HIKING WITH COWS IN COVADONGA | The Roving Vlogger On the Road Day 11

My parents were more or less along for the ride on the Asturias part of our Spain trip, since it’s not even mentioned in their Rick Steves “bible” that they read cover-to-cover. This meant one of my biggest delights was taking them to touristy places that I heard tell of online but that they knew nothing about.

Covadonga was one such place. I directed my dad on the hour-long drive, told him to park at the appropriate spot, and guided them through a tunnel in the rock.

It led to an alcove with a shrine to the Virgin Mary and some pews, but this wasn’t your typical chapel. The alcove was a cave-opening in a sheer cliff, looking out into mist-shrouded mountains and spires of a basilica and down into the pool of deep green water. As we stood there, it was empty and silent apart from the trickle of water. You could feel why this is considered a sacred space, supposedly used by pagans far before Roman rule.

It was in these caves that the Christian Visigoth army made a stand against the encroaching Muslims around 722, considered the first victory of the so-called “reconquest”. Asturias was never under Muslim rule, part of what makes it feel so different from the rest of Spain. The chapel now stands in dedication to that victory, and the nearby basilica was constructed in the 19th century, also in honor of Our Lady of Covadonga.

We continued driving up a narrow curvy path to the Lakes of Covadonga. The view of the mist-filled valley got better and better as we climbed up into the Picos de Europa.

The picture I saw of the lakes online had a cow in it and I thought, “Oh, cool! It’s a cow. I wonder how they managed to get that shot?” I soon realized that it would be hard to get a picture without a cow in it!

Even on the drive up, free-range cows and sheep walked alongside/in-the-middle-of the road. Grazing livestock dotted the whole lake area. As we hiked, the tinkling of bells accompanied us every step of the way. Even some of the horses wore little bells!

Our 5.7km loop walk began at the large parking lot and we followed the signs for PR-PNPE 2 in a counter-clockwise direction. We went around the shore of Lake Enol, cut along a dirt road through the wide-open Vega de Enol, and turned off to pass through a beech tree forest. Here, we met an old man dressed for some serious hiking who spoke to us in the gentlest, most soft-spoken Spanish that I’ve ever heard.

The trail continued up through a strange, rocky landscape and past an occupied stone hut. By the time we reached Lake Ercina, the shore at the opposite end was dotted with dozens of people, though no one seemed to be venturing very far from the parking lot.

If you are able-bodied, I recommend taking one of the walks instead of staying at the viewpoints. It’s a beautiful area to stroll through and even my out-of-shape father managed to complete this trail (with plenty of rests).

For a map of the route, check out http://www.lagosdecovadonga.com/ruta-larga-lagos-de-covadonga

_{!steemitworldmap 43.309018 lat -5.054915 long Contemplate in a cave-chapel or while taking a hike in beautiful Covadonga. d3scr}

As I discussed in my post about my Steemit goals, I will be sharing the best of my unposted travel vlogs along with writing and photography each Monday. Music is by Aleksandr Shamaluev under the Creative Commons license and all other content was created by myself.
- Katie, @therovingreader

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