Walking the Cares Gorge

Three days into our Picos adventure, we tramped along the Garganta del Cares, aka the Cares Gorge. 

This spectacular walk follows a channel carrying water from the Cares River to a hydroelectric station. The path was originally built in the 1920s as a service route for the canal, but now the Ruta del Cares has a new life as one of Spain's most popular outdoor destinations.  Thousands of tourists visit the Picos every year just to notch this 12 km hike on their "great-treks" belts. 

And no wonder. The scenery is breathtaking.   The precipitous limestone chasm is unbelievably deep (over a km in places), and it rises majestically above and below the track.

How far down?

The path is equally impressive. Cut into the chasm, it snakes along narrow ledges and through dark tunnels.  Occasionally a hand-rail provides a bit of security, but otherwise, hikers hold their breath, avoid looking down and push on.

There are gangs of goats along the Cares Gorge, too.

A National Parks sign at the start of the track warns acrophobics that this edge-y walk will present challenges.  Has anyone ever fallen?  I thought of recent news items about hapless hikers.  The one who fell to her death at Mount Nemo on Ontario's Bruce Trail.  And the woman whose body was consumed in mere minutes by griffon vultures after she plummeted off a cliff in the Pyranees.

I tried not to think of these incidents.   But I couldn't help scanning the cloudless sky above the garganta for large birds of prey......

The sign means exactly what you think. Maybe this is not such a good idea.

No looking down!

Tunnels on the trail

Ian is now the subject of a stranger's Picos pic.

Bridges cross to the other side.

Except for the necessity of keeping to the path (and not falling off the edge), the most challenging aspect of this walk was the temperature -- 32 degrees with no shade at all.  The sun beat down and reflected off the rocky path and the surrounding cliffs.

Our lunch stop (at the end of the gorge) in Cain was a welcome respite, but then we slogged on.  We still needed to reach our next hotel in Posada de Valdeon, 8 kms up the road.

Shade!  We have a lunch of bread and cheese in Cain.

The final 8 km occasionally took us onto a road.  It was less exciting, but the scenery was still impressive.

Our 20 km "bucket list" hike was over.  Finally we could melt into chairs at the Hotel Picos de Europa and practice a lispy request for "uno cervaza (ther-bay-za) por favor".