Spain's Camino Vadiniense, Day 2: August 19, 2026

The second day involved less road walking than my first day.  As stated when recounting my first day on the Vadiniense, I could have (should have) combined the first two days.  But I made reservations a couple of months before arriving in Spain, as August is a popular month to be in this part of the country.  So I was locked into an itinerary that was easier than I needed.

The highlight of this day was walking through the beautiful village of Mogrovejo, which dates back to the 13th century.  Wikipedia states that the pueblo boasts 44 residents. And a review on Google Maps states, "Supposedly the 'pretiest' [sic] village in Spain but I am not sure." I had no sense of this place in advance, so it was a nice surprise when I came through there.  Unfortunately, the cafe in town was not open.  There also appeared to be multiple options for overnight accommodations here, undoubtably catering to the national park tourists and not camino pilgrims.

Below is a photo I took of myself in Mongrovejo using a selfie stand that I found there.  In the back, you can see the "Tower of Pedro Ruiz de Mogrovejo," a medieval tower dating from the end of the 13th century and the oldest preserved building in town.

From Mongorovejo, I descended to the main road and followed it for a while before crossing onto an old road that followed a river.  

As I was entering this area, I saw behind me the other pilgrim who had been so angry the night before.  Choosing to avoid him, I quickly headed down the path.  Later, I realized that the Camino forked at that point, and recommendations I'd read said to take the other route.  But my route was enjoyable, and the other pilgrim was nowhere to be found.

I did not encounter him again until after I had arrived at the night's albergue in the village of Espinama; a hostel which seemed to be popular with tourists on motorcycles.  You can see the Albergue Touristico Briz where I stayed in the photo below.

That evening, I decided to go find a pizza place in the village.  I ended up talking with a couple from Colorado, though the daughter lived now with her husband and young son in Belgium.  They were all in Spain for the eclipse, and were wonderful to speak with over beers and pizza.

A short drive from here is a Spanish Parador (one of a series of government hotels) called "Fuente de," which has a cable car to the top of nearby mountains in Picos de Europa National Park.  I did not walk out of my way to visit, but it is apparently very popular and provides tourist money to villages like the one I was in.

Day 2 data: 9.9 miles, 3551 foot total ascent, 4:46 total time.  

Spain's Camino Vadiniense, Day 4: August 21, 2026

My fourth day on the Camino Vadiniense took me out of the mountains.  It was a long hike, but my journey to my next hostel required me to ascend less than a thousand feet.  I actually descended more than ascending that day.

During this day's walk, I decided that this Camino is not ready for large numbers of pilgrims.  The first few miles was on a road, and the rocks on the side of the road came right up to the pavement in spots.  I was fortunate that I left early and traffic was minimal.  I had to be very vigilant when walking the road and found myself switching sides of the road while walking, depending on what I thought gave me (and the cars) the best sight distance.  You can see examples in the photos below.

Note also that I was walking through an area that had suffered through forest fires the summer before.  The landscape up these slopes was still black from the fires.

After about 1.5 hours of road walking, I reached the village of Barniedo de la Reina and got off of the main road.  

The walk was much more enjoyable, and the villages that I walked through were very clean and pretty.

At 10:30 AM, I stopped at a small bakery and bought breakfast and a Coke.  I sat on a nearby bridge and enjoyed my meal.

On the other end of town was an old church, and I could begin to see the mountains around Riaño behind it.  But after this church, the Camino was poorly marked, and - even though I knew the general direction - I had trouble following the exact path of the Camino.

Eventually, I ended up walking along the main road again, until the largest camino sign on my entire journey showed me a trail route that took me almost to Riaño.

I ended up back on the road again, so that I could cross a bridge over an arm of the reservoir just before Riaño.  The metal guards on the side of the road required me to climb over them to get protected from the road - an example of why I don't recommend this Camino.  It would be easy to put a gap in these guards to allow a pilgrim to easily pass through.  But multiple times over the next two days of Camino walking I encountered this obstacle.  

Riaño was a destination I'd been looking forward to!  Photos I saw during my advanbce research made me think that Riaño was gorgeous, and the town itself did not disappoint!  I scheduled two nights here, and had a private room in the Hostal Tanis.  This place had mixed reviews as it was kind of run down, but it was inexpensive and I was glad to leave my stuff in a private room rather than a group room when I headed out for a long day the next morning.  

