Since we had decided to include the Picos in our itinerary many months ago, Fiona and I had been committed to doing the Ruta del Cares (Cares Gorge) hike, also known as La Garganta Divina, the Divine Gorge and a very apt description it proved to be.
It follows the deep gorge created by the Cares River from the village of Poncebos to the village of Cain and return for a total of 23.6 kms – the route from village to village by road is approximately 100km and nearly three hours on winding mountain roads.
So, we were faced with a dilemma, not sure if we were up to the return trip by foot, how to get back?
We solved this problem by enlisting the services of a local environmental science graduate who is passionate about his area and its fauna and flora and took the three of us by four wheel drive to Cain.
En route we visited various off the beaten track viewpoints and learned a lot about the challenges the native forest faces as well as issues that the whole region is dealing with as the rustic ‘shepherd lifestyle’ becomes less appealing to the current generation and they move away from the small villages to pursue ‘modern’ careers. We passed many empty crumbling houses which looked idyllic to us but were virtually unsaleable due to lack of employment opportunities.
We arrived into the tiny village of Cain just in time for lunch and our serving of the local signature dish of fabada, (fat white beans) was ENORMOUS and defeated all of us 😂
Fiona and visited the restrooms (the last one for 12kms!), zipped up our coats and posed for pics at the beginning of the trail before waving goodbye to Russell who was going home with our guide, they would meet us at the other end.
After a lovely sunny morning sadly the heavens decided to open and it began raining as soon as we began walking! The rain would accompany us for about three quarters of our hike, not ideal but character building…
From the Cain end the hike starts at river level and you walk through a series of tunnels bored through the limestone rock and over a bridge. It then varies from a fairly narrow path literally carved into the cliff face to a somewhat wider trail in other parts.
This path would not exist but for the canal that was built over a hundred years ago to divert water from the river for a local hydroelectric power station. The trail was built to allow workers to maintain the canal and carry supplies up the gorge.
There are a number of bridges, at times you walk right next to the canal, but sometimes the canal is far below or vanishes into a tunnel bored through the mountains.
Fiona had tragically left a (“perfectly good” she told me) rain jacket in Australia and so the emergency poncho came out of my bag and actually did a surprisingly good job although we didn’t look like the most professional walkers on the trail 😂
With the weather just not cooperating I eventually packed the camera away and relied on the more ‘all weather’ iPhone as the rain became steadier. I still managed to take so many photos it is really difficult to cull them so please indulge me and I hope you appreciate (quite) a few of this magnificent region and probably one of the highlights of our whole trip.
There are some ‘passwords’ required at various points along the way which resulted in Fiona having to stare down the ‘local trail guides’ but we managed to get past without anyone going over the edge 😂
At the deepest part of the gorge the river is 1.5kms below and the sense of grandeur is breathtaking, with or without rain being able to experience this is an absolute privilege.
The last little stretch involves an uphill gradient followed by quite a steep downhill section with very loose gravel underfoot and after carefully negotiating this with very tired legs we were somewhat relieved to reach our pick up point just shy of four hours since leaving Cain.
With perfect timing Russell and Fernando rounded the corner and we climbed aboard for the journey home – wet, weary, hungry and exhilarated! 🙌
Tomorrow, we reach new heights at Covadonga Lakes.