O Camiño Dos Faros Day 4

Today's walk was huge in every sense of the word, huge scenery, huge distance and hugely knackered at the end.

Ancient fields near Laxe

If you are a regular reader of my blog you will know that my preferred style of walking involves staying in local accommodation as near as possible to the end of each day's walk. Ideally this means a looking to find a hotel or something similar about every 25 kms or so, allowing for around 8 hours walking a day. I try to plan a schedule in advance, and adapt the desirable to the available. When I do this, in order to make things work I am sometimes over optimistic about what is possible. Today was one of those days. We walked 35 hard and difficult kilometres from Laxe to Mourin, a hamlet to the north of Camarinas, arriving after 9 and a half hours with wet sore feet.

O Camiño Dos Faros - Day 1

Just finished an amazing lunch at the end of a great day's walking. Michelin star food and fabulous scenery, yes I'm back in Spain. I'm walking the Camiño Dos Faros, the Lighthouse Way, a 200 km walk around the northwest corner of Spain. The coastline is known as the Costa de Morte, a name given to it by English sailors for sadly obvious reasons. Well we have survived our first 12 km and it's definitely thumbs up, so far so good.

Fishermen at Malpica

Circular Walks in the Vall de Boí

Walking in the Vall de Boí is really well organised and most people will find enough to keep busy for 2/3 days within the confines of the valley itself.  Visiting the Romanesque churches provides a series of mini objectives and with bars and restaurants in all the villages there are also plenty of places to stop and relax.

The paths themselves are wonderful. In nearly all cases, they are based on the original inter settlement routes and are as old as the villages themselves.  Designed for pack horses/ponies as well as pack people they are perfectly graded and walking along them is a real pleasure.

Depending on how much time you spend in the churches (they are not that big) you can get around the valley in 9/10 hours. It's a challenge, but not quite as mad as it sounds as the paths are so easy and such a pleasure stopping is a problem.

El Pont de Suert - Circular Walk No 2

After the navigational challenges of the first circular walk out of El Pont de Suert the second is a 'piece of cake'. It's a completely different - less about abandoned villages and decaying trails and more about huge open views, particularly north into the Pyrenees.

Back on the GR1 Sendero Histórico - Cantabria and beyond

Yesterday I crossed a Spanish regional border, from Castile Leon to Cantabria and things GR1 fell apart. It was a frustrating day but provided essential information for my forthcoming GR1 guide.

In Spain regional government and regions are incredibly important. They affect everything even long distance walking routes like the GR1.  The GR1 ends at the "border" between Castile Leon and Asturias rather than going all way to Finisterre as originally intended presumably because Asturias and Galicia (particularly the walking/climbing associations) are not interested.  If the regions don't cooperate it's a problem.

Jesus Garcia Delgado - my host in Branosera

Back to the GR1 Sendero Histórico - to Branosera

This was a walk I had done before with Juan but last time, because it was covered with the snow, the trail was hard to follow and I wanted to make sure I had got it right for the guide.  We also missed a bit of the route to go and look at an old oak tree, something I definitely didn't need to do twice.

It was a gorgeous morning and unlike yesterday I didn't have to leave without a coffee.

The walk starts with a trip through a brand new park just to the north of town - new pavements, benches and street lights.  Away from the shops and where anyone lives it's hard to imagine it ever getting used.  You see developments like this all over Spain, a product of the optimism fueled by the building boom. There is a large new footbridge which Juan and I crossed last time which drops you, heading on the wrong route, in the middle of an empty industrial estate.

Evergreen oak forest near Requejada Reservoir

Back on the GR1 Sendero Histórico - to Salamon

Over the last 3 years I've walked nearly 4000 kilometres in Spain.  My Spanish hasn't improved but I am starting to find my way around. The more familiar I get with the country the more I like it.

I'm a particular fan of the long distance route, the GR1. It goes all the way from the Asturias, in the north west of Spain, to the Mediterranean a journey of nearly a 1000 kilometres. I walked most of it in March and April of this year and despite the unusually poor weather I thought it was brilliant.  It's a well known walk in Spain but without an English language guide doesn't have an international reputation so I've been able to persuade a publisher that if I write one they'll produce it.

