Picos de Europa 2013
This holiday was with Alpine Overland, the company I travelled with to the Pyrenees last year. The structure was identical to last year: coach travel from Derby, the coach was with us the entire time, the same ferry from Plymouth to Santander, and returning to Portsmouth, one week in Spain and led walks each day.
The destination this year was the Picos de Europa. A compact and dramatic mountain range, and national park, just 10 miles inland from the coast of North Spain. The sea can easily be seen having climbed to a sufficient height. When returning from lengthy voyages in the olden days of sea exploration, the tops of these mountains would be the first sighting of land on the horizon, indicating to sailors that they were nearly home - hence the name the Peaks of Europe. The Picos is dived into three massifs, and mostly accessible only on foot. So, although it is a small area, roads are limited, hence access is specifically on the East or West side, in practice making two separate destinations. We were based on the West side, which is less visited by walkers.
The area spans the provinces of Cantabria and Asturias; we were in the latter. Asturias was formerly a separate kingdom, and has its own distinct culture, and even language, which were reflected where we were staying. It is also famous for its many types of cheese, and also cider, produced from local apples; the cider is traditionally poured into the glass from a height, to aerate it as it is bottled with out any gas.
We stayed in Cangas de Onís, a small to medium size town on the Sella River, with a pleasant town centre and plenty of shops and cider bars. It is 70 miles West of Santander, so just two hours drive from the ferry. The town is famous for its Puente Romano, spanning the river, a bridge thought to have been built in the 13th century, so very old but obviously not actually Roman! There were several old fashioned cheese shops, and a good supermarket, so plenty of scope for acquiring interesting food for lunches.
Cangas is 5 miles from Covadonga, a famous religious centre. We passed Covadonga a few times during the week, and stopped for a visit on the last day.
There were 50 on the holiday, so a full coach this time, including around half from last year, and again one other from Amber Valley Ramblers. There were some who were on their first such holiday, and others who have been regulars throughout the company’s 33 years of existence. The holiday was of 10 days duration, comprising 7 nights in Cangas, and one night each way on the ferry. Sea conditions were very calm, and like last year a feature of the holiday rather than just a means of getting there.
We stayed in a fairly new hotel, near the town centre, with pleasant and comfortable rooms, but meals were quite ordinary and at times disappointing; we assume they were not used to large scale catering for a group of this size.
There were organised walks on each of the 6 days there. Each day there were three grades of walk, with the same leaders as last year. Almost everyone went walking every day; the longer walks were more popular. The peaks, up to 2,500 metres, are generally sharp, steep and jagged, and require climbing rather than walking. So waking in this area is typically up to refuges as an objective or through valleys, and hence we did not get to the top of anything, and thus the nature of the walking is different from the Pyrenees. Each day we travelled by coach to a start point for the walk, in different directions, typically one hour each way, most roads are steep and winding, so slow in a coach, but also very scenic. I did five A walks and one B walk. Most of the walks were new to Alpine Overland, so conditions and especially existence of footpaths were unpredictable, sometimes making route finding difficult for the leaders.
With the exception of day 3, the weather was mostly good. Much sun and very clear views. Temperature ideal for walking, and warmer than expected for Northern Spain in October.
Day 1 walk: We made our first journey past Covadonga and on to a set of lakes high above the town. From here the plan was to walk up to a refuge, a quite easy walk which I had already done a few years ago. Just after setting off we passed a large rock with numerous griffin vultures on it; the reason soon became clear when we then passed a dead cow (not much of it left a few hours later according to another group); there is a policy in this park of leaving dead animals so as to attract the bird population. This is the most scenic part on this side of the Picos, with dramatic views towards the peaks one direction and over the Atlantic the other way. There were several tiny shepherds’ settlements high up, with many goats, cows and donkeys. The refuge we were aiming for is on top of a ridge. Early afternoon, and about two thirds of the way there, it was decided there would not be sufficient time, so we never reached it. It seemed odd that an A party could not achieve a walk which Sally and I had previously done on our own! However, the outstanding scenery nevertheless made it a good first day.
Day 2 walk: We went South through the winding Sella Gorge into the neighbouring province of León, and did a walk from Oseja de Sajambre. Not much to say about today, the morning was spent walking through trees, emerging into the open with views at lunchtime at a somewhat insignificant refuge.
