Day 31 - El Pito to Cadavéu
Date: Monday July 15
Start: El Pito, Asturias
End: Cadavéu, Asturias
Daily Mileage: 21.5mi (34.6km)
Total Mileage: ~360mi (~579.4km)
Today marked one month on the Camino!
We decided to celebrate by hiking our longest day yet! Haaa... Not only was it our highest mileage day, it also included over 4000 feet (1220m) of climbing. Ooof.
Starting out this morning, since the hike wasn’t long enough already, we tacked on some extra non-Camino miles by hiking out to the coastal town of Cudillero, not far from El Pito (and where, in hindsight, we should have just stayed last night).
Anyway, I had read about and seen pictures of Cudillero - a beautiful seaside town with houses nestled into the narrow horseshoe-shaped mountainside along the coast, like an amphitheater to the sea. It was so close, it was worth the couple extra miles it would add to the day.
And so, we set off from El Pito under the soft glow of the morning sun and a slight, short-lived - and surprising - sun shower. Walking through El Pito, we passed the grounds of the Palacio la Quinta de Selgas, a neoclassical palace built in the 1800s. It was closed on Mondays (which I hadn’t had the foresight to look into yesterday), so we contented ourselves with a quick peek through the iron gates before continuing on.
Down the road, we left the Camino and turned northward to continue to Cudillero. The road that led to the town descended steeply toward the coast, something each of us was very cognizant of, since we would also need to head back to the Camino route after our visit.
Despite this, it was absolutely worth the trip. Heading into the town, we left the main road, climbing along narrow staircases between homes and buildings to a lookout point over the amphitheater of the town. Red tiled roofs cascaded down the mountain side, the sea sat calm, and the clouds had that ethereal glow of shy morning sun. At this hour, the town sat in the shadow of the mountains. Quiet. Not having woke up yet.
We made our way down to the central plaza to find, luckily, one cafe that had woken up, so we could have a bit of breakfast - some warm croissants with ham and cheese and a toast with cheese, honey, and nuts. We did not yet know exactly what kind of day we were fueling.
After breakfast, we walked out along the port, for one last view of the town from the sea, and then started our walk back to the Camino. We ended up taking a different route out of town to rejoin the route, which was luckily much more mellow than the steep road we had entered on. Little did we know how much climbing lay in store for the day.
Back on the route, we followed the yellow arrows and familiar Camino shell emblem, which - after a bit of paved road walking (which thankfully took us by a water fountain to top up our bottles, the morning sun already growing very got), led us along a series of gravel roads and rocky paths. Nearing the coast, we had beautiful views over Playa de la Concha de Artedo, its tealy green and blue waters torturing us. So close but so far away.
The path here descended steeply inland from the beach before climbing very sharply away from the coast. We would soon learn that this would be the pattern of the day: descend into town, climb very steeply back out of it again. Lots and lots and lots of steep climbing.
A silver lining, perhaps, was that the majority of route between the towns/cities the Camino passed through would be along natural path. Mostly shady forested rocky paths. Some mud. Some small rivers and brooks to rock hop. Tall ferns. Wildflowers. Occasional coastal views - with the most in the late afternoon and evening.
Hello, Tomas.
Most of the route for the day was spent along an alternate, actually. The ‘official’ Camino through this stretch is further inland and takes a higher route, though is generally not recommended because it isn’t well maintained and has become quite overgrown, which can be a bit problematic along some of the steep climbs/descents. And so, nearly everyone takes the alternate. We had read only bits about this route, which one blog massively understated as “all the way slight uphills and downhills”. I think they meant to write STEEP uphills and downhills. There were some mellow bits, but on the whole a lot of steep climbs and descents.
Around nine miles into the day, we took our first break in the town of Soto de Luiña. Walking into town all the buildings looked freshly painted, bright and cheerful. We stopped into what has been one of my favorite little cafes in all of northern Spain. A good mix of locals and a few pilgrims were inside - a warm, homey, wooden and stone interior. The bartender was sweet and friendly.
We got our go-to refreshment of agua con gas with ice and lemon, as well as the ‘Tropical Heaven’ smoothie with mango, peach, pineapple, and kiwi. What a killer combination. While we enjoyed the drinks, the bartender came around with a platter of small tortilla/bread snacks, on the house.
Just as we were about to peel ourselves away from the cafe and start walking again, Andy arrived. We chatted with him briefly as he ordered himself a smoothie and some lunch. He had actually stayed in Cudillero last night, though had been too tired to stay up for the Euro Cup final and was planning to watch it later today, so didn’t want any spoilers. Today he had hoped to hike to Ballota, though due to a snafu when booking, he was actually staying in Santa Marina for the night. We were actually staying another 6-7 miles past that, which by this point we’d determined, with the unfolding topography, was a very long way. This in mind, we didn’t linger chatting with him too long. We were still less than halfway through our day.
From Soto de Luiña, we continued our pattern. Hike out of town. Disappear into the woods. Sweat through steep climbs. Stumble down rocky descents. Emerge onto pavement. Perhaps a small town. Rinse and repeat.
Following this itinerary, we eventually arrived in the town of Novellana, where we decided to stop for lunch at a restaurant along the route. Just before our food came, Andy popped in. “I thought you guys would be far down the road by now,” he said. Yes, us too. It had been a slow day.
He sat down with us as we ate, waiting for his own order, which he was taking to go to eat at his hotel later. He had a little less than 5k to go, so not bad. Once we were all finished up, we hiked out together for another town - forested trail - town section.
After several days that had felt fairly pavement heavy, the trail sections today were actually quite welcome. It was nice to be in nature rather than alongside cars. Shawn chatted with Andy as they hiked ahead. I made no effort to keep up with their climbing pace, though I wasn’t far behind.
Popping out in Santa Marina, we bid Andy farewell at his hotel and continued on, still around 10k to go.
Though we were growing quite tired with the long day of climbing, the views through the last several miles were some of the best. The route weaved us back out above the coastline, with some great views of the green cliffsides and rocky outcrops along the shore.
It was at some point during this section that we realized we weren’t actually on the trail at all, which was far further inland. We had been following yellow arrows, so it was likely that they had simply rerouted the Camino to stay in the forest rather than along road. Perhaps new trail had been created to make this a possibility. It was our luck, really, as the trail led us to the Playa de Cadavéu, a beautiful beach with turquoise waters that looked very inviting. Had we not been so tired and ready to be finished hiking for the day, we likely would have stopped for a dip.
As it was, we only had about a mile to go, which we were keen to finish. True to the north coast, we ascended a long steep incline heading away from the beach, which eventually mellowed and flattened the further we got from the coast.
Tonight we are staying in another Casa Rural, this one in a home built in 1899 by an Indiano who had made his riches in Uruguay. Indianos is the colloquial term for Spaniards who emigrated to the Americas, made their fortunes in any number of endeavors, and then returned to Spain enriched. Upon returning, they often built lavish houses - many of which were designed by celebrated architects of the day, such as the Gaudí house we visited in Comillas. When the owner showed us to our room on the third floor, he pointed to the sloping wooden beams on the ceiling. “Original from the home in 1899,” he said. Cool stuff.
It was certainly a cool house, made even better by the fact that the plumbing was more modern than the casa itself, with very nice showers.
View from our window.
Other than a snack run, we were in for the rest of the night, not hungry enough for a full meal. Next time we get one, I will have to show you the brilliance of the MaxBon ice cream treats - part ice cream bar, part ice cream sandwich. No stick necessary. Amazing. Now I just have to wait long enough before devouring one so I can get a photo.