Picos – Day 2
Peña Pandescura (1004m)
13 June 2016
Distance: 18km
Ascent/descent: 465/1155m
Total time: 7h10′
Before starting our walk we stopped in Covadonga for a cutural visit to the Basilica of Our Lady of Covadonga, important in Spanish history in commemorating the victory in 722AD of the Asturians under their leader Pelayo (Pelagius) over the Moorish invaders with the divine help of the Virgin. There’s a shrine in a cave above a limestone river source: at the entrance there’s a handy vending machine for candles. Wikipedia is a good starting point for more information.
Leaving Covadonga in the minibuses a twisting road led up into the mountains to a pair of lakes which are thought to feed the source in the village. We arrived at the higher lake in bright sunshine with very few people around and after taking pictures set off at about 1100.
The first part of the walk led through limestone pastures and occasional farms. Familiar trees – hazel, ash, beech – and ferns and flowers both familiar and unfamiliar were sprinkled across the landscape. As Álvaro had predicted, after a while a mist developed and by the time we arrived at the farming hamlet of Belbin for a late lunch it had thickened to a disorienting murk. There’s a driveable track to the hamlet which leads back to the lakes, but a Spanish couple had to ask Álvaro to help them find it.
From Belbin we went generally north for a few kilometres without much change of altitude, then picked up an unsurfaced road which we followed downhill. We got a bit spread out on the road. Dean and I were at the front as Álvaro caught us up and asked us to wait at the bottom of the hill. We did. We waited. No-one else apppeared. We waited a bit longer. Still no-one. I started to get anxious. Perhaps someone had slipped on a loose pebble and twisted an ankle. I went back up the road until I could see a few hundred metres back – still no-one. Then at last the first people appeared and all was well. Álvaro had waited further back and it had just taken longer for everyone to catch up.
From this point, Collado Regueru, we began the ascent of our high point of the day – Peña Pandescura. A climb of 180m got us to a flattish area below the Peña where Dave opted to wait while the rest of us followed Álvaro single file up a steep narrow path another 60 metres to the neat summit.
The last part of the walk followed clear paths, then a wider track, then a road which in turn led to a bar where the group gradually re-assembled for refreshments (mostly beer) while waiting for our pick-up minibuses to arrive.
My Viewranger track of the day.