The Shepherds of Caín
The following day the weather was gloomy but not very windy, which was a marked improvement. I decided to do a climb of about 1600 meters up from the village to a crater-like depression that was representative of the lunar-type landscape of the upper reaches of the Picos. I checked my planned itinerary with the inkeeper and was satistfied to find out that he was unfamiliar with the trail, which made me hope it would not be full of tourists.
Indeed, I met no one during the entire 8-hour hike, and the only real annoyance came from about a dozen village dogs of varying sizes that barked and followed me until I left the houses behind. The hike was quite fun and I managed to stay mostly dry and warm despite the chilly rain and fog that followed me for much longer than the local canines. Around lunchtime I passed a hut that a shepherd I met at the refugio two nights before mentioned to me as one of his main haunts. He wasn´t home, but I took our conversation as an invitation to visit, even in his absence. Cautiously I opened the latch door of the primitive shelter and ate my smoked sausage sandwich sitting inside, away from the rain.
I returned to the village along the same steep path, and drove out of the park in the direction of León on one of the scary one-lane gravel roads I described earlier. No sooner did I breathe a sigh of relief that the worst bit of driving was behind me, than I recalled that I left my passport at the inn in Caín and had to go back for it. At the end of the day, however, my reward was a bunk bed and a nice hot shower at a 6 EUR alberge on the fringes of the park. Included in the price of my lodging was a well-stocked self-service kitchen, and a guided tour of the premises by the elderly owner, who wasn´t satisfied until he demonstrated to me the operation of every single light switch and faucet in the building.
For dinner I had only bread and cheese left over, buta couple of girls cooking for a big party took pity on me, and made me sample every dish they were preparing until I was stuffed to the gills. One of the girls was from Santiago and the other from Madrid, but wehn I mentioned I was going to both cities neither volunteered her phone number. I guess there is a limit even to Spanish hospitality.
Indeed, I met no one during the entire 8-hour hike, and the only real annoyance came from about a dozen village dogs of varying sizes that barked and followed me until I left the houses behind. The hike was quite fun and I managed to stay mostly dry and warm despite the chilly rain and fog that followed me for much longer than the local canines. Around lunchtime I passed a hut that a shepherd I met at the refugio two nights before mentioned to me as one of his main haunts. He wasn´t home, but I took our conversation as an invitation to visit, even in his absence. Cautiously I opened the latch door of the primitive shelter and ate my smoked sausage sandwich sitting inside, away from the rain.
I returned to the village along the same steep path, and drove out of the park in the direction of León on one of the scary one-lane gravel roads I described earlier. No sooner did I breathe a sigh of relief that the worst bit of driving was behind me, than I recalled that I left my passport at the inn in Caín and had to go back for it. At the end of the day, however, my reward was a bunk bed and a nice hot shower at a 6 EUR alberge on the fringes of the park. Included in the price of my lodging was a well-stocked self-service kitchen, and a guided tour of the premises by the elderly owner, who wasn´t satisfied until he demonstrated to me the operation of every single light switch and faucet in the building.
For dinner I had only bread and cheese left over, buta couple of girls cooking for a big party took pity on me, and made me sample every dish they were preparing until I was stuffed to the gills. One of the girls was from Santiago and the other from Madrid, but wehn I mentioned I was going to both cities neither volunteered her phone number. I guess there is a limit even to Spanish hospitality.
posted by Dmitri Evseev at 7:22 PM
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