The Bikepacker: Bikepacking - Potes and a hike to Cruz de Viorna

Day #

State of Legs

:-)

	Distance (miles)	Distance (km)	Ascent (feet)	Ascent (metres)	Punctures
Today	0 miles	km	feet	metres	0
Trip Totals	2492 miles	km	107347 feet	metres	0

Today's Route

No cycling today

Route So Far

Travelogue

Last night was "interesting". There was another thunderstorm in the late evening. Thunder, lightning, heavy rain. The works. I lay in my dark tent, marvelling at the way it briefly but brightly lit up as the lightning flashed around the sky. The gap between lightning and thunder shortened as the time passed. The storm was getting nearer. It was kind of thrilling but also a little worrying! Would the tent be OK? Would tent and I be washed off the elevated terrace we were pitched on?!

Fortunately, I had given the conditions some thought before retiring for the night. The heavy rain earlier yesterday had transformed the packed earth I was camped on into a much softer material. I went around with my peg mallet and hammered each peg deep into the ground to give them as much purchase as possible.

And all was well. I even got a little sleep. I'm not sure what time the storm passed but by about 2 a.m. it was gone, that much I do know. Don't you just love mountains?

Today, I'm still at the campsite just outside of Potes. I'd done some research into hiking trails in the area and found one which actually started and ended at the campsite itself. It's destination was a large cross mounted on the top of a hill behind the campsite. It was around six miles in length, which was about right for me. I don't have walking boots with me of course but the one pair of shoes I do have were originally bought for walking trails so I thought my feet would be appropriately equipped.

I set off in the morning, with low cloud over the hills and valley and entirely obscuring the larger mountains to the west. There were breaks in the cloud though and views still promised to be impressive.

The trail was straightforward on the whole but at times was quite steep. I'd estimate a gradient of about 25% at times. My legs weren't entirely thrilled to be doing this, but as I've commented before. Their opinions matter not :-)

The path passed through an area of forest before emerging higher up with great views of Potes and the valley below.

As the top came into sight, I was somewhat surprised to see a 4WD car about 50m from the Cruz de Viorna itself and four men and a large dog! It turned out you could drive up a trail from the other side of the hill. Three of the men were there to do a spot of paragliding and the fourth was the driver. The dog didn't seem to belong to any of them! It made a beeline for me and started snuffling around my pockets in search of treats presumably. It was a big, soft lump of a dog. Very friendly.

I continued to the top, took a few photos and then went a little of the way down to video the amazing paragliders.

The walk down was a little precarious underfoot at times, but happily uneventful. My legs hated the descent though. It really was tough on them! Luckily, I only have about 15 miles to cycle tomorrow.

I'm now sat in the campsite bar/restaurant where I just ate a tasty Spanish cheese platter for lunch.

Great day! I'm relaxing for the remainder and hoping we don't get another storm. It's no fun putting away a wet tent (I leave tomorrow). It's even less fun putting away a wet tent in a torrential downpour!

Here's the route and profile: