Excursión de montaña entre Pesaguero y Potes
Domingo, 15 octubre de 2006

The Picos de Europa are a mountain chain in the west of Cantabria and one of the nature elements that make the province of Santander so special. Less than 50 kilometers away from the coast, but on 2 hours driving from Santander that lies in the north-east of Cantabria, you encounter an extraordinary mountain landscape.
The university of Cantabria organises 5 mountain excursions in the first semester. When I found out, I didn’t hesitate a second and subscribed me for the first trip. Early in the morning of October 15^th the bus took us from the bus station of Santander to the starting point of the mountain walk, the village Pesaguero in the Liébana region.
I knew before that three of my Erasmus friends would also participate to the excursion, two French sisters, Elsa and Jessica, and a German boy, Dominik. I expected to meet lots of other students, but there were not so many students at all, in fact very little. The majority of the group are working people and not so young anymore. A friend of Liselotte, the Belgian lady who arranged my flat, told me that the group of hikers is pretty fixed and participates every year. Every year some new students join the group. Anyhow, the few Spanish and foreign students I met are very friendly, as are the other Spanish people. During the next mountain trips I will surely get to know them better!
The first kilometers of the trip were very relaxed and as we walked on the flanks of some hills we got a few beautiful views on the valley and the surrounding mountains. After the warming up, we walked up the flank of the hill Peña Corvera (1.212m), on a very steep path – exhausting! On the top of Peña Corvera we got a extraordinary overview of all the mountains in the Liébana region and our friendly guide gave some explanations. For the weather was extremely good, we could really see all peaks of the Picos chain in the region.
We had lunch on a grass field about fifty meters below the top of the hill. Afterwards awaited us a long but beautiful descend, first along the flank of Peña Corvera until the village of Tudes, and then further to Potes, the capital of the region.
I enjoyed this mountain trip very much. Not only because I like hiking, but the more because it is totally different from the student life in Santander: university during the week and going out and beach in the weekends…
More pictures of the hiking trip are to find on www.picasaweb.google.com/brechtfevery/ExcursiNPicos1510

Finalement, je voudrais remercier les soeurs francaises Elsa et Jessica pour leurs gentillesse et bonne compagnie, durant toute la journée.