Peaks and Valleys

Unfortunately, this phrase barely applied to our trip. At least it didn't seem like it while we were out there. More like peaks and more peaks. Perhaps thats why they call it the Picos de Europa. Anyways, quick recap - Chris, Jessica, and I went on a 6 day backpacking trip in the Parque Nacional de los Picos de Europa.

First and foremost, the best pictures from the trip can be found on facebook here:
Days 1-3
Days 4-6

The trip started with an early bus ride from Panes to Cangas de Onis. From there we took a series of transportation options to get to the lakes of Covadonga. From the lakes we hiked in for about 4 or 5 hours to a peak known as Vega de Ario. Directly translated, this means the Fertile Plains of the Aryans. This it was not my friends. There was a group of germans, dont get me wrong, but i wouldn't call it a fertile plain. We set up camp and started to cook a nice warm dinner of garbanzo beans (chick peas). The rain clouds rolled in and we retreated to the shelter of my newly purchased tent, Terrance (the Tent). The rain came down all night, lightning, thunder, the whole works. Despite a torrential downpour for most of the night, we all remained totally dry. We set out for day 2 with new found trust in Terrance the Tent and a naive confidence about the journey ahead.

The actually horizontal distance of our second day was minimal. What I failed to fully comprehend was the extensiveness of our descent in the afternoon. At some point in time, the trail blazes stopped and a huge descent began. After about 100 meters i realized the blazes had stopped so I doubled back to check if we missed the trail somewhere. Trail here is a loose term. After searching for any possible trail, we decided to forge on, descending constantly. Over the course of a few hours and a horizontal distance of maybe 2 kilometers we descended over 1200 meters. Needless to say, it was rough on the joints and the feet with heavy packs. We eventually arrived in the town of Cain and cooked a nice meal of Fabada, a regional dish of Asturias.

Day 3 started with rain. Thankfully the morning hike was relatively flat in comparison to the rest of the trip. The rain continued until the end of lunch as we hiked through the Garganta de Cares, a trail along a gorge the goes from the town of Cain to the town of Poncebos. I would say that day 3 was pretty uneventful aside from one really sad donkey and one sweet looking salamander. Pictures on facebook.

Day 4 was the day we had all been waiting for...the day for which we had all been waiting? Anyways, the ascent from Bulnes La Villa to El Naranjo, a huge rock face (500 meters tall) at an altitude of 2100 meters. El Naranjo is a mecca for rock climbers, serving as the poster child for Spanish mountaineering for 50 years. The ascent is 1200 meters over the course of 3 hours. The climax of the day was free climbing a vertical rock face about 12 or so feet high during a storm of rain/freezing rain with a fully loaded pack. The base of El Naranjo and a Refuge that provides shelter to climbers and hikers alike were just around the corner but the weather had turned so foul that we decided to stay the rest of the day and the night in the Refuge.

We woke up on day 5 to very nice weather. Well nice for an altitude of 2100 meters. However, the first snow of the year had come over night and had coated some of the terrain in a slippery dangerous mix of snow and ice. After climbing one snow covered mountain with the help of a system of cables, we came to an outpost known as Cabana Veronica. Here, a very seasoned looking man told us that the route that we planned on taking was very dangerous. After what we had been through, we didnt think to much of it until he started telling us that neither the Guardia Civil (Spanish police) nor the park workers could rescue us from that route if we got hurt or got stuck. With this knowledge, we turned south and to lower altitudes, changing out trip plan. We ended up camping in a grazing field on the flattest ground we could find. This, however, was not flat at all and we spent the whole night at the bottom of the tent or feebly attempting to crawl back to the top. To add to the discomfort, a few packs of wolves were in the vicinity howling all night. There was one lone wolf within 100 meters of the tent for the whole night but Terrance kept us safe yet again.

Day 6 was perfect weather down at the lower altitude. We hiked the most leisurely hike of the trip along a ridge to the town of Posada de Valdeon. We also played the most frustrating game of Botticelli in which Jessica's person was Clark Kent and the information we acquired was that he was not en entertainer but was in movies and that he wasnt a human being. Priceless. From Posada de Valdeon we took various modes of transportation back to Panes where we stayed with family for the night.