Stunning Picos de Europa 20 - 28 June 2015

We had come down 6 km to Santa Marina de Valdeon and it was another 12 km down to the small village of Cain, the roads here all have huge snow poles on each side, it gets extremely cold here in winter and almost everything shuts down. Cain is the start of a very popular walk along a gorge. The ride down was lovely but the 19 and 20% gradients were definitely a concern for the way back!
We walked for 5 hours along and back a spectacular gorge until Trevor's knee protested. The track was originally used to build the water race which flows along it and takes the water to a hydro electric station. Very impressive and consequently the walk was pretty flat around the cliff side.  Combined with 2.5 hrs cycling (A very tough ride back, glad we had no luggage)  we were plum tuckered out at the end of that day. But stunning scenery.
Santa Marina de Valdeon to Fuente de - 48 km
We managed the 6 km back up, very slowly and then a few more as we took the off road option over a pass and down the otherside which saved us about 50 km. It was Sunday and we had pretty much run out of food, we bought a couple of packets of dried Spaghetti bol as emergency food which we used, we concluded it was just a chemical experiment, whatever was in it leeched into our pot and our tea and coffee tasted like spag bol for the next week!! Lovely campground at Fuente de, the owner sold us 4 eggs from the chook house and a loaf of bread so hard with such a thick crust on it that it could have been used as a deadly weapon, however the meals we had at the restaurant were so small we welcomed it. No shops in this village.
Next day we took the gondola which went straight up the mountain and then enjoyed the 14 km walk back down among the huge cliffs some with snow still on them.  Luckily the last few kms were in bush as the thunder/lightning and rain arrived. Just a chocolate bar between us for lunch and when we got back at 4pm the restaurant was shut until 8 so we packed up in the drizzle, stopped for coffee and a much needed scrumptious cheese board at the nearest village just 5 km away then enjoyed a fast 25 km down another stunning gorge to Potes, the weather cleared nicely as we went down. Quite a good size town, touristy but nice. Trevor did the supermecado run, 50 euro later, I think he was hungry!
Enjoyed the next day off doing not much. Our friends, visiting Spain from NZ had messaged, 'where r u?' Turned out just 85 km away and close to our intended route so we decided we could up the ante for the day to meet up. So we pedalled and pedalled...
Potes to Santillana del Mar - 85 km
Still another magical 40 km through the gorge until we reached the Atlantic sea on Spains northern coast. Then 45km up and down around headlands with just glimpses of the ocean, totally tiring us out.
There we had a lovely time catching up with Meradi and Guy, the last ones at the restaurant both nights, totally embracing Spanish culture. Bali, Bali!!
A spectacular 'old town' extremely well preserved and totally a tourist destination with lots of buses of people each day to see the impressive old buildings and cobbled streets. We passed up a visit to the torture museum! Instead enjoyed a relaxing day by the pool.
Photos are all taken in Picos Europa.
Next blog, stranded in Spain...