Pajares to Pola de Lena, June 15

This was to be a long stage, so were out early.  We began with a steep descent from Pajares to the bottom of  the valley below.

From there, our trail took us up and down, mostly on narrow forest tracks, as we followed the steep canyon.

It was warm, and the trail was steep.

 

After about four hours walking we stopped for a snack break in this clearing.  Dan noticed a cherry tree, and found some ripe ones within reach to supplement our cheese and crackers.

After a few more km, the trail dropped steeply (more than 20 percent) down to the town of Campomanes.  We found a bar for lunch and a cool drink.  The remaining 8 km or so was along a flat and mostly paved bike path along the river: easy walking.  

By the time we arrived in Pola de Lena, we'd covered 27 km of hot and mostly very steep walking.

Pola de Lena to Mieres del Camino, then on to Oviedo, June 16 & 17

The next day's stage was a short one, only 14 km to Mieres del Camino.  Our walking was mostly along the side of a secondary road following the river valley.  Not the prettiest walking, but easy going.  It was misty and occasionally drizzling.

They are restoring salmon to the river we were walking along.  According to this sign, they caught the last one in 1917, but started restoring them in 1995.  It must be working out, because we saw people fly fishing at a number of spots along the river. (Check out the photo below as we are entering Mieres.)

By 2 pm we were in the small city of Mieres.  We located a nice hostal in the center of town, had a great meal, and explored around.  They were celebrating the fiesta of San Juan over the weekend (this was on Friday), so there was live music in the park and street fairs all around.  The live music was a series of local bands covering American hits of the 60s and 70s.  We didn't stay out that late, but we could hear from our room that they were still going strong at 2:45. 

The next day we started off on our last stage of the Ruta del Salvador, from Mieres to Oviedo.  The first half of the day was all walking along secondary roads, up and down valleys.

 

But, just as we were tiring of the road walking, our route headed off into the woods.  Parts of it followed an old Roman road (stones still intact under Ellen's new and bright orange trail runners).  The path was frequently steep, but all interesting and with frequent views.

By early afternoon we crested a hill and had our first view of Oviedo in the distance.  Within an hour and a half we were walking into the city.

Along today's stage we passed the 800 km point.  We posed for our picture alongside a sculpture of Woody Allen.

We will take a couple of rest days in Oviedo while Ellen's nasty head cold clears up, then head off on the Camino Primitivo toward Santiago.

Oviedo to Escamplero, June 20

About a week behind with the blog....  Will catch up a bit tonight, more next time we have wifi.

We ended up spending a couple of extra days in Oviedo, hoping Ellen's cough and congestion would improve.  It's a beautiful city, with a great mix of old and new architecture, and tons of street sculpture.  As you can see, it was also quite wet while we were there.

 

We decided to head out of town on Wed the 20th.  Leaving Oviedo started us on our next Camino, the Primitivo, which runs from there to just outside of Santiago.  It is actually the original pilgrimage route, and passes through the mountains of Asturias and Galicia.

Fortunately the weather dried up and warmed a bit on the day we started walking.  After working our way out of the city, we were soon in rolling farmland and exurbs.  Our route was a pleasant mix of paved country lanes and dirt roads.  

Because Ellen was still recuperating, we only walked 11 km that day to the small village of Escamplero.

We stayed in the albergue along with a Dutch couple in their 70s, a Belgian who had walked all the way from his home (over 2000 km so far), and two Spanish men.  Because the two little restaurants in the village were closed on Wednesdays, we bought a little food in the small tienda and cooked dinner in the albergue's small kitchen.

Escamplero to Cornellana, June 21

It was raining the evening and night we were in Escamplero, and still drizzling the next morning.  But before long the clouds cleared up and it turned into a beautiful day.

Our route took us through rolling hills and farmland, and many small villages.

The farming here seems to be mostly dairy and hay fields, with small vegetable patches and some corn fields.

Much of our time was on trails through dense forest.  Pretty, but frequently very muddy.

By late afternoon we arrived in Cornellana after a 24 km day.  There is a very nice albergue in part of an old monastery building.  The monastery was founded in 1024, but the buildings are from the 17th and 18th centuries.

 

Cornellana to La Espina, June 22

We walked away from the monastery in Cornellana under sunny skies.

