Packed up and left the Parador about nine. It was overcast but the clouds had structure and we were hopeful of better weather. We got diesel for our wonderful little Golf (42 mpg; it also has individual temperature controls- a wonderful argument-avoidance device) and set off south through the Picos de Europa National Park to Fuente De where there is a funicular we hope to ride high into the mountains. As the crow flies, we were going only about 25 km, but actually had almost 100 very winding km to drive because the limestone mountains are cut by many small rivers into very deep steep-sided gorges. Our standards for good weather have sunk low enough so that we were overjoyed to see breaks in the clouds and actually get some sun.
We drove along the Río Sella, passing many fly fishermen, tiny villages with medieval bridges, past craggy peaks and lots of inviting trailheads, to the town of Posada de Valdeón where we had a delicious lunch of the remains of my sagely-saved sandwich of yesterday, water and chocolate. A single lane road runs 5 km through a narrow gorge and dead ends at the small village of Caín with many hiking trails and lots of parking. Fortunately the holiday season hasn’t started yet as that road must be hell to drive when there’s any traffic going back and forth. There was some sun so we hiked a ways along the Río Cares until it enters a high, very narrow stone gorge where there is a small hydroelectric dam. The trail crosses by a thundering waterfall and continues through a tunnel cut into the stone wall.
We returned to the town for a beer and continued on through craggy peaks and lovely pastoral valleys, reaching our small charming Hotel Del Oso by 5. It has a beautiful blue-tiled swimming pool with a large bear decorating the bottom and a lovely lawn full of lounge chairs. Ojalá that it were warm! Good dinner of veal steak and peppers.
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