| Day # | 59 | State of Legs | :-) |
| Distance (miles) | Distance (km) | Ascent (feet) | Ascent (metres) | Punctures | |
| Today | 0 miles | km | 0 feet | metres | 0 |
| Trip Totals | 2506 miles | km | 110054 feet | metres | 0 |
| Today's Route |
| No cycling today |
| Route So Far |
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Travelogue
I stayed in Fuente Dé today, hoping to be able to take the cable car up to the top of the mountains. This was by no means assured though. The weather was one factor and the finite capacity of the cable car service, the other.
I decided that whatever happened, I would leave Fuente Dé tomorrow even if I didn't make it up the mountains in the cable car.
When I woke up, there was lot of low cloud and it felt damp.
I was visited by the campsite dog, a very nice white fluffy thing (I have no idea what breed!) who I'd become acquainted with yesterday evening, coincidentally when I was eating. The dog did not share in yesterday's dinner and I had explained to it that I do not share food(!) so either it was giving its luck another try this morning or... it's just a nice, friendly dog :-)
When the campsite reception opened, I picked up the loaf of bread I'd ordered the day before. It was warm and larger than expected. All good. I bought a jar of Spanish marmalade from the incredibly limited shop that the campsite has and concluded that my food requirements for the whole day had probably been met!
I ate breakfast at one of the tables in the bar, with a cup of their excellent coffee. I talked for ages with a German couple who were there with their two young daughters. We had a wide ranging conversation covering cycling, cars in cities and..... politics. And of course Brexit. It was interesting and they were really good company.
Minutes after breakfast, I was back in my tent with another thunderstorm in full swing, with deafening thunderclaps echoing along the mountains and valley. It was quite awesome.
I passed the time reading my book, the third Cormac McCarthy novel of this trip. I'm now on Child of God. It's a fitting tale to read with the the atmosphere formed by the heavens making their presence very much felt all around me.
The thunderstorm stopped and the weather improved a little. I could just see the imposing cliffs through a break in the low cloud. And by mid-day, things were definitely better still, so I had lunch (guess what that was), and walked down to the cable car station to see if I could get a ticket. I did get a ticket, but for the 2 p.m. "flight" which was the next available one.
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| Low cloud but at least the cliffs are visible now |
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| The view from this campsite is basically fantastic - that's the reception/restaurant building |
So, I headed back to the campsite to wait. The damp clothes that had been hanging inside my tent all night in a desperate attempt to dry them had still not dried so I hung them outside.
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| The indoors clothes line - it didn't work! |
Soon enough, it was time to head back to the cable car, so I set off. It's a short walk from the campsite, taking only 5 minutes or so. The cable car itself is classified as public transport and you're required to wear a face mask, which I assume applies to all public transport in Spain at present. Luckily I have mine with me.
The ride up to the top was fun, not too crowded and very happily... uneventful. I talked with a Portuguese couple in the line and a little in the car itself. He apparently was not fond of heights but managed to keep it together all the way to the top :-)
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| Going up! |
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| Just like the London Underground |
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| Nearing the top |
At the top, I took photographs, a short video of the view and then walked away from the terminal building. People seemed to either stay right by it or to head off on foot, mostly to start the four to five hour descent. I'd considered walking down but to be honest, I need my legs to be functioning for tomorrow's cycling. I can still feel them aching a little from the hiking I did at Potes!
I found myself a couple of quieter spots and just soaked up the amazing views.
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| I look like I'm dancing but in fact I had to get to my spot in 10 seconds... and without wobbling over the edge so what you're seeing is balancing! |
And there were birds. Massive birds of prey, which may or may not have been more Griffon Vultures like the ones I saw in the Pyrenees. I'm not certain but it's what the Merlin app suggested when fed one of my photos. There were other species of bird too, notably the Red-billed Chough and Yellow-billed Chough, which were new to me. I took photos to help try to identify the species and a few more or myself with views just for good measure.
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| Almost certainly a Griffon Vulture |
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| Almost certainly me |
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| Identified by Merlin as a Red-billed Chough but I do wonder if in fact that's a Yellow-billed Chough |
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| Definitely a Yellow-billed Chough |
I managed to capture some video of the birds of prey.
I stayed at the top for about forty-five minutes and noticed clouds starting to gather. Dark looking clouds. This was my cue to depart! I had no desire to be up there in a thunderstorm. So, down I went in the next available car.
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| The other car heading up as I headed down |
I walked back to the campsite, with the sky getting darker all the time. Took my almost dry clothes off the line and put them in the tent and headed over to the bar for coffee, a dry place to sit and blog and of course electricity for devices. And as I walked over.... it started to rain. And then there was thunder too. It seems I was very lucky to enjoy a break in the weather during my trip in the Fuente Dé cable car!
It's late afternoon now and the plan is to do absolutely nothing but finish blogging and sorting out videos and photographs, read my book, eat more bread and marmalade and then sleep. Tomorrow I plan to leave and cycle east and then north and then west. The mountains make direct lines between places impossible so I'm kind of cycling three sides of a rectangle to get to where I want to be! My destination is another renowned part of the Picos de Europa national park. If this part is anything to go by, it should be tremendous.
Right now by the way, it's pouring down. I'd read that it likes to rain in this part of Spain! After tomorrow's destination, which I shall stay at for two nights at least I think, I'll be heading north to the coast where presumably the mountains have considerably less influence on the climate. But I could be entirely wrong about that!
Here's the profile from today's little adventure:
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