I arrived in Riaño after walking 14.3 miles over 5 hours and 47 minutes.  

Riaño is a tourist town, and I could have rented jet skis or motorboats to explore the reservoir if I wanted.  Instead, I hiked up to the mountain on the left below, Pico Gilbo, shown in a photo I took the next day.

My Pico Gilbo hike added another 6.3 miles and 1800 feet to my day, and, while I did not make it to the summit, I ascended enough to get some great views back towards Riaño.

Also in Riaño I ran into the other pilgrim, who had stayed with me the night before.  He told me that he had taken a taxi to Riaño - I don't remember why.  He was calling his auto club to get a ride back to his vehicle, which was parked way back in San Vicente de la Barquera - where I'd started my Camino journey eight days earlier.  His Camino journey was done, and I wasn't sure that any other pilgrims were on the Camino Vadiniense.  I don't remember his name, and I never got his contact information, but we parted on good terms.

Spain's Camino Vadiniense, Day 6, August 23, 2026

Resuming the Camino Vadiniense after a day off to hike in the Picos de Europa National Park off the Camino, I was really spent from several consecutive long days of hiking.  I had discussed with my wife possibly taking a taxi a few miles, just to skip the climb I had taken a couple of days earlier when climbing Pico Gilbo. I didn't relish doing that again; this time with a full pack on my back. Ultimately, I decided to hike the day's entire distance, and I was glad that I did.  But I don't think I was ever as Camino-tired as I was coming into this day.

After leaving Riaño, this days journey started by crossing a long highway bridge over the nearby reservoir.  Fortunately, there was a protected pedestrian crossing - unlike my experience the day before coming into town.  I then followed my route from a couple of days before when headed to Pico Gilbo, though I did not head up the mountain.  There were some really great views looking back to the west as I crested, and the Camino was well marked with signs guiding the way.

I then descended into a small town with a cafe that wasn't yet open and merged onto the main road heading east from Riaño.  I walked along this road for two miles. Sometimes, there was protection if I climbed over the metal guardrail.  But this was inconsistent, and - as stated in my recap of my walk on Day 5 - I think this keeps me from recommending this Camino for less experienced pilgrims.  As we say in America, this Camino is "Not Ready for Prime Time."

While walking along the road, I was worried about what was coming ahead.  I knew that the Camino route was going to take me into a tunnel, and I was concerned that it would be dark and there would be little room for a pedestrian - making it really dangerous!  Fortunately, I didn't need to worry.  There was a pedestrian way inside the tunnel, and the interior was lit.  It was actually safer than the "open" road had been!

Just before the end of the tunnel was a side tunnel, cut off from vehicular traffic, except authorized vehicles.  The route turned off the road here, and only briefly traveled on roadways for the rest of the day.  

From the tunnel, I descended on a closed road, merged into a seldom used road (I saw one vehicle), and then followed an old woods road along the Rio Esla.  I would follow the route of the Rio Esla for the rest of my Camino.  In fact, the Rio Esla continues flowing south past the Camino Frances and eventually merges into the Rio Douro - the largest volume river on the Iberian Peninsula.  And, like in the U.S. where the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers merge, the Esla is actually a larger volume river than the Douro, which takes the name of the river to the coast in Northern Portugal.

After walking 1.4 miles from the last road, I came to a bridge across the Esla that took me into the small pueblo of Las Salas.  I was interested to see the progress of construction on a new hostel in town, called "My Rooms."  I tried multiple times to reserve a room there, but the website always came up that they weren't yet renting rooms.  And when I walked past, I saw why.  There is an old building there, but no construction had commenced renovating it into a hostel!  Yet it is still listed on Google Maps.

I instead rented a regular room further down the road.  With time to kill before the hotel I stayed at opened for check-in, I stopped at the "Teleclub La Escuela," which was nothing like the disco that the name had me imagining.  Early on a Sunday afternoon, the place was packed with locals - probably the "after church" crowd.  The photo below shows the bar during one of the rare times that it didn't have several people behind it.

