Taking Extra Big Steps!

Our second day of hiking, also known as Monday, was also along the Northern Route.  In many ways the hiking was similar to the day before, except this time we did around seven miles.

Many of the elements were similar to the day before – we passed a fig tree with delicious ripe figs, saw many cows, and heard many cowbells, slogged through mud, enjoyed the green, saw the mountains revealed as the clouds burned off throughout the hike.

But there were some differences as well.  We saw many more different wildflowers.  I took some pics of some and will post them, but not quite yet.  We are in the small rural town of Tineo, and have no wifi access in our hotel room.  This is the first time without it.  I’m writing this on WordPerfect (sorry, Bill Gates, I might be the only holdout but WP is easier to use!), and will copy and paste when I can.  In theory there is wifi in the lobby, but who knows! 

We also saw two legless lizards (in separate locations of the trail).  They might be slow worms, but are definitely from the pseudopus apodus family.  At first, everyone (myself included) assumed the first one was a snake

At times the trail turned inland, although never very far.  We walked through a small town, out on to a beautiful beach, and watched countless waves crash on the rocks below. 

At one point Aner stopped us on a bluff (Mr. Language Person: he wasn’t bluffing, it’s a geographical feature) and pointed to some trenches in the ground.  It was for the losing side of the Spanish Civil War, as it was hard to win against the Nazis helping the Fascists.

As we walked through a small town, Aner and Bea pointed out the first of many interesting granaries, called “horrios” that are built up on posts, with big flat rocks to keep mice, rats, and other vermin from getting into the grain storage.  A lot of them have been re-purposed and are used for other reasons.  Some are quite pleasant and would make for a nice place to enjoy some wine, jamon, and cheese whilst watching the sun set.

We came to one difficult stretch of trail, where it went up a large bluff at a steep angle through a forest of eucalyptus trees.  On our way down, we came to a long beach with a surprise that Aner was going to show us.

It turned out to be dinosaur footprints in the volcanic stone on the beach, de la playa de la Griega.  There were footprints of raptors, but more importantly of a large sauropod, the largest dinosaurs that roamed the earth.  These are the largest dinosaur footprints ever found.

So, one day 40,000 year old cave art, and the next day something even older.  Well, we were blown away. 

What’s wild is that the footprints are not protected or kept from the public in any way.  I suppose because it is stone, but in the US, they have to be viewed from a safe distance.  Instead, we were able to stand in them!  Given how big the footprints are, it’s a good thing they are not around to stomp on us. 

After that, it was a short walk to town, Los Tres, where we had a late lunch.  Again, the food was fabulous, including great fresh squid, cerveza, salad with shrimp, croquettes of ham and cheese, and tasty roasted vegetables.  Perched high above the beach, we ate like royalty!