| Day 1 Stanstead
to Bilbao – the group of 6 met by Paul and Frank of
Dynamic Adventures.Driven to La Molinuca hotel at
Penamellara for overnight stay Day 2 Minibus to Panes and then on to
Beges for a day’s walk to Sotres This walk, during
which the party climbed 1045 metres, was designed to
‘break in’ the walkers. It gave the first
glimpses of the spectacular scenery and the domestic
animals particularly goats and the distinctive local
breed of cattle many fitted with cow-bells which seemed
to be ringing constantly. Griffin vultures wheeled, first
above and then below us.
Overnight stay at El Perdiz hotel, Sotres
Day 3 Walk to the refuge below Picu
Urriellu, also known as the Naranjo de Bulnes, an
impressive limestone monolith – one of the stiffest
challenges for rock climbers. Plus an additional walk
over a nearby ‘saddle’.This walk took the party
from 1005 metres at the start to 1960 metres at the
refuge hut (Refugio de la Vega d’Urriellu). and to
over 2000 metres during the additional late afternoon
walk. It started along paths through ferns and gorse,
passed through some ‘Alpine’ meadow pastures on
to rocky paths and finally the occasional patch of snow.
The additional walk was largely over snow, where the
leader demonstrated snow walking techniques and explained
how tests were carried out to define the category of
avalanche threat – it was nil on the stretches
passed! The first two chamois were spotted. There were a
number of Alpine Choughs around the refuge collecting
food dropped by walkers.
Overnight stay at refuge hut.
Day 4 Walk to Arenas de Cabrales via
Bulnes and Poncebos.The start of the walk was a reverse
of the route followed the day before as far as the Alpine
meadow. It then followed a narrow, rocky, slippery path
downhill to Bulnes, once the remotest village in Spain
before a funicular was built, and then an easier path
followed the side of a gorge to Poncebos – where we
stopped for a beer. The final 6km of the walk was by road
beside a river to the hotel.
Overnight stay at Hotel Torrecerredo,
Arenas
Day 5 Drove to Gamoneu to start a
circular walk via a lake called Lagos de ErcinaThis walk
took us through some very picturesque countryside –
large Alpine meadows surrounded by high, steep mountains;
a number of small farms and summer pasture houses, flocks
of sheep, cattle, horses and goats. Lunch stop was beside
the large lake. The afternoon took us past old mine
workings, now converted to a mining museum, through a
tunnel in the hillside to another vast Alpine meadow.
From here the remainder of the walk was along narrow
paths on the side of the mountains with long, steep drops
on one side. They followed the contours for a number of
kilometres before descending to Gamoneu. During the day
the temperature reached 39°!
Driven back to Hotel Torrecerredo, Arenas
for overnight stay.
Day 6 Drove back to Poncebos. Walked
along the spectacular Cares Gorge to Cain and then on to
a viewpoint at Mirador de Tombo. The first part of the
walk was a gradual climb on fairly good paths high above
the River Cares. Again, a very hot day so there were
fairly regular stops to splash faces and heads in the
canal (a fast flowing leat) which ran parallel to the
path, appearing and disappearing into the rock. From Cain
the final leg was by country road uphill through the
valley and at times steep.
Driven to Fuente De for overnight stay at
the Hotel Rebecco
Day 7 Took the cable car from Fuente De
to the top of the mountain. Walked to Turieno via Aliva
refuge, Mogrovejo, Brez and Lon.After the cable car ride
the walk started above the tree line following a good
path through rocky pinnacles and snow patches –
another chamois was spotted in the distance on a
snowfield. This gave way to more Alpine pastures where we
stopped at the Aliva refuge for a cup of tea! As we
continued downwards we left the pastures and came to oak
woods (lunch stop) and further on to the village of Mogrovejo
(beer stop). Although the day’s walk was generally
downhill, the next stretch included a very long uphill
walk on a road, but there was very little traffic, to
Brez. The rest of the walk was along a path through
‘scrub’ to Lon and on to Turieno.
Overnight at Posada Javier, Turieno.
Day 8 Short walk from Turieno to Potes.This
was an ‘additional’ walk up to a hermitage and
monastery and down to the market in Potes added by the
organisers to fill in the morning before the long drive
to Bilbao.Driven to Hotel Andrea, Bilbao via Rio Deva
Gorge for overnight stay. Evening in Bilbao before flight
back to Standstead early next morning. An excellent
week of walking.
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