Riding Day 8 (May 30) Nava → Arija
Colorfully painted houses are common in this area, but typically only one wall is brightly colored.
Another Hórreo
We had to ride around some "wild" cows a couple of times this day. This time, only one. In a few minutes, we had to pass a herd of about 10. You can tell when to watch for cows by the piles of poo on the road.
Los Picos make their first appearance. Magnificent like the Grand Tetons, only better.
Oh, oh. This gave me a scare before we figured out there is a way around that takes less than 4 hours.
The road was completely washed away by a land-slide into the river. Even if the workmen weren't there, we couldn't have gotten the bikes across.
Coffee break at Begoña Restaurante in Los Llanos de Valdeón inside Picos de Europa park
Jerry break. The endless beauty and incredible riding is exhausting.
The Ebro is a big river in Spain. It is Spain's second longest river after the Tagus and the second biggest by discharge volume and by drainage area after the Douro. The Ebro starts here draining this lake: called Pantano (swamp) del Ebro or Embalse (reservoir) del Ebro.
Our AirBnB was tricky to find hidden behind a closed school building. Also, our host was confused as I had reserved it for the wrong day. Fortunately for us, their occupancy rate is very low and all three units were available when we arrived.
Not much in Arija. Just one restaurant, but the food was simple and good.
Our after-dinner walk was down and around the lake. Cigar smoke helps deter mosquitoes.
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