A year late

[jerry lordan]

It has been a long wait I did not manage to make this camino last year as planned but everything is set to go now flight booked arriving in Santander on May 10 starting next morning. Two days on the Norte before heading to Potes and Santo Toribio and then on to the Vadiniense to Leon and Ponferrada before heading to SDC on the Invierano and on to Muxia please God. Any last minute updates from anyone who has walked this way would be appreciated thanks.

 

[amancio]

buen camino!

you will be ahead of me by 2 weeks, again, any updates will be more than welcome! There is an albergue in CADES, but only for 4 people.

 

[jerry lordan]

F

buen camino!

you will be ahead of me by 2 weeks, again, any updates will be more than welcome! There is an albergue in CADES, but only for 4 people.

Finished the Vad yesterday and it was everything I had hoped for scenery epic 1st day to la Fuente along the river nansa was a bit long but worth it. There are no shops bars or restaurants la Fuente but the hospitalero cooks a good meal for a few euro. He also stocks a few beers for 1euro and will do a breakfast for 2euro nice guy as well.

 

[amancio]

F

Finished the Vad yesterday and it was everything I had hoped for scenery epic 1st day to la Fuente along the river nansa was a bit long but worth it. There are no shops bars or restaurants la Fuente but the hospitalero cooks a good meal for a few euro. He also stocks a few beers for 1euro and will do a breakfast for 2euro nice guy as well.

One million gracias, amigo! We are starting on Friday, we might be skipping the river walk, it sounds like a beautiful route, but they have not prepared accommodation in advance in Cades, so it is not so practical. Only 4 more "sleeps" to go!

 

[peregrino_tom]

Hi Amancio and Jerry
I'm starting on this route in early June so I'm very interested in hearing more about your experiences. I prefer to stay in albergues. The Gronze pages show these at La Fuente, Cicera, Potes, Fuente dé (refugio del camping), Portilla de la Reina (albergue but not de peregrinos), Riano, Cistierna and Gradefes. I'd be very interested to hear whether you found these to be open or not and also whether you experienced any particular problems with the waymarking.
Thank you for your assistance and Amancio: buen camino !
tom

 

[amancio]

Hola peregrino_tom, I should be back from the camino on june 6th, I will give you my impressions. There is also a small albergue in Cades, only 4 beds, you have to call the ayuntamiento or Miguel at these phone numbers:

620 100 267
942 72 74 82

if you arrange staying there, you can follow the beautiful river walk, some 25 km from San Vicente de la Barquera. Albergues as such, you only find in Cades, Lafuente, Cicera and Potes, the rest are other types of accommodation which are willing and ready to admit pilgrims, I have talked to all the different albergues/hostels and they are all really friendly.

We will be sleeping in

San Vicente
Lafuente
Cabañes
Valdebaró (past Potes and the monastery)
Fuente Dé
Portilla de la Reina
Horcadas
Cistierna
Gradefes
León

and it looks like it is going to be wet.

There is a live web cam at the top station in the cable car in Fuente Dé, 1800 meters of altitude, it looks like we will be crossing snow

http://cantur.com/instalaciones/webcam/5-teleferico-de-fuente-de/parametro-2

if you are familiar with GPS, you find the .gpx files with the different routes here

for the Lebaniego segment, you cand find track files here, both for the traditional and the new route (by the river)

http://www.rayyrosa.com/caminolebaniego/mapa-y-track

and also for the vadiniense

http://www.rayyrosa.com/caminovadiniense/mapa-y-track

it is a high mountain camino, and weather changes quickly in that area.

I will let you know how it goes, I am looking forward to putting on my boots!

 

[peregrino_tom]

Amancio - muchos gracias!
This is brilliant information and very kind of you to set it all out.
I hope the weather changes its mind (as often happens) and looks kindly on you. I intend to start from San Vicente on the 7th.
cheers, tom

 

[Rebekah Scott]

I was up at Fuente De two weeks ago, hiked up to the Puerto. No snow to speak of. The path is clear, the sky is full of eagles!

 

[amancio]

Hi Amancio and Jerry
I'm starting on this route in early June so I'm very interested in hearing more about your experiences. I prefer to stay in albergues. The Gronze pages show these at La Fuente, Cicera, Potes, Fuente dé (refugio del camping), Portilla de la Reina (albergue but not de peregrinos), Riano, Cistierna and Gradefes. I'd be very interested to hear whether you found these to be open or not and also whether you experienced any particular problems with the waymarking.
Thank you for your assistance and Amancio: buen camino !
tom

Just back from the camino, absolutely amazing, it is greener than anything I have ever seen before.