So of instead of walking the Ecrins circular, the trip I had planned to do in September, I'm back in Spain walking the GR1. I'm here for 2 weeks and I'm trying to do 2 things. Firstly I'm walking stretches which either I missed earlier in the year or which didn't go too well. Secondly I want to look at the options for getting to and from the trail.  On this trip I'm revisiting the western half of the route and all being well will back next April to do the rest.

Day 32 GR1 Gironella

If all or even most days were like this, than I would definitely not be doing long distance place to place walking. Still it had some memorable features.

First the good news. We now have a contender for the purveyor of the best sandwich on the GR1 Sendero Historico. Hotel Casa Joan in Sant Llorenç de Morunys was a fairly modest place but great value, and the owner was only too pleased to provide a sandwich for our lunch. It was a masterpiece, double decker tortilla with olive oil and tomato juice soaking into the bread - perfectly seasoned - it was still warm when we removed it from its foil wrap four hours after leaving. We would not have survived without it.

Sandwich masterpiece

Day 28 GR1 Noguera-Palleresa

Juan has gone so we are now doing all the food ordering on our own - last night we got lemonade instead of sparkling water and for breakfast Christine managed to order a belly pork sandwich. We watched them cooking huge slices of belly pork over the open fire, thinking what strange person has belly pork for breakfast - the strange person turned out to be Christine

We also thought Juan had taken the good weather with him back to Madrid. It rained heavily all night and the forecast for today was terrible. It actually turned out to be OK.

We planned to walk to Ager, and then get a taxi to Noguera-Palleresa. We have a big walk tomorrow and two heavy days in a row would be a bit much for Christine who has only been walking for four days. We had a great day's walking although our accommodation at the day's end was a bit "different".

Day 22 GR1 Paulas de Sarsas

Totally massive day, and apart from a 15 minute break I walked for 10 hours and 30 minutes and covered 40 kilometers. There was significant climb as well with 4 passes to cross. Another wonderful day, amazing scenery, lovely trail and so much to see.

Said goodbye to Piluca at the casa rural at 8.45 in Nocito and the next person I saw was a shepherd, stick behind his back with three wildly barking dogs, leading his flock of sheep up the hill to Las Bellostas. That was about 9 hours later and he was clearly surprised to see me.

Even more than yesterday the evidence was everywhere that this was a countryside which was full and is now empty. I had my lunch next to a church at the abandoned village of Nasarre. In front of me was a grave where a man had been buried in 1962. As I said yesterday it's all happened in my lifetime. Just down the hill, set amongst neglected terraced fields, is the large and impressive farmstead at Pardina Villanúa - you can still the blue paintwork on the beams in the front room. From the distance Otin looks like it's occupied - there is stucco on some of the houses and some have ornate metal balconies but, despite a sign on a wall pointing you to the bar, Otin is as empty as everywhere else.

Day 16 GR1 Sos Dey Rey Catolico

Pathetic but true, I'm lying on my bed writing this blog when there are people outside my window, dressed up in medieval outfits, playing pipes and banging drums. I've arrived in Sos on the day they celebrate the thing for which the town is famous for, the birthplace of Fernando the Catholic on the 10th March in 1452 (I guess today is the nearest Saturday). It's been a tough 38 kilometre walk and to be honest I need to rest my feet - I'm just too knackered to go out and enjoy the fun.

Actually this is a very interesting place and a sensible person would stop here for a day and take it in. It's an old fortress town on top of a hill and much of the wall and all of the gates are still intact. The medieval street pattern inside the walls is still there as is the castle, with its watch tower, and Romanesque church, and a second watch tower centred on the Sada palace. It's all been carefully restored and must be packed out in the summer. Despite all the men in tights it was fairly quite when I wandered around trying to find the hotel.

