Austuria and No Chicken for You!

Coal Country to the Clouds

Day 18: Ponferrada to El Puerto (55 miles / 5240 ft.)

We got up around 7:00 and opted out of the hostel’s €7.50 breakfast, making our own instead. In hindsight, ours was probably better anyway. We ate in the common area with several Camino hikers, although they were packed and gone long before us.

With the temperature around 49°F, we returned to our room, packed the bikes and added some warmer clothing. Another morning, another climb, but soon we were rewarded with beautiful riding alongside the Bárcena Reservoir.

From there, we followed the Sil River upstream through Toreno, Páramo del Sil and Villablino. The road, river and old railway were squeezed together between steep, forested slopes, and the scenery seemed to improve around every corner. This was once major coal country, and the old Ponfeblino railway carried coal from the mines around Villablino down the valley to Ponferrada. The mining has mostly disappeared, but its history remains visible in the towns and along the hillsides.

We knew the day would involve plenty of steady climbing, but riding through the tight curves of the river valley was breathtaking. After Villablino, we left the Sil and began our final climb into the jagged peaks of the Cantabrian Mountains. We crossed from Castilla y León into Asturias at Puerto de Somiedo before reaching El Puerto, a tiny livestock village sitting nearly 5,000 feet above sea level.

Lisa and I had spent much of the day dreaming about our promised chicken dinner. We had confirmed that the restaurant would be serving, so we carried very little food. Unfortunately, shortly after arriving, we learned that dinner had been canceled. Check-in felt a little tense until I used ChatGPT to translate a message explaining that we were sorry if we had gotten off on the wrong foot, but we had been counting on dinner and had no other food.

The woman helping us seemed upset with the owner on our behalf. After serving us a couple of cold drinks, she quietly disappeared into the kitchen and returned with two ham-and-cheese sandwiches and two apples. We both nearly teared up at her kindness. Then she came back again with two small cinnamon rolls for dessert.

Our spirits lifted, we walked through the tiny village listening to the cows mooing and admiring the brilliant blue sky, streaked with clouds and jet trails. Later, while sitting on the terrace, clouds rolled over the mountains, swallowed the sunset and slowly enclosed the entire village. It was an incredible feeling to be sitting inside the clouds.

Exhausted from both the climbing and the visual overload, we retired to our room with yet another magnificent mountain view. In the middle of the night, I woke and looked outside. The clouds had completely disappeared, leaving a dark sky filled with thousands, maybe millions, of stars. I stood quietly at the window for a while, simply absorbing the beauty.

Another wonderful day.Read more