In this bar I had the most difficult time communicating in Spanish of my entire trip.  I was trying to communicate what I would like to order for lunch, and my brain locked up!  Thinking about it the next day when walking, I easily came up with a couple of sentences I could have said to clearly convey my preference (and my eating restrictions), but could not do so when there were a bunch of people in a small room.

From here, I walked another half mile along the road (the same road as the bridge out of Riaño and the tunnel) to my hotel.  I was still about 10 minutes early, and had to wait outside for the place to open.  It was probably the most expensive accommodations over all five Caminos, but there weren't a lot of options in this part of the route.  That unconstructed hostel sure would have been nice!  But I had a nice room (with towels! And a television featuring U.S. sitcoms dubbed in Spanish and Spanish versions of familiar game shows).  The room came with a little balcony where I could dry my clothes and look out at the road.  And I ate both dinner and the next day's breakfast here.  The owner is from one of the Eastern European countries, and was very attentive.  It tops my list of "motorcycle hotels" I've stayed in over the years, though the list is sparce and the bar is low.  I slept great here.

The hotel caters to motorcyclists touring the mountains.  It is even called the "hotel Moto-Rural Vegalion," which I assume refers to motorcycles.  Motorcyclists like the place because it features an interior courtyard where they can park their rigs overnight and the bikes are well protected.  

Below is a photo of the "Moto Hotel" that I took when walking up (My room is right below the "HO" in "Hotel"), the interior of my room, and the next morning's view out my window.

Total distance: 9.3 miles.  Time: 4 hours, 22 minutes, including 45 minutes stopped time (primarily at the cafe).  Ascent was 1037 feet.

Spain's Camino Vadiniense, Day 7, August 24, 2026

This was my final day on Spain's Camino Vadiniense, though to actually finish the route, I would need to hike three more days.  I hiked this day to Cistierna, the largest town on my combined Caminos since I started in San Vicente de la Basquera.  Cistierna is an old mining town, and I will get caught in a soaking rain along the way and would be partially by ducking under an abandoned building from those mining days.  But that would be later in the day.

I started by heading south from my hotel.  I didn't have to retrace yesterday's steps into town because the hotel owner assured me that there was a pedestrian bridge a short way south that would reconnect me with the Camino Vadiniense.  It took me to the Camino path, which is the original road through the valley - superseded in the 1800's by the route now used by the main road in the area.

My route dates back to Roman times, and archiologists believe that the Romans built the road because the locals would have known better than construct a route so close to a river that regularly floods.  But there were times when the road climbed, giving pretty views.

Overall, there was relatively little on this route that was memorable, though it was a somewhat pretty and quiet walk.  In addition to the Roman road, I remember walking past a small chapel with unusual architecture for the area.

And there was an apparent racecourse for kayaks along the way.

Just north of my destination town, I detoured slightly to get a photo on a cartoon auto that I found when researching on Google Maps.  I didn't think that anyone even knew of the Flintstones around here! 

In Cistierna, I stayed at the first municipal albergue since way back in Potes.  

Total distance: 13.6 miles, 5 hours, 48 minutes, including 56 minutes stopped time.  Total ascent was 754 feet.

At the albergue, I met Bogey, a fellow pilgrim from Hungary.  She wasn't on my Camino - she was exploring the Camino Olvidado.  We commiserated about not having any regular contact with other pilgrims.  

To get into the albergue, I had to call one of several numbers listed on the door.  The first one did not answer, but the I made contact with the second number and, despite a language barrier, I was able to obtain a numeric code to the box containing door keys.

Later, another Spanish pilgrim showed up.  He had walked that day from Riaño - combining my two day journey into a single day.  So there was another pilgrim on my Camino, and he caught up to me!  We were the only three in the albergue that night, and each had our own room.  Eventually, I would string together five straight days in which I slept in my own room, and I would only have one other solo night before returning to the U.S.  

Bogey was going west to east, and would cross paths with me again in a couple of days when I was on my third camino.  I could have gotten there walking like she did, but I needed to get a credential for the Camino San Salvador, and I had a hotel reservation - both in Leon.  Together, we went to a grocery store, and she clued me in on packaged salads, which I purchased multiple times later in my journey.

