But before I tell you about those, I have one other piece of exciting news in my life which I just have to share. It’s a proud Mum moment! We have a Master of Physics with Astrophysics in the house!!! Yesterday I had the pleasure of attending Bath Abbey to attend the Masters graduation of my eldest.
It was a marvellous day for him, a fantastic day for science and an even better day for my bank account!😂😂 Yes, almost 24 years after that very special day of his birth in October 2000, I have a fully fledged adult who in theory should now be financially self supporting. I’m not sure how that will work in practice but lets see how long it takes him to come to me for a loan.
I was so glad that Grandma and Grandad got to see him too. They were so proud. So after 24 years of tantrums (including some of my own😂), back chat, dressing up outfits, table top scientific experiments involving baking soda and vinegar, one almost broken window from a self made and launched rocket, lots of adventures, time out on the ‘thinking step’……….and a whole load more ups, downs, twists and turns……………………….he made it! I am so very proud of him. And I have to say I’m a little bit proud of me. Yes, my eyes may glaze over when he starts lecturing me on particles, matter and the interactions between them but I can’t help thinking………..wow, I part made an astrophysicist! Surely some of those brain particle genes must be mine!😂
In running news this was also the week of the Charlesworth and Chisworth Festival Fell Race. Now I made the age old mistake of not checking the route stats before I entered………………I just saw ‘free flapjack for every runner at the end’, and that was me sold. 😂 It was a lovely festival……small countryside village, scarecrow competition, dog show, poultry show, brass band, crowning of the festival King and Queen (you had to be under 12 to enter otherwise I might have done…………..I’d have had more success than in the run!). Then it was time for the fell run. I did wonder why only 8 of my team mates had turned up but all was revealed on starting when I discovered the run was 1.5 miles up the steepest hill you have ever seen and 1.5 miles down again. 🥵 My goodness, the only thing that saved me was the presence of a Mr Whippy ice cream van in the festival field at the end. It took a large Ferrero Rocher ice cream sundae complete with nuts, chocolate sauce and two chocolates on top, in addition to my flapjack, to revive me! I might give that one a miss next year…………….or just come for the Mr Whippy van.
Anyway, I digress, onto the Picos de Europa. I thought the coast of Asturias was pretty……………………..but then I got to the Picos ………….and they are just WOW!! Gorgeous in a different way, but just as jaw dropping.
I can’t tell you how many times I was just speechless it was so spectacular. I had four days here, three walking and one just dotting around in the car. I didn’t stay here, I remained on the coast in Llanes because it was convenient to get to all three areas of the Picos de Europa that I wanted to get to in less than an hour.
I almost don’t want to tell you about it, as other than on a weekend when it’s crowded with locals, there is hardly anyone there and I’d like to keep it that way. It does not have that ‘fame factor’, of the Alps and Pyrenees, but believe me, having been to the Alps, I can confirm it is just as beautiful. It’s quite a small mountain range, with its highest peak being Torre de Cerredo at 1931m. The mountain range straddles the three Spanish regions of Asturias, Cantabria and Castile and Leon. It is split into five sub areas for walking and I walked in three of them Cabrales, Valdeon and Cangas de Onis. You can stay in the Picos de Europa if you want, and the main bases are Potes, Cangas de Onis and Arenas de Cabrales depending on where you want to walk.
If you want a good English language walking guide this one is really good by my favourite hiking guide publishers Cicerone. All the areas are covered and there are walks of varying levels of difficulty and distance.
My first walk in the Picos saw me in the Cabrales area to hike Monte Camba. This was a circular hike of 13.5km with 750m of ascent, so quite challenging in terms of elevation. There were some exposed sections but nothing too onerous. I chose this one because it took in views of, and passed through, two of the prettiest villages in the area Tielve and Sotres, which are the centres of local Cabrales cheese manufacture.
I was also interested in this route as it took you past a number of mountain majadas which still serve the two villages today. A majada is a stone building in the mountains from where the sheep are farmed and from where they make the cheese at source.
The route also promised little-seen views of the summits of the North East sector of the Central Massif, which included a good view of El Naranjo de Bulnes, probably the most well known peak of the Picos de Europa mountain range.
