Pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela

[Muszla]

Has anyone done on foot or by bike the stretch from Sanguesa via Liedena via Foz de Lumbier and farther on to Izco? Is there a trail marked with yellow arrows or something? How to get to Izco then? I couldn't find any sensible map of the area, nor info about this alternative camino. Could anybody help before I get stuck on some busy roundabout?

[jabri]

Beginning of June 2007 we walked from Lourdes, via Pas de Somport, Camino Aragones to Puente la Reina.
From Sanguesa the main route goes via Liedena and Lumbier to Izco, so you can follow the yellow arrows. About 2 km out of Sanguesa you can take a variante , to the left, via Rocaforte, passing the Alto de Aïbar and the Alto de Olaz, to Izco. In Izco there is a refugio. Also de variante has the yellow arrows!
We followed the variante, because it is shorter
look for googlemaps:

http://maps.google.nl/maps?f=q&hl=nl&geocode=&q=Izco&sll=52.469397,5.509644&sspn=2.319045,5.141602&ie=UTF8&ll=42.657192,-1.428223&spn=0.699887,1.2854&z=10&iwloc=addr&om=1

Jan Brilleman

[jacobo]

Hi,

I walked the variante last June, passing Rocaforte. It had been raining lately and the path was very muddy.
After falling ten times I managed to get to the other road near Liedena and walked along the carrtera to Izco. I advise to walk from Sanguesa to Lumbier, Izco, Monreal in case of doubt. Izco has a good refuge (kitchen, shop); so does Sanguesa. Both the tracks seem to be well indicated.

[peregrina2000]

Hi, Jan, it's Laurie! I didn't know you posted on this board. It's really an excellent site, I think. Happy New Year to you and Erna.

It's funny, when I read the part of this post about your taking the variante because it's shorter, I thought -- that sounds like Jan!

In my emails I found some notes from you on the Camino Aragones, which I hope to walk next fall if all goes well. I would like to start in Oloron Ste. Marie or maybe a day or so back, and it looks like you guys joined what becomes the Camino Aragones at that same place. And then you went on to Puente La Reina from there. If you have time, could you post the actual stages you did? From what I can piece together, you took three days from Oloron Ste. Marie to Canfranc Estacion, then to Jaca, and then to Puente la Reina staying on the Aragones.

People on this site have been recommending the detour to San Juan de la Pena, which I know you didn't take. But I'm hoping that maybe it's a way to avoid some of the highway walking -- didn't you say that from Jaca there was a day or so all on pavement?

And I should warn everyone on this board that when Jan says that things are well marked and easy to follow, you should keep in mind that this man has an internal GPS system whose match I have never seen. It is incredible. Jan, we really could have used you on the Norte last summer, when Dana and I were floundering through pine forests with an infinite number of criss-crossing logging roads and trying to squeeze our way through overgrown brush and across streams. Some of it was pretty comical, in retrospect anyway.

Thanks for all your help, Laurie

[jabri]

Oh Laurie, that's too much of honour

On your other topic I made a list!

Jan Brilleman

[Muszla]

Thanks for your messages - very helpful. I know the Rocaforte route: muddy after rains and tough if you've got no extra food on you but quiet and more isolated if you like this sort of thing. I'm interested in the above mentioned variante because of Foz de Lumbier, which is on the way. Is the camino signposted with yellow arrows from Sanguesa or from Liedena? Or do I have to follow the road NA-127? It looked so busy this autumn! What's the stretch between the Foz and Izco like? Can I cycle it? Does anyone know?

[jabri]

It is signposted by yellow arrows, along the NA-127, after the Foz de Lumbier till Izco along the NA-240, so it is possible to cycle that part. We did not walk that part, but we heard from other pilgrims it is walking along those NA127 and NA240 for the most of the time.

[Muszla]

Oh, dear! I hope it won't be too bad. Thanks a lot for your info!

[Debinq]

Hi Muszla

The last bit of the stretch after Lumbier to Izco (along N240) isn't particularly attractive - besides there is also the "Alto de Loiti" (720m) to climb (gradual) - but after that it's a cruise downhill to Izco and you can also get back from Loiti to the track from Rocaforte from the N240 for last few km.

best wishes & BUEN camino

Peter