Monday, 25 May 2015
Sunday, 24 May 2015
Villanueva to Tonanes
Today was largely a case of retracing our route from the first day, pulling up a little short of Barreda at the village of Tonanes. We decided to make lunch the feature of
the day at the pretty port San Vicente. Our host at the Quinta de Villanueva recommended the “El Pescador” - we had a dozen grilled sardines, whole hake baked with asparagus and a large mixed salad (with the tinned asparagus common to all mixed salads here). Tasted pretty good and the bill with coffee and fizzy water came in at under €30. Saw a group of back-packers with guitars - looked cool though how you can handle a giant back pack and a guitar without breaking it I’m not sure. I don’t think mine would last a day.
Breakfast at the B&B was one of the best we’ve had. Fruit, yoghurts, cheeses, hams, Spanish omelette, quince jelly, cakes, eggs - in fact loads of stuff. First morning for a
while I haven’t had to do my own porridge.
With such little distance to travel we enjoyed the view of the mountains after breakfast and headed on out at about 11am. Took a different route in Unquera through the pretty village of Colombres, with it’s large villa style houses. Had to do the grotty bit out of Unquera for a couple of km and then over the hill to St Vicente for lunch.Coming out of St Vicente we hugged the coast by taking the CA236, which gives
good views of Cornish style sandy bays. It’s quite hilly but makes a change from the busier CA131.
Tried to get a cup of coffee in Comillas but got fed up waiting for
service - it’s pretty place but a tourist trap. Probably hell in high season. Once out of Comillas we were so close to Tonanes we pressed on.
If we did this again I think I would either get the train straight to Unquera or go to Cabezon and head south on the CA180. Can’t see the point of cycling the coast when the inland stuff is so good.
Saturday, 23 May 2015
Cangas de Onis to Villanueva (near Unquera)
We completed our wiggly loop of the Picos (technically speaking a larger area with the Picos at it's centre) when we arrived back at Panes. I don't think either of us had expected much from today since the bit of the AS114 we did yesterday from Cangas de Onis to Soto de Cangas seemed busy and a bit dull compared to what came before. The first few km of the AS114 are a steady climb up to around 450m and then you descend into the most fantastic gorge, just as beautiful as any we have already done on this holiday and fairly quiet. We made two stops for cafe solos and then a picnic stop sat high above the river - slightly too high for Sally's liking. The gorge ends 3km before Panes and the river broadens out as the valley floor expands. We saw lots of fishermen today - presumably the ladies have other things to do. I think they are after salmon or trout. Bought some water, cider and peanuts at the garage in Panes (nothing else open at 3 in the afternoon) and then climbed up the small lane to Villanueva. Our hotel is really nice with a kind of filled in veranda attached to the room. Our host is even giving us a list to a local restaurant for dinner.
Last view of the snowy Picos from Panes
Mountains from our hotel
Picnic spot
Friday, 22 May 2015
Soto de Sajambre to Cangas de Onis and a late afternoon ride up Covadonga
Woke up this morning and the sun was shining - no kidding. Went outside and found out there was a huge mountain behind the village that had apparently been obscured by cloud yesterday. Breakfast was the usual coffee and toasted french stick so good job we made ourselves some porridge before hand.
It was a shame to leave Sotis de Sajambre on such a bright day but at least it wasn't freezing cold for our free wheel to Cangas de Onis. After an initial steep drop the road follows the gorge all the way to Cangas. The river starts off miles below the road and is really hard to see through the vegetation. The mountains tower above the road casting a cold shadow. We kept stopping in small pools of sunlight to warm up. Two coffee stops and a quick visit to a panerea for a Tuna and tomato pastry thing finally got us into Cangas. Also a lot of stops to take photographs.
Used TripAdvisor to find a place to eat and ended up with eggs on top of a veg stew followed by loads of sausages with chips, washed down with cider. The cider is poured from a great height into the glasses but quite a lot of it spills on the ground or on the waiters shoes. About as accurate as the average drunk bloke. Good lunch though.
Slow pootle to the hotel to keep the indigestion at bay. I had a quick rest then decided to head up Covadonga since the start of it was across the road from the hotel. Thought I might just go part way up but of course went all the way - or at least to where the road seemed to run out. Lovely wild climb with great views to the north.
It was a shame to leave Sotis de Sajambre on such a bright day but at least it wasn't freezing cold for our free wheel to Cangas de Onis. After an initial steep drop the road follows the gorge all the way to Cangas. The river starts off miles below the road and is really hard to see through the vegetation. The mountains tower above the road casting a cold shadow. We kept stopping in small pools of sunlight to warm up. Two coffee stops and a quick visit to a panerea for a Tuna and tomato pastry thing finally got us into Cangas. Also a lot of stops to take photographs.