Day 14 GR1 to Olite

Weather wise it's different but not really any better. The cold north wind which dominated yesterday has abated; today it's been a mix of heavy wintry showers interspersed with sunshine.

The first of the wintry showers came just as I was finishing my breakfast - more a blizzard than a shower. The Spanish men drinking their kick start coffees seemed to be mildly amused to see a mad Englishmen preparing to go out in the snow whereas the landlady and her daughter showed much warmer hearts and were genuinely concerned. When I insisted on going, but left my walking poles behind, they came running after me, giving a hands on a steering wheel impression, and saying they would drive me Olite.

The church in Larraga

Of course it wasn't that bad and within minutes the sun was out and I was at the church in the centre of Larraga getting my departure bearings.

Day 13 GR1 to Larraga

Not such an interesting day, it was very cold, there was a strong biting wind and it snowed for most of the morning.

To be honest there was not that much incentive, in terms of the scenery, to take your gloves off, get the camera out and take a picture. It was fairly flat and the scenery was the same from one end of the walk to the other.

Generally speaking the route went due east, the right direction for the Mediterranean. It did however do a huge U bend in the middle of the morning and for no apparent reason. It could have been an excuse to visit the remains of a Roman Villa, which unfortunately was shut, or to take in a little wetland park (the four resident ducks flew off before I could say hello). Alternatively the route planners might have wanted me to meet the scariest dog in Spain. It was huge, very upset and being egged on by two normal sized dogs which were about a tenth of its size. If the fraying bit of rope holding it back had snapped than the monster dog would definitely have ended my trip along the GR1.

One thing I have worked out is the settlement pattern in Navarre is basically the same as the one I got used to when I walked through Spain a couple of years ago. The countryside seems empty with people living in small densely backed towns which are often some distance apart. I guess this is either to do with lack of water or the historic need to find a defendable location. What it means is that the towns are more than big enough to sustain a bar, or three in the case of Allo, which is where I stopped for my mid-day break. My concerns about the demise of the Spanish rural bar have happily been exaggerated.

Another big detour in the afternoon, but that was probably driven by the need to find somewhere to cross the Rio Ega. Anyway once I got past the interesting abandoned farmstead at Baigorri it was a straight run through a gale to Larraga.

Despite my rucksack and walking poles the landlady at the hotel wanted to know where my bike was. I can see her point. On a less windy day Navarre would be perfect for cycling. The countryside perhaps is not quite interesting enough for walking but if you were cycling this would matter less and you would get the chance to visit more of the towns.

If you want to see where I went today, another 40 kilometre plus day, than please go to target="_blank" href="http://my.viewranger.com/track/details/Mjc1ODIy">linkthe following

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Day 11 GR1 to Santa Cruz de Campezo

It was bitterly cold as I walked into Lagran to post the refuge key in the Council letterbox. I'd breakfasted on cupcakes which Aritz had left me last night but what I needed was my usual shot of caffeine. My back was as stiff as a board and the wind meant it was taking forever to warm up.
My mood wasn't improved when I got to town; where was that letterbox? Aritz showed me last night but everything looked different in the daylight. At 8 o'clock there was no one about to ask. Eventually I remembered it was through the arch next to the exhibition centre, the only arch in Lagran.

The exhibition centre is a lovely new building but just a little strange. It was built to celebrate the GR38 - known as the fish and wine route and the other route running through Lagran - but at a cost more than 500,000 euros it's hard to see how it will ever make sense. At the moment there isn't money to pay people to actually run it and it's rarely open.

Day 9 GR1 to Miranda de Ebro

Yet another lovely day, nice mix of easy walking, pleasant scenery and interesting things to see.
For once there was nowhere to stay on the GR1 within walking distance of Espejo and Miranda de Ebro, a town well to the south of the GR1, was the best option. Rather than walk all the way along a road to Miranda de Ebro I thought I would make a virtue out of necessity, leave the route at Fontecha, catch a bus or thumb a lift, get to the hotel early and have a bit of a rest. So today's walk was a relatively short one at 18 kilometres.

