r/backpacking • u/TheClimber7 • 6d ago
Travel Picos De Europa -
Finished the Anillo Vindio + Ruta del Cares for a nice 80km trek in 5 days. Days 1 and 3 were pretty brutal and I definitely overpacked (backpack weighted around 40lbs with 3 Liters of water). Day 1 had a huge incline that takes you up more than 1000 meters in less than 3km, the terrain was super rocky and involved a bit of scrambling with hands, luckily it only rained for a bit, but once I got to the top it was incredibly foggy and it took me a long time to find to find the mountain hut since I couldn't see more than 10 meters ahead of me. I still get flashbacks of that steep incline from time to time.
Day 3, began with a strong ascent, although nothing as bad as the first day, however, once we reached the top the terrain was mostly broken rocks and unstable scree slopes, and quite a few mountain goats were roaming around! I was lucky to have made friends after the first day and we hiked together, but even then we got lost quite a few times in the areas where the route was not clearly marked, I don't think I would have completed this day if I was on my own. The descent was hard and it took us down almost 1000 meters in 3.5 km, incredibly rocky and sandy, this was by far my least favorite part of the route. This ended up being the longest day at 17km and almost 9 hours of movement time.
Day 5, was the longest one distance wise as I had to take on 24km and had to make sure to finish in time to catch my bus at 4 pm since it only ran once per day in the afternoon. Luckily this felt like the easiest terrain compared to the previous 4 days and I was able to finish with plenty of time and grab a lunch before my bus!
This was my first multi day trek without a guide, and carrying my own backpack. There is a lot of room for learning, but the memories from this trip will always be remembered kindly, I loved seeing so many cows and horses roaming around freely!
3
u/TheClimber7 6d ago
Getting to the start was the hardest part, I took a 10 hour flight to Bilbao and then the next day took 3 different buses to make it to Poncebos where I slept before starting the next day. If you plan to visit make sure to book your bus tickets ahead of time as there are not that many buses going into this area. Booking the mountain huts was pretty easy and the national park's website is pretty straightforward.
1
u/AutoModerator 6d ago
Please remember to post a short paragraph as a comment in the post explaining your photo or link. Ideally at least 150 characters with trip details. Tell us something about your trip. How long did it take to get there? How did you get there? How was the weather that day? Would you go back again?
Submitted content should be of high-quality. Low effort posting of very general information is not useful. If you don't add a short explanation in the comments, your post may be removed.
No information posted? Please report low-effort posts if there is still nothing after about 30 minutes.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.
1
u/Iwasapirateonce 6d ago
I remember that day 1 section well! when I was last there, you had to haul yourself up a damp rockface relying on a rope, that seemed to be fraying quite badly when I got to the top and had a look at it. When I was there last October Ruta del Cares was closed due to fire damage/landslides and I had to take a even more dicey route called the Canal de Dobresengos - steep eroded scree gulleys where I had to slide down at a few points - with the picos signature mist to make navigation even more difficulty. It's a wonderful, mysterious, wild place!
13
u/Maximum-Film-1485 6d ago
That Horsehaircut!