As far as I am aware, you have albergues in all those places you mention, but there are other options

Fuente Dé, is a camping site, there is nothing in Fuente Dé, other than two very posh hotels, the camping offers the hut to pilgrims, but the kitchen only has a microwave oven. I would recommend staying in Espinama instead, if you go for lunch in the Nevandi restaurante, Aurora will spoil you, she is an amazing character. The private albergue in Espinama is big, clean and beautiful, and has a good kitchen and garden. If you are lucky, Aurora's husband Santiago, or her brother Fernando, will offer to give you a lift to Fuente Dé for free, do not miss the cable car trip, it is spectacular. Fernando managed to fit all 10 of us in his Jeep, do not ask me how, but he managed. He gave us a lift to Fuente Dé for free, 3 km uphill, then we walked back to the village after the cable car trip. Last cable car trip is at 6 or 7, I believe, beware of that!
If you visit Fuente Dé in the afternoon, you can shorten the trip by 3 km the following day, along the gorgeous path that brings you to the Berrugas cottages. All in all, the experience in Espinama was unique.

The albergue in Lafuente is in neat condition, has a hospitalero, the only one we saw in the whole camino.

The Lebaniego part is not so well sign posted, you are better off asking locals, because you find red arrows all over the place.

Any other query you may have, please do not hesitate to ask, amigo!

 

[peregrino_tom]

Just back from the camino, absolutely amazing, it is greener than anything I have ever seen before.

As far as I am aware, you have albergues in all those places you mention, but there are other options

Fuente Dé, is a camping site, there is nothing in Fuente Dé, other than two very posh hotels, the camping offers the hut to pilgrims, but the kitchen only has a microwave oven. I would recommend staying in Espinama instead, if you go for lunch in the Nevandi restaurante, Aurora will spoil you, she is an amazing character. The private albergue in Espinama is big, clean and beautiful, and has a good kitchen and garden. If you are lucky, Aurora's husband Santiago, or her brother Fernando, will offer to give you a lift to Fuente Dé for free, do not miss the cable car trip, it is spectacular. Fernando managed to fit all 10 of us in his Jeep, do not ask me how, but he managed. He gave us a lift to Fuente Dé for free, 3 km uphill, then we walked back to the village after the cable car trip. Last cable car trip is at 6 or 7, I believe, beware of that!
If you visit Fuente Dé in the afternoon, you can shorten the trip by 3 km the following day, along the gorgeous path that brings you to the Berrugas cottages. All in all, the experience in Espinama was unique.

The albergue in Lafuente is in neat condition, has a hospitalero, the only one we saw in the whole camino.

The Lebaniego part is not so well sign posted, you are better off asking locals, because you find red arrows all over the place.

Any other query you may have, please do not hesitate to ask, amigo!

Hola Amancio
Espinama was full (for the weekend?) so I'm in the mountain refugio in fuente de - and really liking it - 'old school' camino. 2 other pilgs here. Yes the route options are quite weird on the lebaniego! Had a great stay in cabanes municipal where villagers helped find the key, later arrived with food and then the mayor parked his tractor outside when he came by to check my pilgrim passport...
I hope we can compare notes when i get back (lentillas-lafuente...) Cheers tom

 

[lettinggo]

Hola Amancio
Espinama was full (for the weekend?) so I'm in the mountain refugio in fuente de - and really liking it - 'old school' camino. 2 other pilgs here. Yes the route options are quite weird on the lebaniego! Had a great stay in cabanes municipal where villagers helped find the key, later arrived with food and then the mayor parked his tractor outside when he came by to check my pilgrim passport...
I hope we can compare notes when i get back (lentillas-lafuente...) Cheers tom

Hola Tom
Very nice to read that you are on the road again or more like mountains this time
When I walked Norte in 12 I visited Potes and it must be fantastic now this season.
I hope your walk will be great and as one pilgrim said to me; In Pico's you are not so much on a camino as you are a mountaineer.
I wish you a safe journey.
Bon salut.
Lettinggo

 

[amancio]

Hola Amancio
Espinama was full (for the weekend?) so I'm in the mountain refugio in fuente de - and really liking it - 'old school' camino. 2 other pilgs here. Yes the route options are quite weird on the lebaniego! Had a great stay in cabanes municipal where villagers helped find the key, later arrived with food and then the mayor parked his tractor outside when he came by to check my pilgrim passport...
I hope we can compare notes when i get back (lentillas-lafuente...) Cheers tom

wow, great to hear from you, amigo! I went with a group of 10 pilgrims, we only saw two more pilgrims walking one day, and two more having breakfast in Portilla, never shared a moment with them, unfortunately. I did not know there was an albergue in TINY Cabañes, excellent news. Going solo is definitely very different to going with a group of 10 beer thirsty males, haha!

un abrazo, I am looking forward to hearing back from you, buen camino!

 

[peregrino_tom]

Amancio & lettingo, nice to hear from you! Sorry I'm not much good at posting when on the way.. Last three nights alone in the mountain hostel in horcadas then municipal albergues in cistierna and gradefes. Now in leon and acclimatising to pilgrims again... Tmrw la robla.
The Vad has been great. Trying to attach pic taken close to cabanes albergue

 

[amancio]

wow, you are onto the Salvador now? Give all my love to Ender, if you meet him along the way. The Salvador is possibly even MORE beautiful than the Vadiniense, buen camino, amigo!