Bloomin' 'eck!

Where to start? Today has been the most amazing day scenery-wise, despite low lying cloud, but it has also been exceptionally challenging!
I have far too many fab photos to share, but I'll try to pick out the best.
We started, after a very nice breakfast, with a short drive up yet another winding road, closing our eyes and leaning over every time another vehicle came our way😅. Our walk was a 19/20km one and I swear 15 of them were uphill! That may be a slight exaggeration, but not by much!
The sun hadn't cracked the clouds when we started so it was interesting walking through the cloud, getting a tad wet but appreciating it. It wasn't cold and I was soon 'glowing' profusely 😂. We'd been warned to take a lot of water - there was only one spring on the route, although there was a refuge we would stop at, too, so I'd packed 2 litres, surely enough until we reached the spring or the refuge?
From the start it was uphill, uphill and more uphill, but we were rewarded with the most amazing views above the clouds. It was truly stunning 😍. I was pleased not to be right at the back of the group (that was to come😂) but it felt like ages before we stopped for a breather! When we're walking a camino, there are quite a few photo opportunities, i.e. rest breaks!
We passed a cheese cave, where the local Cantabrian cheeses are matured for at least 4 months, and we have a local cheese tasting to look forward to.
I'm not sure how long it took (seemed like hours!) to reach the refuge, but it was most welcome! The building is left over from the local zinc mining that took place in the Picos, the last mine only closing about 50 years ago, I think. We walked on the scree left over from the mining activities and we were often sliding backwards, losing our footing, which was a bit worrying! A local warden walked with us, keeping up the rear, to make sure we were all okay.
On the way we encountered the local sheepdogs... The one in the photo was wearing a spiked collar to protect him from the wolves!!!😱
After reaching a plateau, we started our walk downhill, which was slippy slidey, too, but a welcome change to up, up, up. The sun had come out, too, so lots more water was drunk!
After a 30 minute lunch break (and a wild wee) we began walking through a fab beech forest. This bit was lovely and we really got a move on. It was damp and green and fabulous! Funniest bit was when two of us stayed back for wild wee number 2, only to be greeted by 2 walkers going the other way! We'd seen next to no-one all day 😆. Sod's Law!
Then, surprise surprise, it was more up! "Only 20 minutes", said Juan. Well, it was 24 minutes and such slow going! But, at the top - our vehicle 👏👏👏, thank goodness!
A very welcome beer was enjoyed when we got back to the hotel, followed by a shower and our evening meal. Now it's time for bed🥱🥱🥱, I think I'll sleep very well tonight!
Apparently, tomorrow is similar 😱. I'm hoping my body will have forgotten by then😂😂😂.Read more