Having completed 90% of this 1,250 km traverse across Northern Spain through the Pyrenean foothills to the Cantabrian border, I will jot down a few thoughts on Spain’s oldest long-distance trail through this magnificent, haunting countryside, overlooked by ever-present snow-capped peaks.

John Hayes guidebook, published by Cicerone in in 2015, excellent as it is, was essentially written for walkers planning to stay in accommodation. Some of the sections described involve daily sections in excess of 30 km in order to reach the scattered lodgings, with many daily ascents exceeding of 1000m. Sadly, quite a few of the B&B’s, hostels and country hotels mentioned in the guidebook no longer exist and the same can be said for a number of the bars that could once could have provided the walker with a food (and/or food supplies) and a midday break.

Because of these logistical challenges I believe, these days, that vehicle back-up is required to tackle the GR–1 if one is to rely on B&B’s hostels and hotels. Trying to arrange taxis at some of the remote route/road intersections would not be an easy task and would require a good command of the Spanish language. I am almost fluent in Spanish but at times I struggled with some of the strong regional accents and languages, especially in Catalonia.

As I hope I have shown, backpacking is, of course, a viable option for those willing to carry a 15 to 20 kg pack and taking full advantage of bars that happen to be open on the day you pass for a jolly good ‘top-up’ feed. There are lots of places to camp and the people, although few and far between, will be very friendly when you do come across them. But a word of caution: some of the strategically placed restaurants and watering holes close for a rest day on Mondays, and others, especially those run by the communities, will open only in the evening and may not serve food. I met another backpacking English couple who had run out of food on their walk and gone without food for a full day and a half.

Following the Pyrenean foothills as it does, the terrain is technically very straightforward with only one or two easy scrambles. The daily ascents often exceed 1,000m that some backpackers will find quite challenging, with a heavy pack, as I did. Resupplying with fuel and food can also a bit hit and miss, so you have to carry a good reserve. Although the sort of food that is generally favoured by backpackers is generally not available, there are plenty of splendid alternatives (good bread, hams, tinned fish etc.). I saw no gas cylinders along the GR-1, but many of the small towns have hardware shops that sell meths (alcohol metalytico) and  pharmacies that sell clear alcohol (ethyl alcohol or alcohol etyitico). This is more expensive but it burns well in the classic Trangia stove that I used and can strongly recommend.

Something worth considering would be to send food drops to a few strategic places, as I did on my 2014 Cape to Cape trek.  Far simpler, would be to hire a vehicle and leave or bury food and fuel supplies along the way near the GR-road intersections. (For example; fly to Oviedo, drive to Barcelona in 2-3 days, dropping of say 6 or seven food drops, and simply walk back 1250km!). Some would find this a bit off-putting.

My guidebook tackles the GR-1 from west to east. If you want to start the GR-1 early in the season, which is advisable, then terrain, climate and snow cover indicates that east to west is the preferred walking direction, and was the one that I followed. Guidebook route descriptions often don’t work very well in the reverse direction unless they are geo-referenced, which mine wasn’t, and my guidebook’s maps, because of scale, were ‘illustrative’ only.

Some sections of the walk are well way-marked with European red and white GR paint marks painted neatly on trees, buildings and fences etc. Some sections have no waymarks at all, and at times I found that the way marked path did not coincide with my downloaded route. This was frustrating at times but generally not a problem. If you follow a trail that is not marked on your map, you must then rely entirely on the way-markings. Unfortunately the markers can stop without warning leaving you ‘high and dry’ (or high and wet through) to navigate as best you can on unknown paths that may not be shown on any maps.

On some days, with constant back-tracking and thick undergrowth, I found myself advancing less than 10 kilometres after a long tough day. For most of the route, walking even short distance off an established footpath is definitely not a good idea and will often lead you into thick undergrowth laced with the meanest razor-wire brambles and/or gorse.

In my 1,000 km of walking I met only six or seven other long-distance walkers, which must be due in part to some of these logistical  ‘inconveniences’. That said, the GR-1 is a superb walk that takes the intrepid walker through some quite magical countryside. I sincerely hope, however, that one day the Spanish tourist board will recognize the ‘tourist potential’ of the GR-1, coordinating the much needed route maintenance with the provinces that will allow it to take its place as a world-class long-distance trail. At the moment the GR-1 is slowly fading, along with the way-markers.

I look forward to continuing on the GR–1 next Spring (2019), and then following the Cantabrian Mountains on to Cape Finisterre.

John Sutcliffe, October 2018