The walk starts at the mountain village of Tielve where I parked the car at the side of the animal drinking trough in the main square. It was a strange little village, almost like the village that time forgot. There were a few cars, a few animals wandering around, an old beat up tractor, but absolutely no sign of life. It looked like there was a bar, but it did not look like it had been open for a while. Perhaps it just opens in the summer when there is an influx of hiking visitors.
Nevertheless, it was a pretty little place and the steep climb out of the village soon began. I did see one farmer who gave me a wave and a shout, and one group of five Spanish gentlemen a bit older than me who looked liked they were on a lads walking day out in the mountains. They peered at me like I was a bit of a novelty (they must not see many mature English women wandering around here 😂) and were happy to be entertained for a few minutes with my Spanish before they peeled off to scale higher peaks.
Tielve was soon a speck in the distance and the views were spectacular. It was not long until I came across the first of the majadas, although there wasn’t much activity today, which was a shame as I wanted to see if I could sneak my way in for a look at it in action.
There were some of my favourite cute cows, more gorgeous views, and I kept winding up and up, through pastures and small copses of hazel bushes. Hazel makes an important contribution to the economy here. The nuts have obvious benefits but no part of the bush goes to waste. The dried leaves are used as animal bedding, the older branches as firewood, the new flexible thin branches for basket weaving and the thick branches for walking sticks. The roots of the bushes also hold the soil together and help to prevent erosion. Eventually, I came out at a road, a communications antennae and lots of lovely shepherds huts at the Collau de la Caballar at 1233m high.
At this point on the road is a statue to the cyclists of the Vuelta de Espana, as the Collau de la Caballar was chosen as the gruelling climb at the end of Stage 15 of the race in 2015. It’s hard enough walking up, never mind on a bike!
Not long after the peak, the path starts winding back down again, and I could see the pretty village of Sotres in the bottom of the valley. I had emergency food in my rucksack but was hoping for there to be more life here and the possibility of some lunch.
Sotres turned out to be a lovely place. It got prettier and prettier as I approached it.
I entered the village into the main street and all my wishes were granted. There was a lovely looking restaurant ‘Meson Restaurante Pena Castil’ and it was open!
I must have looked like I was on my last legs as I plonked myself down at a table and peeled of my rucksack, as I was met by the round smiley face of the proprietor who in Spanish told me I looked like I needed a beer. I’m not sure that’s a good thing as I think it was his polite way of telling me I looked a bit worse for wear!😂 But I did need a beer………a big one…….and a bottle of water as I was gasping!
I saw a typical Asturian dish on the menu and thought I’d give it a try. They call it Fabada and I would very much recommend it. It is so very very tasty and just what you need to revive you after a long walk. It’s like a bean stew made with fabes de la Granja, which are large white beans from Spain. Within the stew are pieces of morcilla (a blood sausage), chorizo and pork belly. With some fresh crusty bread and a beer it’s the hikers dream lunch, even though it was now approaching 28 degrees!
I left the lovely village of Sotres, climbing uphill again, to be rewarded with some lovely views back across the valley and the village.
It wasn’t too long before the path started winding back downhill, and this is where it became quite exposed as you are skirting and zigzagging down a cliffside which hovers over the new road. It’s not too steep a drop off though and the path is quite wide. If you have a really bad fear of heights you might not like it but it did not bother me so it can’t be as bad as some of the guide books make out.
I was soon back in the village of Tielve after a beautiful day and a hike that I would recommend to anyone who likes a steeply inclined walk, beautiful views, no crowds, two pretty villages and some good food. It was a ten out of ten day.
Day 2 in the Picos was just as spectacular. This was the day I decided to walk the Cares Gorge. The Cares Gorge is a huge chasm of a gorge, a split in the limestone which divides the mountain range.
If you want to walk it in its entirety from Posada de Valdeon to Poncebos it’s 20km long and will take you between 5 -7 hours. The only trouble with that option is that it makes it a point to point walk, not circular, and unless you have someone picking you up at the other end there is no easy way back, unless you want to walk 40km and walk all the way back, which I didn’t.