Left the party of teenage schoolchildren preparing to set off on their racing bikes god knows where. They were very excited and dressed to the nines in lycra racing gear. To English eyes it all looked incredibly impressive. My bible on Spain (apart from Juan) is Giles Tremlett's book "The Ghosts of Spain" and he argues that the Spanish education system puts an enormous emphasis on socialisation and I guess going away for the weekend and flying around on bikes is part of that. Looks great to me.

Another cloudy morning, perhaps a bit colder than of late, but with the occasional snatches of sunshine beautifully illuminating different parts of a very green landscape.

Day 8 GR1 to Espejo

Despite being in the wrong casa rural last night I had a very pleasant evening. A Mexican construction worker took his evening meals there and he spoke excellent English, we ate together with the owner, and with the Mexican as translator, had a really interesting conversation. Lot of talk about "the crisis", local wild life and a breed of small tough black horses which are unique to the area. Late dinner though so of course I didn't sleep very well.

30 kilometres today which is my ideal length, particularly on this sort of going. It involves around 8 hours walking which means when I arrive at the destination I have at least an hour to wander around aimlessly trying to find where it is I'm supposed to be staying.

Today's walk was a good one, fine scenery and lots to see. The landscape, with its huge limestone cliffs is a gentler version of the Vercors.

Day 7 GR1 to Boveda

This is the 7th day and for the first time I have had to get my waterproofs out. The weather was dull in the morning but started to rain by lunchtime and in the afternoon there was a full-blown thunderstorm. At least today was a short one, just 27 kilometres, and would have been shorter still if I hadn't taken a couple of detours, one voluntary and one involuntary.

Bad weather makes for bad pictures. Not only is the light bad, but everything is hidden away to avoid the wet. I've got two cameras, one on my iPhone, which I use for this daily blog, and a bigger Panasonic GR3, which I use to update everything when I get home. The Panasonic goes into deep store in the rain. Today's pictures are particularly poor.

The walk can be broken down into three parts: a fairly dull walk through a pine forest; crossing the valley created by the River Jerea; and the climb over the pass at Puerto de la Horca and descent down into Boveda.

Day 6 GR1 to Oteo

Special thanks to Richard and Nicola who were such kind hosts in their beautifully restored casa rural in Nela. They provided me with a huge packed lunch which was just as well because the walk today was long with limited opportunity for refreshments on the way.

The forecasts continues to be bad and it should have been raining today but instead I was treated to perfect spring weather. In fact it felt like the countryside was coming alive, lots of skylarks singing, the fields greening up under the warm sunshine and the farmers starting to get busy. Today I moved into a gentler countryside. Still had some limestone cliffs but much smaller and the cultivated space between them now dominates.

Day 5 GR1 to Neva

Yesterday's blog was just a bit downbeat. Last night I had a cough, a bad throat and I was worried that I was getting ill. Turned out that all I needed was a good night's sleep.

I'm sorry but although I love the Spanish food, eating so late is big challenge to my sleep patterns. Last night I managed to wangle an early meal, didn't drink any wine, opened the window wide and for the first time since I've been in Spain, slept all night. This morning the cold had gone.

To avoid 20 kilometres of foot hammering along a busy road I got a taxi to Corconte, which is at the westerly end of the Ebro Reservoir. Confounding yesterday's weather forecast it was gloomy but definitely not raining.

Day 4 GR1 to Reinosa

Arriving at Reinosa marks a transition point in the walk - very much the end of a stage.

Firstly at a distinctly unremarkable spot we crossed the watershed between the River Douro, which flows to the Atlantic, and the mighty River Ebro which flows to the Mediterranean. In one respect it's downhill all way although I've still got something like 900 kilometres to walk.

Secondly I have crossed the border between the region of Castile and León into the region of Cantabria. This was significant today because as soon as it was crossed the way marks disappeared.

Thirdly the run of good weather I have enjoyed for the first 4 days looks like it has come to an end. It's now milder and rain is forecast tomorrow - in places the route is already a quagmire and with the amount of snow on the ground it will probably get worse as a thaw kicks in.