I've spent the last few days in a nature paradise: Picos de Europa, a national park in northern Spain.
Think of huge mountains, amazing glacial lakes, stunning forests, big biodiversity... and all that just 30 minutes away from a beautiful coastline; appealing enough? 😉
I had been here before, over 10 years ago; although this time I couldn't do some of the trekking I wanted, it was great to remember such awesome places: ruta de Cares, one of the most famous hiking routes, for instance.
A track following Cares river for 11 km, surrounded by huge mountains, and in some places with amazing views, but with a narrow track. How narrow? This narrow.
And yes, it's a veeeeery steep fall! But perfectly manageable, even for the ones like me that don't enjoy high places that much.
More stunning views? Covadonga lakes, that will likely deserve their own post when I get back home. But here's a sneak peak:
Nowadays the access to the lakes is restricted to buses and public transportation except for very early visitors, given the high number of visitors; a big change from last time I was here. Fame has a price!
Even for the culture lovers, los Picos do have some beautiful places to visit, being the Covadonga sanctuary one of them.
But, as you most likely know by now if you usually roam around these posts, nature is my thing! And the animals that come along with it, from the not so wild ones...
... to the wilder and sneakier ones, that sometimes decide to pose!
I could easily spend another week here. We even got splendid weather, sunny and in some days with temperatures reaching 30 degrees! So you can guess what happens when you have hiking trails near beautiful rivers with plenty diving spots. 😏
This particular one ended in a huge natural swimming pool, in case none of the little spots was appealing enough.
It was a pity that some of the trails and sights were left unseen this time, but I see it on the bright side: it's a good excuse to come back!