Used TripAdvisor to find a place to eat and ended up with eggs on top of a veg stew followed by loads of sausages with chips, washed down with cider. The cider is poured from a great height into the glasses but quite a lot of it spills on the ground or on the waiters shoes. About as accurate as the average drunk bloke. Good lunch though.
Slow pootle to the hotel to keep the indigestion at bay. I had a quick rest then decided to head up Covadonga since the start of it was across the road from the hotel. Thought I might just go part way up but of course went all the way - or at least to where the road seemed to run out. Lovely wild climb with great views to the north.
View from our window this morning
Soto de Sajambre with mountains we didn't see yesterday
Sausages, eggs, chips and cider
The Roberts Trans-Conti does Covadonga (minus one spoke)
One of the steep bits which is falling away
Thursday, 21 May 2015
From central America to Scotland to the Alps in one day
Lovely breakfast at the B&B but they must have found us a bit strange when we produced our oats, added hot water from the kettle (available for guests to use) and made ourselves porridge. One of our favourite places to stay and would definitely go back if we come again.
Another damp looking day with mist swirling around the mountains, however we escaped without a drop of rain even if the sun was a bit shy. The first 500m was downhill to the main road up the valley and then up hill for 18km to the Puerto de Tarna (1490m). The misty clouds and the dense vegetation gave the landscape the look of central America. There were cows in the road and part of the road was blocked by a landslide. Only a handful of cars passed by either way on the whole of the 18km climb. It took just over 2 hours to make the summit, which was a shabby junction of 2 roads with a closed down bar and a budding big enough to be a hotel but with no sign to suggest it was open for business.
It was pretty nippy at the top so we piled on the layers, however it didn't take long for both of us to start feeling very cold on the descent with Sally especially feeling it in her hands. We stopped for coffee and a defrost in the small village of Lario and then continued to Burón to look for a picnic spot. The village was a bit disappointingly grey and drab so we pressed on a stopped on a hillock with a view back over the loch - sorry reservoir, and had cheese, bread, bananas, crisps and whisky.
After lunch we took a left turn on the N625 and headed toward the Puerto del Ponton (1280m). Sally was a bit worried about the gradients on the route profile for this bit, but as usual the mapping turned out to be wrong because we were at the top before we knew it. The scenery instantly changed from Scotland to the Alps with the most fantastic views down into a deep valley. On went the layers again and down we went, though this time the temperature stayed above freezing and we even stopped a couple of times to take photos.
Shortly after the village of Oseja de Sajambre there is a small turning to Soto de Sajambre which lies down a 4km single track road which clings to the side of the mountain. We are staying at a walkers hostel, which is fine (though we haven't had dinner yet). The village is very picturesque and probably over-run with tourists in the summer, however we are the only visitors this evening.
Another damp looking day with mist swirling around the mountains, however we escaped without a drop of rain even if the sun was a bit shy. The first 500m was downhill to the main road up the valley and then up hill for 18km to the Puerto de Tarna (1490m). The misty clouds and the dense vegetation gave the landscape the look of central America. There were cows in the road and part of the road was blocked by a landslide. Only a handful of cars passed by either way on the whole of the 18km climb. It took just over 2 hours to make the summit, which was a shabby junction of 2 roads with a closed down bar and a budding big enough to be a hotel but with no sign to suggest it was open for business.
It was pretty nippy at the top so we piled on the layers, however it didn't take long for both of us to start feeling very cold on the descent with Sally especially feeling it in her hands. We stopped for coffee and a defrost in the small village of Lario and then continued to Burón to look for a picnic spot. The village was a bit disappointingly grey and drab so we pressed on a stopped on a hillock with a view back over the loch - sorry reservoir, and had cheese, bread, bananas, crisps and whisky.
After lunch we took a left turn on the N625 and headed toward the Puerto del Ponton (1280m). Sally was a bit worried about the gradients on the route profile for this bit, but as usual the mapping turned out to be wrong because we were at the top before we knew it. The scenery instantly changed from Scotland to the Alps with the most fantastic views down into a deep valley. On went the layers again and down we went, though this time the temperature stayed above freezing and we even stopped a couple of times to take photos.
Shortly after the village of Oseja de Sajambre there is a small turning to Soto de Sajambre which lies down a 4km single track road which clings to the side of the mountain. We are staying at a walkers hostel, which is fine (though we haven't had dinner yet). The village is very picturesque and probably over-run with tourists in the summer, however we are the only visitors this evening.
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