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Alpine flowers, Sierra de Codes

 

This mind-blowing ridge-walk, with my feet in two ancient lands, was followed by a long descent through a lovely forest with giant beech trees followed by to the small town of Santa Cruz de Campezo, Km 845.  After stocking up on supplies I headed off to the tiny village of Genevilla, Km 850, with another lovely oak-forest walk.

 

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Oak woods above Santa Cruz

 

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A confusion of signs

 

I don’t recall exactly why, but I overnighted in Genevilla in a rather scruffy hostal that the owner had tried to restore some years earlier but left the job half finished.  My door was severely warped and didn’t close properly, and the French girl lodged in the next room, also with a warped door, kept me awake most of the night with her tremendous snoring. At times it sounded like she had stopped breathing but then her snoring kicked back with a bluster reviving her in the nick of time.

 

June 12 2018

After porridge, and with a heavy sleep-deprived head, I continued on through yet more lovely oak forests to Maranon, at Km 856, following the southern escarpment of the Rio Ega valley. At Lagran, just off the GR–1, I stayed in the EU-financed community hostel. I had the modern, clean and snore-free place all to my self. Later on I had a meal at the Fronton Jatetxea bar where a group of villagers were celebrating someone’s birthday with a chicken BBQ. The cook fixed me up with a cod cooked in a garlic-laden sauce. Joining the others later made for a very pleasant evening.

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Bedtime

 

 

June 13 2018

This was a splendid day that started with a steep climb up through the woods, initially following the GR 18  to avoid a deep river crossing. The GR 18 is known as the Camino de Pescado y Vino, the Wine and Fish Camino – what a splendid name for a path, I thought. A short distance later I rejoined the GR-1, zinging along in good spirits.

The initial climb was followed by a superb 5 km-long contour walk through a magnificent beech forest heading in a westerly direction before dropping down to the tiny village of Pipaon. From here the trail follows a small river through more delightful woods. I camped in these about 3 km before Berganzo, Km 895.

 

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Nosh time, near Berganzo

 

Evening was the time to make some decisions. I had to be back in England for launch of my book, Cape to Cape, some time during the first week of July, and now needed to pin down some dates.  Snuggled down in my sleeping bag I studied my route and came to the conclusion that Reinosa, Km 1,105, would be a good place from which to head back. This would leave me about 210 km to cover in about two weeks, which was quite feasible.

 

June 14 2018

Happy with the new plan, I headed off just after 8am stopping off at Berantevilla (Km 909) where I discovered a wonderful village bar-shop sold just about everything from draft beer, to washing up liquid, plates and cutlery, cured hams, mops, door mats and cheeses.

 

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The shop that sells everything, Berantavilla

 

Soon after this, things started to go seriously wrong. The track I was following fizzled out at the edge of a large field of barley, so I tried to concoct my own cross-country route around the field edges but it was proving much harder than it looked. I was heading for a church, San Fomerio, (Km 915), perched at the top of a prominent hill that it shared with a dreadful TV mast. With no sign of any path, I decided to head straight up the hill. As the gradient steepened I found myself once again battling with thorny undergrowth in between the trees. The last 50 metres was further complicated by un-climbable vertical rocky outcrops 23.

 

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San Fomerio

 

Eventually I found a way around the cliffs, and once up on the top, I was rewarded with fantastic views and a nice surprise – a medieval refuge with an unlocked door adjoining the church. The shelter was equipped with two concrete tables and a fire place but, as is the case with the Scottish bothies, the immediate countryside had been well picked over for handy firewood. The temperature dropped as the sun set and I slept with all my clothes on, regretting once again my decision to post back my warm gear to England.

 

June 15 2018

After yesterdays walk it was good to see the GR-1 route once again following clearly marked track down through lovely oak woodland. Emerging into ‘civilisation’, I now struggled to cross a series of roundabouts before reaching to Arminon, (Km 920), a once lovely village now blighted by the noise of the nearby motorway.

From here the route started to climb through rolling crop fields and patches of woodland.  The village of Salcedo, Km 932, where I filled up with water, had a nice community-run pub. After a simple lunch the landlady gave me some spicy chorizo sausage and some wine in a plastic water bottle before heading off late afternoon towards Fontecha, (Km 940), a pretty village that is overlooked by a huge castle. I checked the castle grounds and then some adjacent allotments for a possible campsite, but with the evening advancing I decided to push towards Salinas.

The track initially followed a small stream through the woods, some of which had been cleared for crops that extended right to the field edges. With light failing I could not find a decent level camping spot, and then it started to drizzle. I settled for sloping patch of bumpy ground at the edge of a field of barley. With the tent pitched, I enjoyed some fried chorizo with spaghetti and half a cup of red wine, donated by a bar-lady, to round off a good day.