Walking The Camino in the Extreme Heat

There's a moment on the Masseta, that long, flat, treeless stretch of Central Spain, where the sun stops feeling like weather and starts feeling like a presence. It's standing on your shoulders. It's pressing on the back of your neck, and you realize there is no tree, no wall, no shade for as far as you can see.

I want to talk about that sun today because in

the last decade summer on the Camino has changed and a little preparation is the difference between a pilgrimage you'll never forget and a medical emergency you'll never forget for the wrong reasons. Welcome back to the Sacred Steps Podcast. On this show, we're walking virtually alongside pilgrims and authors, learning the lessons the Way teaches us from those who know it best. I'm Kevin Donahue, pilgrim, backpacker, and author of The Pilgrim's Table, Available globally on 07/01/2026 as part of my Camino Chronicles series of novels. First, I want to just clear the decks with one production note today.

I sound different on today's podcast. So, I'm not sick, I'm not AI, but I am working remotely. I'm recording today's episode from our summer apartment so I don't have the same microphone, same editing software, same bandwidth and so on. And the net result is, it's a little different. So, if you're used to me for the last four seasons and land on this episode, now you know.

Okay, enough shop talk. Today's episode is a practical one, but it's rooted in something I care about deeply, walking with humility. Respecting the weather, respecting your body, respecting your limits. Because temperatures above 35 degrees Celsius (that's 95 Fahrenheit to you and me Russ) are becoming the norm across Southern Europe in summer. France, Spain, Portugal, June, July, August and increasingly September too.

Here's the thing, most pilgrims don't fully reckon with. This isn't a beach vacation where you duck into air conditioning when it gets uncomfortable. On the Camino, you're out in it five, six, seven, eight hours under direct sun with a pack on your back. So, let's talk about how to walk smart, stay healthy, and finish strong. I'll be honest about where I'm coming from.

I live in Southwest Florida where heat and humidity are just the daily reality and I've hiked the Florida Trail in high summer temperatures. So, I've learned firsthand how to manage heat on foot over distance, day after day, but I also want to set the stakes correctly because this is the part the packing list articles tend to skip. Heat illness exists on a spectrum and the spectrum moves fast. It starts with heat stress. You're hot, you're sweating, you're uncomfortable, but your body is keeping up.

Then comes heat exhaustion. Your body is losing the fight. You're sweating heavily. You feel weak, dizzy, maybe nauseous. Your heart rate climbs because your heart is doing double duty.

It's pumping blood to your working muscles and pushing blood to your skin to shed heat. Add a backpack and a few liters of fluid lost to sweat and that's a real cardiovascular load. And then there's the line you do not want to cross, heat stroke. That's when your body's cooling system fails outright, core temperature spikes. And the warning sign that matters most is this, Confusion.

Disorientation. A person who stops making sense or stops sweating when they should be drenched. That is no longer a tough it out situation. That is a call for emergency services situation. Heat stroke is a medical emergency, full stop.

I'm not telling you this to scare you off the Camino. Thousands of pilgrims walk safely through European summers every single year. I'm telling you this so the rest of today's advice lands with the weight it deserves. Every tip I give you is in service of keeping you on the right end of that spectrum. Let's get practical.

Tip number one and honestly, the single highest leverage change you can make. Start walking earlier than you think you need to. One of the most common mistakes I see from new pilgrims is rolling out of the albergue at eight or nine in the morning.

In summer, that's already too late.

Experienced summer pilgrims are walking by five, 6AM. Here's what a smart hot weather schedule looks like. You're awake at 04:30, 05:00. For my friend Anne Bourne, let me also add, you're packing up silently because you packed the night before. Don't rustle plastic bags.

Grab your gear and tiptoe to the door. You're walking before sunrise, headlamp on, cool air, quiet road. You knock out the majority of your distance before 11AM and you arrive before the worst of the afternoon heat ever shows up. The numbers here are dramatic. The difference between walking at 8AM versus 1PM can easily be 10 to 15 degrees Celsius (that's 18 to 27 degrees Fahrenheit).

Same trail, same you. A completely different physical experience just by shifting the clock. And there's a gift hidden in this too. Walking into a Spanish sunrise alone on the path before the world wakes up, that's some of the most sacred time you'll spend out there.

Tip two: Hydrate ahead of need. Here is

a piece of physiology that trips people up. Thirst is a late signal. By the time you feel genuinely thirsty, you are already behind. Dehydration has a head start on you, so the work begins the night before. Limit alcohol and drink a liter to a liter and a half of water after about 8PM.

You want to start the day topped off. Then while you're walking

Small sips every fifteen to twenty minutes, Consistent and steady.

Carry enough water for the long exposed stretches where there's no fountain and no cafe. Or, it may be closed due to the heat. So, Refill every chance you get and resist the urge to chug a half liter all at once. Your body absorbs a steady drip far better than a flood. Put a number on why this matters.

In hot conditions, many hikers lose a liter or more of sweat per hour. That's a lot of water leaving your body. You have to keep putting it back.

But, and this is critical, water alone

won't get the job done. When you sweat, you're not just losing water, you're losing sodium and other electrolytes. And if you only replace the water without replacing the salts, you can actually run into trouble. That flat, weak, crampy, off feeling even when you've technically been drinking plenty. So, build electrolytes into your routine.

Your options, electrolyte tablets. Easy, light, drop one in your bottle. Electrolyte powder, oral rehydration packets. Or good

old salty snacks. Nuts, pretzels, olives, crackers.

What a lot of seasoned pilgrims do is alternate. One bottle, plain water. One bottle with electrolytes back and forth through the day. Simple system and it works.

