Shenaz Khimji.
Early start from Bulnes, made easier by kind ladies’ donation of two tickets for the funicular. With this unexpected head start we soon find ourselves at the neck of the Cares Gorge picking wild figs for breakfast. The path is carved into the cliff face high above the Rio Cares. It follows close to a hydroelectric canal, which it was originally intended to service. Ridges and spires topped with bonsai jut into the narrow landscape like petrified trees fighting for precious canopy space. Wall lizards sun themselves on Stalactites now exposed to the sun’s rays after millions of years of formation and further countless years of erosion in the dark. Butterflies glide below vultures in the busy ravine and we even glimpse the blur of a narrow bordered bee hawk attracted to my blue fleece. After 12 km, our admiration of the gorge is being tested by the strain of our full packs and the relentless beating of the sun on our backs. Finally, we pass through a series of man-made tunnels before reaching the hydro electric damn that marks the end of the gorge and our passage into the southern range of the Picos.
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