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.

Day 3 GR1 to Brañosera

What a tough day, really hard work and I'm now waiting for my dinner totally knackered.

It was harder for two reasons: it was five kilometres longer than expected, 32 instead of 27; and the conditions were terrible - deep wet energy sapping snow.

My route is based on Juan's trail which he has plotted on several trips over a number of years. The route was not nearly as well signed when he did it, has sometimes been re-routed, and sometimes Juan chose to ignore the official route and visit something he was particularly interested in. Today it was an ancient oak sitting high up on a hill and surrounded by deep snow.

Day 2 on the GR1 - to Cervera de Pisuerga

Today was our first day on the GR1 Sendero Historico proper, a brilliant day, fantastic weather and packed with memorable moments.

Juan was desperate to get away and make the best of the clear blue skies. After the cloud yesterday he was keen to make sure I saw the mountain tops.

It was freezing cold and the ground was iron hard. Leaving the Camporredondo del Alba and crossing the bridge over the reservoir I saw something moving and sticking out of the water. At first I thought it was an eel, it was so thin, but it spun round and two little eyes from a tiny narrow head were starring up at me; I was looking at an otter. I thought I had seen one before in France in the Canal du Midi, but that was fat and clumsy not at all like the speed merchant I had just seen. Of course it was gone in an instant ruining the day for the two guys with huge cameras who arrived just moments too late to take its picture.

Day 1 GR1 Camporredondo

It's cold at the moment in Spain and in Leon, where I stayed last night on the way to the GR1 Sendero Historico, all the women of a certain age were decked out in fur coats. Leon is an attractive city, an interesting and ancient centre with a stunning Gothic cathedral. We did a quick tour as the sun was going down and the light coming through the stained glass was wonderful.

Leon is on the St James's Way and the pilgrims were everywhere even this early in the year.

For the first few days on the GR1 I'm with my Spanish friend Juan Holgado who has organised everything. He found a particularly good place to eat last night, a bar full of locals and serving Leon specialities. The atmosphere was distinctly Spanish. All ages and types were present: family groups; groups of women; young couples; solitary drinkers; grandparents with tiny grandchildren; and all ignoring the television blaring away in the corner and all chucking debris on the floor, a compulsory bar habit bizarre in a country which has an obsession with cleanliness.

GR1 Sendero Historico - Kick Off

After a long winter spent getting fat I can't wait to start walking the GR1 across northern Spain.  Starting on Friday the 1st of March I'll be walking 38 days non-stop, covering around 700 miles, and everything about the trip looks wonderful.

To be honest the only stressful thing about a long distance trip like this is finding somewhere to stop each night.  I don't camp out, preferring the softer option of sleeping in a bed.  As well as the obvious attractions I really enjoy the "pot luck" approach this entails, especially in Spain where the variety of accommodation is vast.  Still if you don't speak Spanish (and I shall have another go at extending my very limited vocabulary on this trip) explaining what you're looking for is not necessarily that easy.  On this trip, it's all been done for me by my wonderful Spanish friend Juan Holgado - accommodation booked every night for 38 days, fantastic.

In fact planning the trip has been a doddle (it took me longer to plan the E4 than walk it).  I would like to say it's been a collaboration with Juan but really he's done all the heavy lifting.  I used the route from his website to create a schedule,  sent it to him and he then made it work - it's the nearest thing I'll ever get to a Spanish package holiday.

The fruits of the "collaboration" can be found in the attached schedule along with some notes on the things I'll be looking out for.  I'll be trying to blog every day although I'll only be publishing when I get access to wifi.  I hope you'll find it interesting.