Close to Spain’s northern coast, the Picos de Europa is a region of stunning steep-sided valleys, isolated villages and picturesque limestone peaks.

Tomorrow I am going on my first post-Covid trek. I’m really excited to let you know I’m going to traverse the Picos de Europa with KE Adventure Travel.

The Picos de Europa (“Peaks of Europe” so called as they were the first land to be seen by Spanish renaissance-era sailors returning home from the Americas) are a mountain range extending for about 20 km (12 mi). Forming part of the Cantabrian Mountains in northern Spain the highest peak is Torre de Cerredo, at an elevation of 2650 m (8,690 ft).

Spread across 11 villages, Picos de Europa is Spain’s only inhabited nature reserve, offering travellers a unique experience. Rural life and nature have co-existed in this unique environment for centuries. More than half of the vertebrates on the Iberian Peninsula can be found in the Picos. These and other wildlife are found in the mountains, the meadows, lakes, gorges, and forests and include, as a small sample, large mammals like roe deer and chamois sharing territory with grouse, eagles and Egyptian vultures.

A 2.5 hour transfer from Bilbao Airport tomorrow morning will see the group gather in a little hotel close to the small 14th century farming town of Cangas de Onis; our gateway to the western side of the Picos. On the little map above Cangas de Onis is top left (if you click on the map you should get a bigger view). Early Monday morning a minibus will take us to Lago de Enol, near the village of Buferrera, where our trek begins. Over the next 6 days, via peaks, gorges, forests, shepherds’ trails and miners’ tracks, taking in medieval villages and breathtaking views, we will make our way on foot roughly south east to Espinama. Espinama isn’t on the map but is on the road south from Fuente Dé by the Río Nevandi, in Cantabria. After a final evening together we will head back to Bilbao and home. While on the trek, with one exception on Wednesday to freshen up and re-stock from our main bags at a small hotel, we will stay in moutain huts/refuges and will carry what we need on our backs.

With a degree of nervousness, not having written for you for 4 years, I hope to take you with me. I don’t know what phone connectivity I will have between Cangas de Onis and Puente Poncebos where we spend Wednesday night, and Espinama, but if I can send an update I will. Google tells me coverage is incomplete but to expect something in the villages at least. Fingers crossed eh? See you tomorrow!

I hope so 😀

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