2020-03 Spain & Portugal Day 4: Near Camaleño to León
Previous day ¦¦ Back to trip summary page. ¦¦ Next day
Cameleño to León mountain route
We are up a little later than usual at 0820, not the 0720 it shows on the clock, we must change it to europe time.
We have a leisurely breakfast and plan the day; the time seems to slip by without us noticing. We leave Los Llanos around 11.30am, back on the CA-185 to the lovely village of Potes with its stone colonnades and plaza. Here we take the N-621 south (continuing in the same direction from yesterday) and begin a very steep climb up through the Cantabrian mountains to the high border pass between Cantabria and Castillo-y-Leon. We follow some serious switchbacks and hair-pin bends between Bores and Vejo, up and up to Mirador del Corzo, a fabulous viewpoint except today we are in the clouds.
We know it is high as we are above the treeline, there are snow poles along the roadside and pockets of snow on the mountainside. Another few kilometre and we reach the summit of San Gloria at 1609m, (5280 ft) where Cantabria passes into Castillo-y-Leon. The cloud is thick, and we can’t see a thing, but we stop anyway for lunch and celebrate the considerable climb.
On our way again, over the summit at San Gloria and following the Rio Yuso, down the other side, dropping down to Riaño and the reservoir. As we drop down the clouds roll away and the sun comes out. We cross the reservoir by the Hydro-electric dam at La Remolina. The N-621 follows the Rio Esta to Sabero. Here we turn onto the smaller CL-626, a level road that follows an industrial valley bottom to Robles de la Valcueva. From here, the LE-311 takes us to Leon. Leon is a relatively big city, we follow the Sat-Nav (Mr Google) who takes us to the Area de Autocaravanas parking at the Central Plaza by the river. There are about 24 dedicated motorhome parking spaces and it is free to park . . . albeit a row of large parking spaces. Leon is the first large city we have seen since leaving Santander and there are supermarkets! One of the things we picked up was a pack of fresh chicken livers and hearts, nearly 350 grams for just over a euro, there’s a bargain. More about that when we come to eat it.
I also get to use my Spanish although I still have to look at the cashier’s display to know the amount to pay. The numbers come very quickly and I’m still not able to work them out quickly. We are soon back in the Hymer with €66 worth a goodies.
We noticed that some sections of the supermarket had bare shelves and wondered what was going on. Milk was unobtainable as were some fresh vegetables and fruit. We conclude that people are panic buying in case the corona virus causes problems. Looking back with hindsight we should have realised that this was the start of something big, which will unfold in the following days, keep reading the pages for our continued adventures.
Our evening meal is a delicious combination of red wine with Feta followed by sausage and baked beans, brought from home to get us through the first few days. We play games then settle down for the night.
Previous day ¦¦ Back to trip summary page. ¦¦ Next day
Click any image to enlarge
