Brierly Fails Us

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I’ve always used John Brierly’s guides to the Camino routes. They are the standard guide to the stages in the major Camino routes. Stop in any village for lunch and you’ll see people with their noses buried in Brierly, sussing out the what challenges they’re facing in the afternoon.

Today we’d planned a relatively unchallenging 13 mile walk along an “ecovista” path up the Minho River. We headed out of Vila Ancora de Praia, walking along the ocean. It was slightly overcast and big six foot rollers were crashing into the rocky shore. Very moody. We walked for about 5.5 miles then stopped for lunch in the ancient village of Caminha. All good so far - pretty flat walking.

After lunch we headed off, crossing a long bridge over a tributary of the Minho. It was marshy land, filled with shore birds and when we looked over the railing, we could see swarms of large fish in the water. Not too far along, we found the path that ran along the river and stated walking along - it was scenic and gave good views of the river and of Spain on the other side.

However, it seemed we had just gotten started when we saw Camino signs pointing us away from the river and we headed up a steep road into a hill village. We thought: “OK, a small detour from the river path” but in fact, all the signs kept us going up, climbing higher into the hill villages. Today was supposed to have been easy on the legs. Instead, we were getting a mean workout.

Now, the villages were interesting and the mountains that rise up on either side of the river were dramatic and rocky. Very scenic - just not what we had bargained for. Brierly’s map didn’t show another route, so we assumed if we followed the Camino signs we’d end up back on the river.

Towards the end of the day we decided we just couldn’t do anymore hills. We walked down to the busy n-13 highway that runs parallel to the river and walked the last few miles on the shoulder of the road. To reach the place we were staying we had one final, what seemed to be straight up climb. By the time we got there, our tanks were on fumes.

Curious to know how things had gotten so off course, we googled it and found some message boards in which others complained about the same thing. Apparently there’s an old Camino route that’s waymarked, while the path Brierly mentions isn’t. Many people with exhausted legs!

Data: 14.9 miles, 10 floors

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