Origin, which I understand means that the wines from that community meet shared standards of quality. This means they must cooperate to ensure the uniformity of content. I never saw the harvesting, I left the area before they did the picking. At the simple restaurants where pilgrims are offered the pilgrim menu for supper, the meal comes with wine, in an unmarked bottle, probably out of a barrel. That happens any time of the year.
I have never walked in the summer. That is more of a challenge. The heat and the crowds. Though there are plenty of pilgrims in the autumn and spring, I think one of the big differences in the summer is that the pilgrims are younger! The students are out. It is crowded but somehow people seem to find food and shelter. All is open for them. I did do part of the Camino in southwest France, it was the end of summer but come the first week of September, the trails became crowded with pensioners who had been waiting for the kids and their families to get back to school. It really was a bit too much.
Needless to say, spring is a charming time to go with nature bursting out all around. Some of the hostels may still be closed but most services are available. Spring had another treat in store for me: Holy Week, the week leading up to Easter. This is an important time in Spain and many people have the week as a holiday. In the villages and towns, every evening, weather permitting, there are parades. They take statues out of the churches, a crucifix or often of the Virgin Mary who will be dressed elaborately in velvet and have a crown. She is placed on a platform with flowers, then teams of men carry the statues. The men are clad in black or white in full-length gowns with a pointed hood over their heads. It is a bit of a shock to see these hoods as they look like the ones adopted by the Ku Klux Klan. In Spain, the idea of the anonymity which the hood brings is very spiritual. This parade is penance and thus to be done anonymously, you are not there to get praise or Brownie Points! Some men even walk barefooted, on the rough road and the evening chill. Also as part of these parades, you could have a military or police band and city official and ladies in black with mantillas over their hair held high with a comb.
The other advantage of Holy Week is that many Spaniards are on the Camino. This is great as a lot of the time, your fellow pilgrims are from all over the world, enriching, but if you want to practice your Spanish and meet Spaniards, I recommend Holy Week!