2018-10-01 Playa Pita to Piñeda de la Sierra

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Playa Pita to Piñeda de la Sierra

We are awakened by the camper being buffeted by strong wind and the sound of pine needles and pine cones bouncing off the roof. A very strong wind is blowing from the north and it feels cool, the temperature outside, it is 5°C! I make coffee, it is 14°C inside, so it is cool. This seems surreal we have been almost overwhelmed by high temperatures and now we are reaching for the sweaters.

We are up and have breakfast and a strong wind is still blowing, there are small, white-crested waves on the reservoir and a grey heron is fishing at its edge.

We plan our route for the day and are away just after 11.00am, we are sorry to leave such a super place, it would be good to have stopped longer. From Cabrajas del Pinar, back on the CL117, across the bridge over the reservoir to Molinos de Duero and cross the river Duero. We follow the CL 117 and the river Duero through Covaleda to Quintenar de la Sierra (about 35 km) where we turn east on the BU822 to Fuenta Stanza, Nacimiento Rio Arlanza (birth of the Arlanza river). We stop at this green and verdant valley, a heavenly oasis, high on the mountains and beside the Arlanza river. There are picnic tables and BBQs, but we have lunch inside the camper as it is still very cold and windy outside (12°C), with a strong north wind.

There are wild cattle and horses with alpine cowbells wandering through the grounds and many birds (chaffinch, dipper, citril finch, yellow wagtail, grey wagtail). It is a most restful and peaceful place with many springs of water bubbling up out of the ground everywhere, joining to form the start of the Arlanza river. We stay here about two hours and would like to stay for the rest of the day and overnight, but overnight stops are not allowed.

Back on the BU822, we cross the Sierra de la Demanda, a narrow road with spectacular views over the mountains. At Sendaro del Collado de Neila we turn west onto the BU 821. At 1400m we travel through a deep mountain gorge, past the footpath that climbs to 2000m to Lagunas de Neila (a high glaciated tarn). We are very tempted to walk there but decide against it, as it is mid-afternoon and the climb of 400m over one kilometre is steep!

The scenery in this steep and narrow gorge is rocky, full of tall mountain pinnacles and we see many griffin vultures perched high on crags. We continue through the villages of Huerta de Arriba and Huerta de Abajo where wild cattle wander along the roads and tall pine trees line the road with shafts of bright sunlight shining through. At Barbadillo we cross the Pedroso river and turn east on the BU825. Barbadillo is an interesting village with a lovely old market square and deeply arched walkways.

It would be worth a stop, we are sorry there is not more time to stay and explore. We climb another steep gorge on the BU825 and see more griffin vultures sat on top of tall white pinnacles of rocks. We follow the BU825 for a few kilometres and bear left onto the BU 820. We follow this narrow and winding road for 18 km, along the Arlanzón river to Pineda de la Sierra, a small village with bar and restaurant where we hope to find our next camping stop.

We drive through the village and find that our camping stop is almost two kilometres beyond the village, a flat and lifeless concrete square, half full of tall weeds and thistles, with no facilities and in the middle of nowhere! Someone has gone to a lot of trouble to make a tarmac road and lay a large square concrete area big enough for 10 large motor home pitches, even with fence and trees around but too far from the village to be any use! We are tired after about 100km drive, so park up on this dry and sterile spot and open a bottle of red Suirana wine and have turkey stir fry for tea. This is another of the places that we often remember and talk about, from the hedges opposite Alan collected sloes, which went into a batch of sloe gin. When the sloe gin was in process, a number of grubs floated out of the sloes, very unusual!