Tip four is the one your ego won't like: laugh, slow down,

I said it. This is not the day to chase a personal distance record. Heat puts extra strain on your heart and your muscles. Remember that cardiovascular double duty I mentioned? And pushing your pace in the heat is how you turn a hard day into a dangerous one.

So instead,

shorten your stride, ease off the pace, rest more often than you think you need to and take the shade every single time it's offered. And I'll just say this because it's true.

The Camino is in a race. No one remembers how fast they walked. Everyone remembers how they felt. Let's talk about what you put on your body. You want lightweight technical clothing, fabric that lets sweat evaporate because evaporation is how your body actually cools itself.

Your kit should lean toward light colored shirts, breathable fabrics, UPF sun protective clothing, a wide brimmed hat, not just a ball cap. You want your neck and ears covered, Quality sunglasses and moisture wicking socks. And the one to avoid, cotton. Cotton traps moisture. It stops wicking.

And on a long hot day, it goes from damp to miserable fast. There's a saying in the backpacking world on the PCT and Appalachian Trail, cotton kills. And while that's mostly aimed at cold and hypothermia,

the comfort principle holds in heat too. Leave the cotton tea at home. Two quick ones that pair together. First shade. Use it religiously.

Walk on the shady side of the trail or the street. Even a five minute stop under a tree can meaningfully drop your core temperature.

When you stop for that mid morning coffee, sit outside under the umbrella rather than standing in the open sun waiting. Second, your skin. I'll never forget our friend George in Athens who had one piece of advice he repeated like a mantra, use the cream. Use the cream. And he

was right. The European sun is often far stronger than visitors expect. So sunscreen before you leave. Reapply every two hours, reapply after heavy sweating. And don't forget the spots people always miss, Your ears, the back of your neck, the backs of your hands, your calves, the tip of your nose.

Here's why this isn't just vanity. Sunburn actually reduces your body's ability to cool itself. Burned skin can't regulate temperature properly, so protecting your skin is part of protecting your whole heat management system. Now, how do you know if it's working? Two simple self checks.

The first one I learned in scouting decades ago and it's still the easiest hydration gauge there is. Watch your urine. You heard me. Watch the color of your pee. Pale yellow means you're in good shape.

Dark yellow, amber, or simply not going very often. Those are warning signs. Your body is telling you to drink more. The second is knowing the signs of heat exhaustion so you catch it early. Stop immediately if you feel dizziness, headache, nausea, unusual fatigue, muscle cramps, chills sudden heavy sweating or weakness.

If that's you, get into shade, rest, drink fluids with electrolytes, cool your body down with wet towels or cool water. And I'll say it again because it's the whole point, if symptoms get worse or if confusion sets in, that's no longer heat exhaustion. Seek medical help immediately. Call emergency services. Don't talk yourself out of it.

A couple of bigger picture adjustments because sometimes the answer isn't a gadget, it's a different plan. Reduce your daily distances. A lot of guidebooks throw out 25 to 35 kilometer days like that's the standard. In extreme heat, consider dialing that back to 15 or 20 kilometers, maybe less. Build in a rest day.

Spend the peak afternoon hours indoors. Walking fewer kilometers is always better than getting sick and losing three or four days to recovery.

Choose your accommodation wisely. When it's brutally hot, small comforts become genuinely important to your health. Not luxury, recovery. It can

be well worth booking a private room or even a hotel if it means a fan or air conditioning to bring your core temperature down overnight. You walk better tomorrow when you actually recovered tonight. Let me hit the questions I get most often about summer walking.

Is July too hot to walk the Camino? Not necessarily, but plan around it. Start before sunrise, finish by late morning, and

know that the routes crossing the Meseta get especially hot.

Which route is the coolest? The Camino Del Norte, generally. It hugs Spain's Northern Atlantic Coast so it runs cooler than the inland routes. But this year, they are all sweltering hot. How much water should I carry?

Depends on the stage. But when you've got long exposed stretches ahead with no refill, many experienced pilgrims carry two to three liters. I always carry one more liter than I think I will need on the longest empty stretch. That's usually about two for me. Should I walk during an official heat warning?

If local authorities issue a severe heat warning, take it seriously. Shorten your stage, delay your departure, or just take a rest day. A few hours of patience beats a hospital visit. And those national weather services, AMET in Spain, IPMA in Portugal, Meteo France, are worth checking the night before. Before we close, here's the rundown.

If you're driving, check the show notes. One to two liters of water capacity, a bladder or two bottles, electrolyte tablets, a wide brimmed hat, sunglasses, SPF 30 or higher sunscreen, a lightweight long sleeve hiking shirt, a cooling neck buff, lip balm with SPF, trekking poles, And a lightweight rain jacket because, yes, summer storms still happen. I want to leave you with the thought that's underneath all of this. The Camino has never been about conquering nature. It has always been about learning to live within it.

Walking with humility, respecting the weather, your body, your limits, that's not a compromise to the pilgrimage. That is the pilgrimage. It's every bit as much a part of the journey as reaching Santiago.

So, this summer, slow down, drink often, seek shade, and remember, your destination isn't just Santiago, it's arriving there healthy enough to actually appreciate it.

If today's episode spoke to the part of you that's drawn to the road, you might enjoy my novel, The Pilgrim's Table. It follows five pilgrims whose journeys converge in the small coastal village of Muksia just past Santiago. It's fiction, but the advanced readers have told me it captures the emotional and spiritual heart of the Camino in a way a guidebook's don't. You can read a free excerpt or order a copy at thepilgrimstable.com. And if this episode would help a friend who's walking this summer, please send it their way.

That's how this little community grows. Until next time, be well, stay safe, and Buen Camino.