Spain's Sendero Historico: The GR1. John HayesЧитать онлайн книгу.
Breaking the GR1 into chunks
This guide is designed to provide the prospective traveller with all the information needed to plan a trip along the GR1. The complete end-to-end trail is highly recommended but it does take around 53 days to complete. Most walkers will need to break their GR1 exploration down into chunks and to this end the route is described in seven sections, each with a start or endpoint that can be easily reached by train or bus. The route is described west to east. You could, of course, choose to walk it the other way but finishing at the Mediterranean adds a certain amount of drama to the trip.
Northern Spain is very accessible to the international traveller. The main options include a flight to Madrid and a train or bus journey to a section start point or a flight to a regional airport followed by train or bus. The main towns you might go through en route are often incredibly interesting in their own right (Oviedo, Bilbao, León, Burgos, Zaragoza, Pamplona) and more than justify an extended stay in Spain.
Generally speaking the train network radiates out from Madrid and information and tickets can be obtained from the excellent RENFE website (www.renfe.com). An important exception to this is the narrow gauge line that runs from León to Bilbao, a rail trip not to be missed which is also an excellent way of getting to destinations at the western end of the route.
The high-speed national coach network is also a good way of getting to section start and finish points. The largest network is run by Alsa who have a lot of regional and local buses as well. Information about the Alsa timetable is on their website (www.alsa.es) where you can also buy tickets, although this seems an unnecessary complication as you can just buy them on the day. The information is not comprehensive, however, and if a route can’t be planned on their website it does not mean that it doesn’t exist. Other regional operators also provide inter-city coach travel.
Tourist information in Spain is organised at various levels (national, regional, large towns/cities and important tourist destinations) and an email to the regional tourist information office usually elicits a helpful response. (See Appendix C.)
Tozal de Guara, the highest peak in the Sierra Guara in Aragón (Sction 5, Stage 5)
Planning your walk
Everyone walks at a different pace. To help plan your trip the sections of this guide are broken into stages, each as close to 25km long as possible (see Appendix A for tables showing the structure of the sections and the location of facilities along the route). Also included is an estimate of how long each stage will take. This has been calculated using the famous formula developed by the Victorian walker Naismith, which allows for height gained and lost, and applying Tranter’s modifications, which allow for fitness (my calculations are based on average fitness). At various points on the route you will see signposts describing how long a particular stage will take – these estimates can vary wildly and are best ignored.
Knowing that there is somewhere to sleep at the end of the day makes for a much more relaxing walk, and most people will want to book their accommodation in advance. But when there is plenty of accommodation just turning up is an option as for most of the year the hotels are rarely full. The advantage of not booking ahead is that you can be more flexible, walk longer days if the weather is really good and not have to reschedule everything if the weather is bad. Incidentally the best ‘adventures’ often happen when things get difficult with accommodation and you have to ask for help.
Friendly accommodation at Nela (Section 2, Stage 2)
This guide includes as much information as possible on accommodation to help you plan your trip. Not all accommodation listed has been ‘sampled’ although where it has particular recommendations are made. Before publication contact has been made to check on current status but accommodation does sometimes close on a temporary or permanent basis so do check yourself if you can.
If you don’t speak Spanish there is an inevitable tendency to choose accommodation which looks better organised and to book online if they have that facility or send an email if they don’t. Small hotels in Spain often don’t respond to email and despite the difficulty it is better to try and telephone.
What to take
When you carry everything you need for the trip then weight is a key consideration. The more you carry the more strain you place on your body, particularly your knees, and the harder the walking. Unless you’re carrying camping gear it should be possible to get all your gear (excluding water) in a back-pack weighing no more than 7kgs, or even less.
When packing there are a few things to consider.
You will need proper waterproofs. Although it doesn’t rain a great deal outside the winter months, when it does it can be very heavy.
You should also take something warm, particularly if you are walking in March/April or October. Spain has the second highest average altitude of any European country (after Switzerland) and the GR1 runs through some its highest mountain ranges. It can get very cold in the mornings and evenings and some of the accommodation will have little by way of heating.
Included in the 7kg weight target is a sun-hat, sun-cream and sunglasses – the sun can be very strong and there isn’t much shade.
This guide tells you where you can get food along the route although a good option is to ask the hotel to make you a picnic. Generally speaking they are more than happy to do this. You should carry some ‘emergency rations’ – you might find it’s the local baker’s day off, or the bar you thought was going to be open wasn’t. Everyone will have his or her own emergency ration solution but a bar of chocolate hidden at the bottom of the rucksack (out of the sun and to avoid temptation) is mine.
All accommodation on the route has clean drinking water and you will be able to recharge any electronic devices you are carrying. Most places have wi-fi as well.
Think hard before taking heavy boots designed for winter walking in northern Europe. The growing consensus is that the ankle support supposedly provided by walking boots is a myth and you are definitely more likely to get blisters if your feet are hot and enclosed. The general consensus is that a kilogramme on your feet is equivalent to four on your back and lightweight footwear they will make you more nimble and allow you to walk longer without getting tired.
Finding your way
As it would be for any long-distance route in Spain finding your way along the GR1 can be a challenge.
Spanish walking routes are ‘defined’ by the walking associations, and in Spain the regional walking and climbing associations operate to standards set at a national level. It’s a voluntary activity although regional government does occasionally get involved as part of its promotion of tourism. Therefore, waymarking and the quality of the path will vary from region to region.
Waymarking on the GR1, which includes the classic French-style red-and-white paint markers, is generally good and the route is well defined in Castilla y León, the Basque Country, Aragón and Catalonia. The signs in Navarre need a lick of paint and are non-existent on a short stretch through Cantabria.
Although the GR1 typically follows a feature (for instance a road) marked on the Institute of Geographic Information (IGN – the national mapping agency) maps, the GR1 itself, like all long-distance walking trails in Spain, is not defined on any map base. Spanish maps are therefore not that useful for a walker who wants to follow a long-distance route unless someone who knows the route has marked them up.
Waymarks in Castilla y León (Section 1)
Using GPS technology
In addition to