Who would have predicted a heat wave in Europe as I prep for my Camino de Santiago trip, but BBC reports of 113F in parts of Portugal got my attention. I’ve looked previously at temperature norms for the areas I’ll be walking through and have been looking forward to a range of low 50s to mid to high 70s. Yesterday it peaked at 99 in Pamplona!

This is when I become thankful I’m not walking now on the Camino. Most Futurecast predictions call for a return to normal temperatures in the weeks ahead, so hopefully my plan of escaping the dog days of Texas summer by spending late August and all of September in Spain will come to fruition.

I guess I’m more surprised there aren’t more heat waves across Europe. They say this latest is caused by heat off the Sahara blowing up over the European continent. And it’s not just this past week, either. A friend in Berlin has been posting about the abnormally hot summer they ae having, and I think parts of the UK are also baking. Welcome to global warming, I guess, where historical trends exist now for history’s sake rather than as tools for prediction.

As I now begin to follow more closely weather across Northern Spain, I do see that there may be some hotter conditions as one crosses the “meseta” between Burgos and Astorga, a distance of 140 miles, or so, at an elevation just under 3000 feet. This semi-straddles the middle portion of the French Way of the Camino de Santiago. I’m lured by some of the descriptions I am reading of open space, certainly plenty of sky, but also varied agricultural usage. It sounds as though it might be the place to “be here now.”

All packing lists include gear that will allow the walker and his gear to stay dry, and those extended weather forecasts I’m seeing, showing encouraging temperatures, are also showing rain off and on through the weeks ahead. Of course, it’s still too early to see reliable forecasts for the first several legs of my 500 mile trek, but I’m glad to have a poncho which will serve double duty of sheltering both me and my backpack when the rains do fall. I have the greatest confidence in my new boots, advertised as waterproof, which usually means water resistant. I walked through a puddle yesterday and I’m here to proclaim my feet stayed dry. To further cover the bases, I took the advice of my friend Adrienne who swore by the Wrightsocks she wore on her recent trekking on the John Muir Trail. Yesterday I bought Wrightsocks at the wright time and for the wright price at REI. Here’s to dry and blister-free feet!