This was another day with much of our route on forest trails.

Our path was mostly uphill as we climbed over 600 meters (almost 2000 feet) over the day.  Here's Ellen walking past some foxglove, which is quite common here.

 

Late in the afternoon we walked into the small village of La Espina.  Because Ellen was still coughing quite a bit, we decided to stay in a hotel rather than share a room with many other pilgrims in an albergue.  It took a while, but eventually we found the one hotel open in the village.  We were the only guests, and the owners cooked us a great dinner.

La Espina to Tineo, June 23

Because Ellen was still feeling the effects of her cough (spoiler alert: it's now better), we took a short day today (only 11 km) to Tineo.  Our path continued through the rolling hills and farmland of Asturias.

We arrived in the small city of Tineo a little after noon, and went to the local tourist office to see about hotels and pensions.  Just as we were sitting down in the central plaza to make calls from our list, a woman approached and asked if we were looking for a place to stay.  (In small towns, non-locals and especially pilgrims with backpacks stand out.)  She had a new pension just a couple of blocks away, it had everything we wanted, and that was that.

Tineo is a great combination of older and very modern buildings, and a very friendly place.  The sundial below, which we passed on the way into town, is constructed around a life-size sculpture of a pilgrim.

 

We enjoyed a great mid-day meal in a little outdoor restaurant looking out over the surrounding countryside. We also went to a pharmacy and bought some antibiotics for Ellen, which have worked like magic.

Because this was a Saturday in Spain, the town was in fiesta mode.  One event was an annual gathering of motorcyclists (mostly sport bikes, but all kinds including some cool vintage ones).  There were dozens cruising around the town, and part of one street was closed off for them to park and schmooze.  The other big event was the town's celebration for San Juan.  At the edge of town (and visible from our room in the pension), a stage was set up for live music and the celebration.  Because things didn't really get going until after 11 (by which time we'd be in bed), we walked up earlier to check things out.  Part of the celebration is a bonfire at midnight, and we noted that the bonfire (about 15 feet high) was topped by an effigy of Angela Merkel: a little editorial comment on Spain's present economic situation.  There were fireworks, and the music was still going strong at 3 am.

 

Tineo to Pola de Allande, June 24

The next day was clear and gorgeous as we set out from Tineo.  The rolling hills and farms of Asturias are truly reminiscent of parts of Oregon.  There are even blackberry brambles lining most of the path.  Dairy farming seems to be the big thing.

After about 12 km we stopped for a sandwich in the small village of Campiello.  There's an albergue there, so we could have stopped, but Ellen was feeling so much better we continued on to the next town, Pola de Allande.  This made for a 27 km day, but there were no major climbs and with the magic of modern medicine it was no problem.

 

The weather has been unusually warm and dry, which is a big help in dealing with the typically muddy trails in this region.  This is a good section; you don't want to see some of the uglier ones we passed through.

There were a few short but very steep stretches over the last 5 km.  This section had steps built into the trail.

After the final climb, we had a very steep descent for about 2 km into the small town of Pola de Allande.  We found a nice room in an old and historic hotel, right over the river which flows through town, and listened to the water all night.

Shortly before arriving in Pola, we passed the 900 km mark.

Pola de Allande to Berducedo, June 25

As soon as we left Pola de Allande, our path was climbing steadily.  We alternated between forest and small farmlands.

 

After about 5 km we broke out of the trees and onto open slopes for the final climb toward the pass at Puerto del Palo.  The weather was quite warm (unusual for this part of Spain), and we were struggling to stay hydrated as we climbed in the sun.  Fortunately there is a spring just below the summit, where we were able to take a break, drink, refill bottles, and drink some more.

At the summit.  We'd climbed a little over 600 m (almost 2000 feet) to this point.

From the pass, our path was mostly downhill for the rest of the day.

This is a sparsely populated section of Asturias.  We passed a few small villages, but none with a bar or tienda to stop for a  cool drink.  In this one (Montefurado) it looked like only one house (out of about five) was inhabited.

By mid-afternoon we arrived in the small village of Berducedo, which has three bars (!) and a small shop.  Although the stage was only 16 km, between the heat and the climbing we were ready to stop.