Discovering the Camino of San Salvador

As I mentioned in an earlier blog about the Camino de Santiago, there are routes that come from different parts of Europe but all converge in Santiago, Galicia.  According to a guide by John Brierley (which seems to be the Camino Bible and even translated into several languages) there are 12 routes that either arrive directly to Santiago or connect with another route.

I began hearing talk of another route called the Camino San Salvador which did not appear in my book.  This route runs straight north from Leon to the city of Oviedo in the autonomous region of Austurias.  Now this really caught my attention as I was considering taking a few days away from the Camino  when I reached Leon to do a couple of hikes in the Picos of Europa and Oviedo was the jumping off point.  The 120 km route would take 5 days to reach Oviedo and from there I could bus to the area of the Picos de Europa that is considered some of the best hiking and climbing in Spain.  I crunched the numbers and it may cut it close but I thought I could still reach Santiago in time to make my return flight.

The guide I downloaded from the internet mentioned  various reasons for choosing this route.  First, it bypasses the overcrowded portion of the French Route from Leon to Santiago.  Second, Oviedo is a unique and beautiful city to visit and third, the scenery is among the most spectacular in Spain.

Then the disclaimer....this route is not for everyone!  It is challenging even to experienced hikers and weather in the high altitude sections can be dangerous with thick fog and heavy rain.  It was essential to have rain gear, wise to let someone know when you were starting and finishing and suggested a compass....even just a cheap plastic one.  Well, I had 2 out of 3 and a cheap plastic compass would be no help as I have never used one.

I decided to do it, confident my fitness level was adequate and I advised my friends in Spain about my plans.  And uncrowded indeed, I didn't see a single other pilgrim while walking along mostly forested paths following the River Bernesga to the village of La Robla.

Halfway along the route there was a box with some emergency first aid supplies, some nuts and a small bottle of water.  There was also a book to sign your name...I guess if you get lost, at least they will know your last location....yikes I thought, this route IS really remote.

  But there was a couple already at the albergue when I arrived; Carmen from Barcelona and Bennie from Coruña.  They were resting when I arrived, so I did my laundry and went in search of food and when I returned they had gone out for food.  I only saw them briefly the next morning as I anticipated another day with temperatures near 40C and wanted to get an early start.

Our paths crossed again at the end of the day and we decided it would be a good idea to walk together the following day.  This would be the most difficult and potentially dangerous part on the trek and 6 eyes are better than 4 and much better than 2.

We were off to an early start only to discover we missed the very first marker out of the village and had to backtrack, find it and begin again.

                            Bennie making an adjustment on his new boots.
Missing the initial marker made me feel really good about sharing this day with someone.  There seemed to be a mix of fog and sun depending where you looked.  The grade began to increase gradually until at one part it was almost a scramble on loose rock.  This was definitely photo worthy.

We were admiring the view from this point when to our surprise we saw 5 cyclists riding along the portion we had just completed.  We were dumbfounded!!  We watched in amazement as they approached the portion we had just scrambled up.  Stopping at the base, they dismounted, removed their panniers and carried them up the steep slope then returned to carry their bikes to the top.  Well, several times that day we leapfrogged with them until we completed the portions where they no longer had to make two trips to get over the pass.

The fog did close in pretty heavily a couple of times and at one point when I mentioned I was making a stop for the call the nature, Carmen and Bennie continued ahead and within seconds were out of sight.

Reaching the second summit was also a call for celebration and a photo opportunity.

A national parador (or exclusive hotel in a landmark building) now closed due to the economy makes a ghostly appearance when we summit a small rise.
  Little did we realize that the final 18 km would prove more difficult that the two summits.  For the rest of the day the terrain resembled the teeth of a saw set on a decline.  At one point Carmen wanted to stop and sleep in the forest but Bennie urged her on.

When we finally reached our destination for the day; Campomanes, the pension was full and the alberque owners were not to be found so we had to walk yet another kilometer down the road to stay at the hotel.  But it turned out that this hotel gives a discount for pilgrims and has the best food in town.

After an energizing shower and a quick snooze I went down to the dining room to meet Carmen and Bennie and there sat the 5 crazy cyclists!  The energy they emitted lit up the room....or maybe it was the bright shirts!  The club shirts had the words JARRA y PEDAL.  Jarra is the container used to serve beer to a group and well pedal....that one is obvious.  This was their last day of riding and they were on a high after their amazing accomplishment riding this route.

They indicated to come join them and we all had a great time sharing food, drinks and getting to know each other.  This was my 4th day speaking only Spanish and I was feeling pretty confident but always willing to learn new vocabulary, of course! They set me up in a bit of a trap.  They wanted me to guess who was the oldest and who was the youngest.  I got around this by saying....I was the oldest and pointed to the obvious youngest member. Then they asked me if I knew what the word 'chulo' meant but I didn't.  They tried to explain but none of the examples I used seemed quite right so I looked for the word in my online Spanish/English dictionary.  'Chulo' means cocky or bold and it seems that they were quite competitive about who was the most 'chulo'.
Next they asked if I knew what huevos were and of course I said 'yes....it means eggs'.  They agreed but said it also means something else.  Apparently, it also refers to that part of the male anatomy, as it does in English, when someone acts a bit cocky or bold.
All in all....there must have been at least two dozen huevos around the table that night.
Carmen and Bennie were only walking one more day before catching the train to start a new adventure and were planning to sleep in after the strenuous day.  So we all shared a hug and dos besos...two kisses; the standard Spanish greeting for meeting and saying goodbye.
Such is the way of the camino...instant bonds with like minded people, sharing food, drink, laughter and stories then parting.

I swear I will never look at or eat another egg without thinking about these 5 courageous wonderful men.

This completes days 1-3 on this detour to Oviedo....stay tuned...there is more!