A Perfect Picu: Naranjo de Bulnes

We had walked into Sotres and we intended to walk back, returning to Poncebos so that we could get a ride to Arenas where we had started our circular hiking holiday 10 days previously.

But first we had to climb to the Vega de Urriellu (a mountain refuge) at the foot of Naranjo de Bulnes, one of Spain's most iconic picos.

Climbers go to the top. We just intended to go to the base of this famous peak.

We intended to stay at the refuge, and then walk back down.

But then I noticed a detail in S-cape's notes about the return from Urriellu to Poncebos.  Descent:  1900 metres.  Hmmmm.... what I recalled from my first cursory reading of these notes (back in Guelph) was Descent: 900 metres.  Very do-able.   Where did that extra 1000 some from?

 Aaaagh!!

I am probably capable of descending 1900 metres, but I knew that the track would be tricky as well as long and steep.  I also knew I would need to proceed at my own pace, and I didn't want to slow  fellow hikers who would also be walking down from the refuge.  So....feeling a bit wimpy, I bailed on our night at the Vega de Urriellu, and came up with a new plan: walk to the refugio, return to Sotres, spend the night in the hotel, and walk the next day from Sotres to Poncebos on a different route.  Truth to tell,  Bruce was fine with this new scheme.  He knew that the refuge was unheated, without electricity, and that we would be sleeping in bunk rooms with up to 100 strangers.

In order to shorten the walk, Roz and Ian and Bruce and I took the S'cape SUV to Pandebano, a mountain valley that is the standard starting point for most hikers heading for Urriellu.  We could walk the 5 kms to the top and return with plenty of time to pick up our ride back to Sotres.

Urreillu beckons as we began the trek from Pandebano.

No looking down!

That's Roz chugging up the track. 

Almost there...

Then Bruce began to worry that we would not get back to Pandebano in time to meet our S'cape driver.  So after a hasty lunch among the rocks, we sent Roz and Ian ahead to the refuge and we began the descent.

The return was faster than we anticipated.  Perhaps we were more familiar with the track. Or anxious to keep our 5:00 o'clock deadline.  We were also being pursued by a huge gang of eager, curious goats who wanted to be our new BFFs. We were not quite so keen. They must have known about the lunch leftovers in our packs.

Lunch?  Did someone say lunch?

    

On the way back....

....to Pandebano.  We arrived an hour early. 

That night, we were the only S'cape couple in the hotel dining room.  Ordinarily the staff prepared one standard (and very nice) multi-course, meaty meal for the entire group.  But as their only guests, we were given soup, a main course (omelet and vegetables) and dessert (flan, rice pudding or ice cream).  This was the first time we had been served vegetarian fare (very likely prepared for convenience) but we put it down to Bruce's directive each day for our packed lunch: "por favor un picnic con bocadillos de queso. No carne."  We weren't really being picky.  Our cheese sandwiches were tasty enough without the addition of salami.

And so was the omelet, washed down with an entire bottle of very drinkable red wine.  The standard S'cape dinner for 2 to 4 people always came with a bottle of wine!

We thought of Roz and Ian in their chilly mountain-top refuge.  I had loaned Roz my long woolen sweater.  At least I could claim that it stayed the night on Urreillu even if I was sitting in the warm  hotel dining room drinking Roz's share of rioja.