Picos de Europa trail running program (5 days)

Arrival at Cangas de Onis. Check-in and briefing at hotel Los Lagos Nature. Dinner and accommodation.

23Km ⇑1.300m ⇓1.100m
Breakfast. Transfer to Covadonga Lakes. We start this amazing adventure crossing “vega de enol” and walk up to Vegarredonda shelter in the wonderful scenery. Then we leave the shelter, we go up until we reach Collado Les Merines (2.100 m). The green colour under our feet turns into the grey rock in an enormous limestone world through the Pozas Jou (karstic pothole). We will take a rest to drink some cool water from the Prieta spring. From one “jou” to another, we will cross stony ground before we reach the enormous Vega Huerta. We will continue along the marked path that takes us southwards down the Canal del Perro to the Frade shelter. From there we just have to make the easy descent among the beech trees that surround the Vegabaño shelter, where we will encounter some indescribable beauty spots such as the source of the Dobra River and the thousand-year-old oak tree of Vegabaño. After a well-earned rest, we’ll talk about the stage and the next day. Dinner and overnight stay at the refuge.

23Km ⇑1.600m⇓600m
Breakfast. We leave the Vegabaño shelter behind us and enter the beech grove, and going up a gentle slope we will pass the home of the capercaillie. Continuing through the virgin woodland we will go up the Dobres rock and we will start our descent into the Valdeon valley, among brooks, until the path starts to get wider and becomes a track that will take us to the village of Caldevilla. Having reached this point, we will follow the course of the Cares River to the village of Posada de Valdeón. We have a rest in Posada de Valdeon and can buy food. Then, we continue toward the small village of Cain, 8 km walking down along the cares river. In Cain we walk into the famous Cares Gorge, crossing tunnels and bridges. Just before Bolin bridge, a sign indicates the start of the harsh Canal de Trea, a ravine that offers no respite until we reach the meadows of Vega de Ario, where we will take a well-earned rest and finish the stage. The impressive views of the central massif are a due reward for such a sacrifice. Dinner and overnight stay at the refuge.

22Km ⇓1.600m

Breakfast. After a hard day, today we have a more relaxed path. From Vega de Ario to Ercina Lake, the way is very easy, almost all the time walking down in a marked path. First, we walk a false flat to the Collado del Jito with magnificent views of the Central Massif and now, we are walking down to Ercina Lake and Enol Lake, the famous glacier lakes of the National Park, where we will take a rest to have lunch. After lunch, we take “La Senda Roberto Frassinelli” until Covadonga. The name of this route is due to Roberto Frassinelli, a German citizen who lived in the town of Corao in the mid-nineteenth century, and a great lover of nature, who frequented this route to access the high mountain of the Western Massif. The Ring is finished! Transfer to Cangas de Onis. Dinner and accommodation.

Breakfast and end of services.