The stroll, part 1: Oviedo to Alto del Espinadal

35km ascent 530m, descent 520m

A month ago Julio had mentioned that he wanted to do the GR105 (Gran Recorrido, big route), also known as the Rivayagüe (after the name of the walking group that set the route up… now known as Grupo Naranco, the group we go walking with). I passed on the mention to Liz, who said ‘let’s do it’ so last Tuesday at 6:15am we left the house and started walking to Covadonga (a total trip of 107km). The route is normally done in seven stages but we planned to do it in four by doubling up some of the stages and walking all day.

It was dark when we set off and after half an hour we reached the village of Covadonga (okay, four houses and a sign: same name as our ultimate destination but really the beginning of the route). There’s a little chapel there which is the real start. The sun began peeping over the hills to the east and we had a fine view of the Aramo range to the south (in the photo)… we’ll be walking over that in a couple of weeks too.

Just to the east of the city there are lots of low hills and it is like walking along country paths in the UK, maybe a little more overgrown because of the combination of a few more degrees of heat, and the same amount of rain. I’ve never seen nettles south of the Cantabrian mountains but they’re all over the place here. We strolled along wide paths and tracks, and by about 11am we’d finished the first stage (of the seven stage version) and were all set for something to eat.

A couple of hours later, after one wrong turn and a kilometre along the main road to regain the path (where there were hundreds of tiny lizards basking in the hot sun scampering out of the way as we came) we came up the hill to the village of Lamuño. We happily shucked our backpacks off and had a cider shandy (too hot for just alcohol). The landlady was wiping the counter top and Julio asked if she could make us something to eat… a tortilla or something… oh yes.

We lounged in the shade of some trees outside the bar while the landlady did her stuff in the kitchen and kept coming out to help Julio get a phone signal and chat. And had more cider shandy (cider with casera, which is the Spanish version, and much like ´normal´ lemonade in the UK… when it’s hot you often hear people asking for wine and casera… which sounds like heresy, until you taste the wine on its own, then you realise you have to put casera in it sometimes).

We wolfed the tortilla when it came, warm and oniony with the tiniest flecks of chorizo giving it some additional flavour. Then we had blue cheese and dulce (quince paste) and a bit more cider shandy.

Reluctantly we re-shouldered the packs (plomo, said Julio – lead) and continued. Similar paths led us to a recreation area on top of a hill a couple of hours later and we stopped to take in the views and the sun. Then we descended into Basoredo in Alto del Espinadal about an hour after that. We were staying in Hotel-restaurante El Titi (no sniggering). Julio taught us a couple of card games as we waited for the restaruant to open (at 8:30pm) then we ate and had an early night. The only problem was, when we asked about breakfast (planning to be up at 7 and away at 7:30) the staff said there’d be someone up and about to get breakfast at 9am so we asked them to make a few sandwiches. They brought a bag of tortilla sandwiches (it would keep the bread from going dry). Then it was off to our rooms (ours had a dormer window about eight feet up, with a strange bench on a shelf arrangement so you could watch the mountains. Julio had pointed out our path for the next morning, up… up into the mountains in Piloña.