Today we decide to look at the Picos de Europa from the South. The route goes first to Puerto de San Glorio pass then to village of Portilla de la Reina where we take the road to the right. The cliffs around are green (mossy), trees are colored in red and yellow, rich red mountain ashes look just wonderful. Further on the way we notice cliffs full of stones. Seems like somebody has filled the soft matter of cliffs with stones and then allowed it to harden.
After a short stop to explore the cliffs in detail we follow to village of Posada de Valdeon (we must give a way to a flock of sheep that fills all the road for a couple of minutes), then about 3km to the viewpoint of Mirador del Tombo. It is there were the tourist favored gorge of Cares river (Garganta del Cares) begins. The tourist route starts a bit down the stream – near village of Cain. From the place we stand there is a gorgeous view on the summits and on the gorge. We follow the path down the stream for a couple of kilometers until we make sure that the only option to proceed is to walk by the road. This makes us decide to turn back and to explore another path we have noticed on the way to Posada de Valdeon – near the village of Prada. The path leads us up some 600m to the foothills of Monto summit. We have a light rain all the time. Still the sights around are full of color and the walk by the mountain road is pleasant.
