Picos de Europa - Our exploration of the mountains

Spending some time now in the mountains of the Picos de Europa (Peaks of Europe) National Park - the only inhabited National Park in Spain - and that includes wolves and bears 😃 The Park starts at only 20km inland from the coast, with huge limestone peaks rising above 2000m.

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We arrived in Potes, a beautiful small town on the eastern side of the Picos, just as the fiesta was finishing. Looked like there had been two days of partying  🎉🎉🎉 which we’d missed out on. Not that we minded too much, but sadly it seemed that all the bars, cafes and restaurants were totally exhausted, and decided to close early for that day - hence no food for us! 😟 We did find a small bar though for a quick beer before close, with fabulous tapas olives and nuts 👍

Loved the old stove embedded in the bar behind

 

The following morning Dave was keen to get on his bike and explore. Thinking this would be a gentle introduction to MTB in Spain he set off boldly, promising to be back within 2 hours 🤞An hour and a half later he messaged to say “it’s a bit more challenging than I thought, and I may be a little longer” 🤣 Fortunately he soon reached the top.

 

Amazing views at 900m

Boy was he glad to have taken the e-bike 🤣

Leaving Potes we headed west to the small village of Posada de Valdeon. A stunning location in the valley, encircled by the huge limestone massif that is the Picos. The village have invested in developing a dedicated motorhome area for travellers, adjacent to the sports hall, with shared use of facilities. Fabulous that this is open all year round and a bargain at €15 a night 👍

Posada de Valdeon from the viewpoint - spot the van below!

This region is famous for horreos - old elevated grain and food stores, formerly used for drying crops. and keeping food dry. They are scattered throughout the Picos, with all the villages having their own unique variations. 

Horreos - grain stores

Cattle seem to roam freely - Ruby had to hide until they had passed 😂

Despite the weather not being great, and quite cold, we did do a couple of fabulous walks from Valdeon, climbing high through the amazing autumnal trees, and back along the rivers through charming villages. Met a couple of friendly Park Rangers, and we used this as an opportunity to practice our Spanish - slowly gaining our confidence 🤣 Apparently there was snow here last week. Ruby found a few great places for a dip too 👍

Never misses an opportunity for a quick dip 🤣

Sun finally appearing at the end of a rather dull day

Decided we couldn’t come to the Picos and not do (at least in part) the famous Ruta del Cares, the  most famous walk in the Picos which follows the Rio Cares and gorge, nicknamed “the divine gorge” Indeed it was spectacular, and also very scary in parts, as the path is very narrow and very tightly traverses the walls of the gorge. Lots of little tunnels cut into the rock face form part the track - definitely needed head torches here!

Setting off

Famous Ruta del Cares

Narrow paths along the gorge

Quite scary walking along here 🤣

Not Ruby's favourite walk but at least a good swim spot at the end!

Moving on, we spent the night, quite by accident at a lovely small village further south in the Picos, Oseja de Sajambre. Again, the village was really hospitable to travellers, and provided a lovely parking area in the centre, for free 👍 Had a wander round the village at dusk before heading to the local bar / restaurant. Rehearsed our best Spanish, and that seemed to do the trick - had some great tapas, beer and wine 😃

Amazing terracotta tiled roofs

Dave's renovation dream 😉

Fried local goats cheese, jamon and jam - and a lovely 8 euro bottle of wine 👍

Stayed another day here and did an amazing 20km walk high up through the forests and down through beautiful villages. Perhaps the highlight of the walk was the fabulous refugio where we stopped for lunch, high up on the plateau. A Spanish couple we met told us about it, and that it served plates of free range fried eggs with chorizo or jamon - our sandwiches went quickly back into our bags for another time 🤣

Refugio Vegabano

Really tasty lunch 😉

Vegabano plateau at over 1200m

Amazing mountains

Stunning picnic spot

winding our way back down

View of Oseja de Sajarambe where we were staying

I think this has been our favourite walk so far, and we really love this region of the Picos - perhaps a little more undiscovered and less busy - suits us 😃

We’ve really enjoyed this mountainous region: the landscape is truly amazing, the villages beautiful, and the people seem authentically welcoming and proud of their traditional ways and culture.There is an authenticity to this region which appears not to have succumbed to the homogenisation that we see so often in other parts of the world.

Leaving the mountains now and heading over west to the Galician coast - Hasta.luego 😃