Camino Primitivo: Hospitales

Today we climbed to the top of the Camino Primitivo. After Borres, the Camino route splits into two options: a low road and a high road. Paradoxically, the high road probably has easier climbs, at least according to those who have done both. The downhill, on the other hand…

The mountains were enshrouded in mist the whole climb, and on either side of the road twisted pine trees loomed like ghostly shadows.

After the steep, narrow road, we come to the top (or so we thought) which widens out into a sort of plateau. 

The area is primarily inhabited by domesticated cattle and wild Asturian ponies. We came upon a small group of these protected ponies just as we got to the top. They paid us no heed, as we were apparently a lot less interesting than the grass they were grazing.

The high road is called the hospitales, because of the ruins of three medieval pilgrim hostels at the top. After the first of these, which is a little more than a pile of rocks, there is a steep rocky climb.

It seemed to go on forever, but at the top we broke out above the clouds and could see for miles. Here is where we found a long section of ruined wall, which came complete with a herd of ponies wandering about and a shady copse of trees to sit and rest after our labours.

Then, a final push to the top of the ridge, 3951 feet above sea level. There are some small monuments at the top, and this is where I left Cooper’s shell.

More downhills and uphills as we walked along the ridge.

The second set of ruins is much more extensive than the first, consisting of two buildings and several sections of wall. It has been even partially reconstructed. Or, at least they have been given a sort of roof and a couple of doors. This is where we ate our lunch. It was 12:30, and we had only walked 9 1/2 km.

The third ruin was down a long scree slope. No fun. The ruins consist of several large piles of rock surrounded by a wide walled area.

The remainder of the day was a seemingly unending series of up the hill, down the hill, up the hill, down the hill, watch out for the cliff, up the hill under the heat of an unrelenting cloudless sunny sky.

I missed the morning mist.

This culminated in a long, crazy steep descent down a chute of loose rocks and boulders. It might’ve been easier to do this on a toboggan.

An easy last few kilometers, and we stumbled into town just past 6:30 PM.

I am exhausted, sore, sunburnt, and I managed to fall twice on the rocks and sort of collapse like a flan near the end. Parts of me are in screaming pain. But we made it!

Date: 13 May 2022

Place: Berducedo (Principality of Asturias, Spain)

Today started: Borres (Principality of Asturias, Spain)