Day 3 walk: A day by the sea (or nearly). We drove to the coast, then some way along it towards Santander, and then we walked to Llanes. We soon came to some bufones, ie blow holes, where waves beneath the rocks force squirts of water high into the air; however, the tide/conditions were not right, so no activity other than hearing some faint rumblings beneath us. Otherwise, and although this was the official coastal path, for most of the morning we were not in sight of the sea, and some of it alongside a recently built motorway! We finally reached hills high above some fine beaches, and soon stopped for our lunch, at which point we were suddenly drenched by a heavy and unexpected shower. We then headed quickly into Llanes, where the rain restarted and more persistently, and into cafés for coffee to warm us up instead of the swimming in the sea which many of us had anticipated. An elderly lady on the B walk slipped and broke her arm today, we took her to a hospital where the arm was put into plaster; she is the type of person who is always cheerful, and wouldn’t let such an incident impede enjoyment of the rest of her holiday!
Day 4 walk: The Cares Gorge is regarded as one of the most dramatic walks in Spain, or even Europe ... which is what it was. The Cares runs South to North through the centre of the Picos, dividing the Western and Central massifs. The main gorge runs for 7 miles, with tiny villages at either end, Caín at the South end and Poncebos at the North. We hired minibuses, (roads not practical for the coach), for the long drive along the Sella again, and then towards Caín. We walked for about a mile through the valley to Caín, for coffee in a bar, and then through the gorge and the coach met us at Poncebos. This was the only B walk I did; the A group had a longer walk in along the valley, but I thought it better to concentrate just on the gorge. The gorge is very deep and a sharp V shape. It would be unwalkable, if it were not for a good track running the length of (mostly) one side (with a couple of bridges), which was built for a hydroelectric project. Occasionally there are short tunnels through the rock. The track is half way up the side, so it is a long, and sometimes vertical drop, off the side; quite safe as it is a good track and easy to walk, but can still be unsettling for anyone (like me!) who does like heights.
Day 5 walk: Today I discovered that Spain has terrain almost approaching jungle. We walked through another section of the Cares Valley, some way down from the gorge. The coach could not get to the start, so dropped us off for a one mile walk along the road to the start. But, there was a path as an alternative to the road - or at least there should have been. Although on a PR route, we soon came into impenetrable trees, brambles etc, and it took 1¾ hours just to reach the start of the walk. Even when on the walk, and now out in the open, it was dense undergrowth underfoot, hard going, and with long waits while the (overworked) leader went ahead trying to find the route; but there were good views when we were able to take them in. Mid afternoon we finally came onto a more proper path for an enjoyable couple of hours to end the day, arriving an hour late at the coach pick up point. During the morning we saw several golden eagles including small ones above a distant cliff, and while having lunch one momentarily swooped by just below and close to us; by now we were ignoring vultures, they had become so common.
Day 6 walk: For the last walk we returned to the lakes above Covadonga, and this time aimed for a nearer and less high refuge, which we easily achieved. This was an easy and quite short A walk, but its ease, the scenery, the weather, and reaching the hut made this, for me, the best walk of the holiday. (Meanwhile the B group walked from the lakes down to Covadonga, a long walk and a big descent - much more tiring). On the return journey we visited Covadonga. Its importance arises from a major battle in 722, resulting in a Christian victory as part of the resistance to the Moorish invasion of Spain; the Christians are believed to have been aided by a statue of the Virgin Mary hidden in a cave (covadonga = cave of the lady in Latin), thus saving them from a Muslim conquest. To acknowledge this, a monastery and chapel were subsequently built, and it became - and still is - a significant place of pilgrimage. A major basilica was eventually built, consecrated in 1901. We spent time looking round the basilica, in its dramatic mountain setting, and also the cave which is a major shrine.
In conclusion, another good holiday. An interesting and very scenic area, with few British visitors. Some outstanding walks, while others less interesting, and route finding difficult once outside of the main walking areas. Plus two relaxing short cruises. As usual a good group of friendly and interesting people, which as always makes one of the principal memories of such holidays. Next year Alpine Overland will be returning to the Spanish Pyrenees, as well as its usual selection in the Alps.
Martin Phillips, October 2013