An equally beautiful and viable option if you have a car is to just walk out and back from Poncebos to Cain or vice versa. This way you walk 24km, taking around 6 hours, see the prettiest parts of the gorge and finish back at your car, having walked 12km each way. This was the option I chose.
If you are going to do this walk you need to do it midweek, out of any Spanish holiday period. I’m led to believe it’s a completely different walk and different atmosphere then, as it is one of the best known walks in Spain and gets very overcrowded. This was a Tuesday in May and it was lovely and quiet.
I’ll be entirely honest as well and say this is not a walk for the faint hearted or those with an extreme fear of heights or vertigo. I have a fear of heights and I struggled with it to begin with. I thought I’d be walking in the bottom of the gorge but you aren’t. The path is cut into the wall of one side of the gorge. It’s extremely high, over 100m from the path to the bottom of the gorge in places. Although the path is wide enough, it is a sheer drop off, and there are no barriers along the length of it, it’s up to you to manage yourself. Neither are there any other exit routes, apart from one around two thirds of the way into the walk. So once you’ve set off, if you decide you want to get off, you can’t, without walking to either end of the section, which at the midpoint is 6km either way.
It’s not flat either, there are some really steep uphills and downhills on the path. That aside, if you think you can handle the height, you must do this walk, it is one of the most beautiful walks I have ever done.
I was ready for turning around 10 minutes into the walk. I’d realised the path was going to be elevated for 12km with no option to get off. I was teetering on a little path 100m from the gorge bottom, was a little bit terrified and about to have a little panic. For anyone that has a fear of heights you’ll know what I mean. I’m not scared of heights, I’m scared of falling. You can stand me on top of a mountain thousands of metres high and I have no problem provided there’s no drop off and I can’t fall off. But put me on anything high that I can fall off, like the ledge I was on, and I have an irrational fear. But I know me, and I know that if I just plonk myself down on my bottom, let that initial fear pass, and have a rational word with myself I can normally get over myself. So that’s what I did and after around 10 minutes I’d had a drink of water, nothing terrible had happened and I’d got used to being on my little elevated perch. It would have been such a shame not to press on so I convinced myself that that was the best option.
I had the most amazing walk. I saw eagles, vultures, lots of mountain goats, the most spectacular views and lots and lots of water as there is an hydro-electric dam at one end of the gorge and a channel is cut along the gorge which transports the water all along the gorge, half way up the gorge wall. It really is one of those places that has to be seen.
Once you get to the small hamlet of Cain there are a number of bars and restaurants where you can refuel before you start the journey back. I’d taken my picnic which I ate after finding a quiet spot on a rock down by the side of the river. My picnic was lacking something though………and I realised it was an ice cream! I decided I definitely deserved one so had my picnic and a chocolate almond ice cream before setting off on my merry little way back to the car.
The walk back was equally as lovely as you get a completely different view to that which you get on the way out. The climb is less too, apart from one steep section, so I seemed to make the return journey much quicker than the outward journey.
On the way back to Llanes in the car I stopped at the lovely town of Potes in the middle of the Picos de Europa. It was dropping a little cold and the cloud had come down but it was a really nice, busy little town. There is a lovely riverside walk which I had a wander down.
Pretty alleyways, houses and flower filled balconies abound. It really is a pleasant little place.
Then I made two discoveries that made me giggle. The first was a rabbit skin foot warmer! Just look at this. If I could have fitted this in my luggage I would have had this. My feet are always freezing cold. I have a bit of a love affair with my fluffy sheepskin slippers at home but this would just be the Rolls Royce of foot warming equipment. I need one in my life
Then I spotted a monument in the middle of a small square. Now it might just be me, no-one else might see what I am seeing and it was probably not appropriate for me have a giggle at it, as given the dates on it it’s probably a monument to something really sombre and sad. I have absolutely no idea but I think it is something to do with the rebuilding of Potes after it was the final town in the Santander area to be absolutely decimated and captured by Franco and the Republicans in the Spanish Civil war……………………………….so it’s no laughing matter. But seriously who designed this?!?!? Did they really think the finial type thing on the top was a good design or were they too, having a laugh? I have absolutely no idea but I have fondly named it the ‘Penis of Potes’. 😂😂 I am sure that’s not its real name but if the aim was to leave a lasting impression then it worked.
