2018-09-30 Elciego to Playa Pita

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Elciego to Playa Pita

Elciego to Playa Pita

We are up, shower (in the Hymer) and service Hymer, we plan our day and leave Elciego late morning, we are sorry to leave such a great spot.

We take the A211 and N232 back to Fuenmayor a dn LR137 to Navarette. Here take the N111 through the Valle de Iregua and follow the Iregua river through a deep gorge. We stop and have lunch under the trees. On through La Rioja region, with its acres upon acres of vines to Villenueve. Here we take a smaller and narrower road, N333 and climb up and up over the Sierra de Camero Nuevo. We follow the Camino de Santiago and see many Pilgrims with their walking sticks along the way.

We climb up and up and up, at the top of the pass at Puerto de Santa Ines there is a restaurant and old ski resort, the altitude is 1753m. Here we stop for a break and take photos, then down and down to the mountain town of Montenegro. Here we have to stop to evict a grasshopper who has hitched a ride and is hopping all over the dashboard!

At Montenegro we take SO 830 through Punto de Nieve to Vinuesa. Here the SO 820 to Molinas and finally the CL 117 to Playa Pita beach on the reservoir (Embalse de la Cuerdadel Pozo). We recognise it on the map as it is shaped like an animal with head and long horns, three legs and a tail! The campsite at Cabrajas del Pinar is a car park style parking area for 10 campers at the end of the car parking area overlooking Playa Pita.

For us it is perfect, it is amongst the pines and overlooks the lake (reservoir). We arrive about 3.30pm, set up on our parking space and walk through the pines to explore. There is a fabulous sandy beach which must be packed in summer. It is quite busy today on the last day of September with a temperature of about 28°C. We sit out late into the evening thinking over what we have done in the last month.

At 10.00pm there is only us and another camper, it silent and totally black with no stray light. The milky way is clear and so many stars it is hard to identify a constellation. The temperature has dropped to about 16°C and it feels cold. We shut the windows and are snug inside.

In the middle of the night I wake and open the blind, there is some stray light. I look at the clock, it is 3.30am so it can’t be dawn, then I see the moon casting its light. I go back to sleep.

Our trek through France and Northern Spain

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Summary of motorhome journey through France and Northern Spain