Day 7: Somiedo to Picos de Europa

I packed up and headed for the Somiedo mountains. 

There was a mountain walk identified in one of my guides from Valle de Lago to the Lagos de Silencia. My hopes were high of spotting a brown bear.

Either side of the track mountains were interspersed with grassland and forests, and below a lush valley remained in sight over the whole walk.

 

The stone relic was a mountain shepherds' shelter (un teito). It was originally thatched, the exposed roof timbers providing a clear outline of it's original shape.

At this point, just before I took this photo, I heard some shouting as 3 men came racing down the mountain, from the one just behind this building. I felt a little threatened because it's not unheard of for mountain bandits to hold up and rob tourists! This was a perfectly remote location for such an attraction!

As it happened they were a small group of Spanish men on holiday, had their GPSs attached to them, and were negotiating the mountains 'off piste'. They wanted to know if I was alright and where I was aiming for. They explained the use of this building, told me that the brown bears were most unlikely to be seen as they remained under the cover of the forests and/or very high up in the caves, and finally gave me a map of the mountains and then carried on with their hike!

I have to say that the friendliness of those Spanish people I met was quite amazing. They were patient, polite, considerate and very willing to help at any opportunity, particularly when it came to my relatively slow Spanish.

At least I knew I was reasonably fit having covered about 10 miles on this walk.

Afterwards I made my way to Puebla de Lillo en route for the Picos de Europa mountains.

When I arrived at C. las Nievas I had to settle up at the nearby restaurant/bar. I was waiting outside as it remained closed well after opening time clearly indicated on the door of 8pm.

A middle aged man and his young niece arrived on their bikes. They were local and were on an evening sorti to enjoy a drink before returning home. We were talking about various things in my ponderous Spanish, but nonetheless getting by. His niece kept asking me, in her very polite, perfectly rolled Castillian Spanish, about 'guglay', 'tweeterrr' and 'mezenjerrr'. I just couldn't get it until it dawned on me that she was referring to Google, Twitter and Messenger!

The restaurant eventually opened and in we went. He offered me a drink and we continued this extraordinarily patient trialogue in Spanish for another half an hour or so, whilst they fiddled around with a computer behind the bar, trying to register my passport details and verify my presence there! His niece continued helping me through the inevitable absent moments when the vocabulary just wouldn't arrive!

He warned me about the risks of the Mesetas, the central plains of Spain, it being July and the raging temperatures! He said he wouldnt go at this time of year. Everything shuts down, he warned.

Oh dear!

51 miles today only!