That was the end to another lovely day with just enough time for a beer before bed time. I was ready for it……….both the beer and my bed! I was so tired.
My last day of walking in the Picos took me to probably the most well known place in the area, the Covadonga Lakes. However, I did not see them at their best as it was not the greatest day weatherwise, with low lying cloud hugging the tops of the mountains. The advantage of that of course was that there weren’t too many other people there.
The road up to the lakes is open to traffic during the week so I parked in the visitor car park. On a weekend in the summer you now have to leave your car in Cangas de Onis, the nearest large town and get the shuttle bus up as it gets so overcrowded.
It’s really high up here and when I got out of the car at the top it was absolutely freezing and blowing a gale. I’d got appropriate clothing so got all wrapped up in my down jacket and off I went for a look around. There are two lakes, Lake Enol and Lake Ercina and they are both glacial lakes. In the summer they will be gorgeous but even on a day like this one, there was something special about them. It was so quiet you could hear a pin drop and the mist and low lying cloud on the top of the water made it really ethereal.
I had planned a short 4 mile route around the lakes but first of all I wanted a little walk in the other direction to look at the Majada de Belbin. This one is a working majada, where in the summer the shepherds tend their livestock and make cheese. There was a beautiful view down to the majada, nestling in a sea of rolling green hills. I could see a couple of gentlemen but unfortunately my attempts to get close to the majada were thwarted by a Spanish mastiff dog who seemed to view me as a threat to his sheep he was guarding.😦 Now I love dogs, but this one did not look like it was going to roll over for a tummy rub. It was barking and growling at me and its fangs were huge, so rather than chancing my luck I decided to retrace my steps, sit on a rock and view it from a distance.
By now the cloud was really coming in low but I had my compass and still wanted to do my little walk. I set off round the edge of Lake Ercina first and climbed up and over the small peak at the far end. Here I discovered another small majada and a lovely view back to the lake.
The walk than skirted through a number of areas of woodland and rock strewn plateaus. The route was quite easy to follow and it was waymarked with the usual yellow and white footpath signs in the rocky areas where the path was a little more ambiguous. There were pretty alpine flowers even at this high level in the cold and wind.
I kept climbing upwards until I reached the Vega de Enol which is a flat grazing area, at the top of which stands the Ermita de El Buen Pastor (the Chapel of the Good Shepherd). It’s here, where at the beginning of July, a traditional festival takes place with music, dancing, food and a race to the top of the nearby mountain. The purpose of the festival is to elect the new Head Shepherd for the year ahead. A bit like Charlesworth and Chisworth festival but without the Mr Whippy van. 😁
It was quite eerie up here by now as the mist had really rolled in so I stared to make my way back to the car via Lake Enol.
By now I was really cold and the weather up here was worsening so thought it time to drive back down the winding mountain road and dip back below the clouds.
I just had time on the way back to stop in Cangas de Onis for coffee and a quick wander as I was eager to find the roman bridge there and the starting point of the Sella river canoe descent. It was a busy town and seemed to be the adventure sports centre of the Picos de Europa. Lots of hotels, bars, restaurants and adventure equipment stores. I found the pretty bridge, with the lovely clear water beneath. It would be a lovely place for a dip when it’s hot.
That was the end to three fantastic days walking in the area and your little guide to three fantastic walks too. This is a definitely a place for a longer revisit for me. Plenty more walks to do in my book, which all look equally as good.
That’s definitely all I’ve got time for now though until September. Because I am so excited, and not many grown ups do excited like I do! 😂 ……………………………. Today SCHOOL IS OFFICIALLY ‘OUT FOR SUMMER’! YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY. I’m like a child that’s eaten too many blue sweets! Passport packed, first stop Crete! Bring on the holidays…………..I am so ready for them this year! Never before have I been so excited about a puzzle compendium! I’m not sure how much I’ll be able to tell you about Crete on my return because I am so tired. I have no plans other than books, puzzles, ice cream, kleftiko, and white wine soda……….all at the same time!! 🤭