This would be the end of my second Camino.  No certificate for this one, which may have contributed to my decision to skip two more days of walking.  I had heard from another pilgrim that the next two days were flat and dull, which matched my research.  I chose instead to take a train into Leon and use the days I saved to walk to the ocean at the end of my journey.  The ninety minute train ride saved me three days of walking.

Plus, I was excited to take the train!  It is a commuter train into Leon and it is a narrow gauge railway.  This means that the tracks are not as wide as standard tracks.  Other than a few tourist trains, there are no passenger narrow gauge rail systems in the U.S., so I eagerly anticipated the experience.  I talked Bogey into checking out the train station that night and I purchased a ticket because the machine encouraged advance purchases.

When I boarded the train, however, the conductor, who spoke English, told me that only tickets purchased the day of riding are valid.  She must have taken pity on me, as she let it slide.  The train started out relatively empty, but few people got off the train along the route, and many additional people boarded heading to Leon.

On the train, we never went more than 50 miles per hour, and we spent over 10 minutes waiting for another train headed in the opposite direction to clear the track.  

As you can see from the photo below, the rail car seemed more like a subway car than passenger rail.

Taking an Off Day from the Camino: August 22, 2026

 After five days on the Camino Vadienesis and four days on the Camino Lebaniego, I spent a second night at the Hostal Tanis.  I did this so I could take an hour long bus ride from Riaño to the small village of Cain de Valdeon, the trailhead for a hike that is probably the most popular hike in the Picos de Europa National Park (over 300,000 hikers per year).  I never did find this bus offered by Alsa, the bus provider.  I ended up obtaining a ticket through Omio, a ticket aggregator.

The bus picked me up in Riaño and for 3/4 of the trip, I was the only passenger.  The bus stopped about 5 miles south of the trailhead and picked up a number of additional folks, and we were all dropped off at the trailhead.  

I was pleased to have been in Riaño on a day when the bus was offered - it made up for the fact that I could have moved faster several days along my route - would have missed this opportunity.  I think the bus is only offered on Saturdays. It wasn't easy to get this ticket!

Along the way, the driver dodged cattle grazing on the road, and navigated narrow roads with an occasional tourist car headed in the opposite direction.  He was a true professional!

I was really excited to take this hike - I originally tried altering my camino route to get me to one of this hike's trailheads, but I could not find a vacancy at a nearby hostal.  The bus was a great way to make this hike work.  Do a search on Youtube for "Ruta del Cares" and you will find a wealth of amazing videos.

The bus dropped us off only a few hundred yards from the trailhead in a town with multiple restaurants, hotels, and souvenir shops.  As you can see from the photos below, the trail is cut into and sometimes through the rock, resulting in a hike that is relatively level, except at the northern end.

The tunnels and steep slopes combined for a really bad GPX file - my GPS reading was all over the place and it was impossible to totally clean up the route.  See my GPX reading below - this was an out-and-back hike, so I should have two lines that overlap each other.

The steep slopes and dusty trail reminded me of hikes I've taken in the Grand Canyon - except for the relative lack of elevation change.  The smell was the same, and I've hiked the Grand Canyon six times over my life so far. And, like the Grand Canyon, you can see the trail's route far off in the distance. I've never thought that about a trail I've hiked away from that location.

In the photo below, you can see the northern trailhead.  I didn't go to far beyond the parking lot shown, as I was pretty worn out, halfway through my hike.

I wasn't used to the number of people I saw on this trail!  I'd grown used to seeing hardly anyone when out hiking.  But I saw more people this day than all the rest of my Camino days so far, twice over.  I probably passed someone an average of once every thirty seconds.

I finished the hike, out-and-back, by around 4:30, giving me three hours before the bus was due to return and pick me up at 7:30.  I passed the time by looking at souvenirs (I bought a hat), and having dinner.  When the bus was due to return, there were a couple of others waiting for it as well.  The bus didn't return until about 8, and by then I was thinking I might have a very large Uber bill in my future!  It was the same driver as in the morning, and he didn't know English, so I can only assume that traffic held him up somewhere.  

The other two got off fairly quickly, and once again I had most of the ride to myself - just me and the driver.  It was a great side trip!

My GPS reading was a mess!  The canyon walls were too steep to get a good reading.  (I had the same problem descending from the North Rim of the Grand Canyon).  Online sources state that the hike is about 13.6 miles round trip.