From one side of the Picos Mountains to the other.  The grand granite peaks of the eastern side to the lush, wood covered mountains on the west.  We moved on in search of more plants at slightly lower altitudes – or so we thought.

The road north and then east to Somiedo was absolutely gorgeous.  From the grand and rather stark mountains of the Picos area we drove through lush valleys with cows and calves out enjoying the sunshine.  Spain has a LOT of rivers.  The wildflowers were covering the roadsides and many areas reminded us of England.  Not the Spain we had experienced further south and an enormous contrast to our trip to Andalucia several years ago.  Contrast – Otago to Cambridge, NZ.  However – Cambridge with the Southen Alps thrown in.

We had chosen Pola de Somiedo as a base for the next four days.  It proved to be perfect with many, many walks starting nearby.  The whole Somiedo area is laced with walking tracks which are very well signposted.  The largest village in the area with a good range of accomodation and restaurants/bars.  Many weren’t open this early in the season – mid May – but enough to give us a bit of choice.

For us it was all about the plants we could find and this was the main reason for swapping locations.  We had no idea that this valley was going to be so lush and beautiful with all the mountains of Potes, but heavily treed.  Alpine lakes could easily be reached by car also.  Wonderful!