The Bear's Path

I’d earmarked a couple of hilltop villages to visit today, our last full day in Asturias. If there was time, I reckoned we might explore the Teverga valleys too. I will admit, there was a special reason for feeling drawn to that area too.

Our route out of Oviedo this morning was different from “the usual” then, as we headed south west for a while.

heading into a very green and unspoiled landscape.

Before we reached either of the villages on my list however, we stopped at the tourist office in Proaza, which just happened to be the centre of the Fundacion Oso de Asturias . We collected all the information we needed to follow the Senda del Oso - The Bear’s Path, which just happened to include the area I’d earmarked earlier. How lucky was that?

Our conversation with the English-speaking chap there concluded with him asking “Would you like to see a couple of bears?” Just down the valley, we’d passed a large recreation area and there, we could access the Senda del Oso pathway to the place where two orphan bears are cared for.

We needed no persuasion to retrace our steps.

Leaving the car by the sign, we set off past what seemed like a cycle hire facility. The Senda del Oso is popular with cyclists it seems and is a designated green route through the area.

We made our way up onto the pathway and began to walk, unsure of where we were going.

Just how far away were those bears? We hadn’t a clue.

Passing this electricity facility, we spotted the couple who had just passed us. She nodded, waved and signalled “shhhh”….it looked like we were nearing our goal.

Just behind an electric fence, there was the sweetest brown bear, busy munching a few wild flowers and utterly unconcerned by the four of us on the other side.

We were so close to her, I didn’t need to zoom in with my camera. I think it’s the closest I’ve ever been to a bear and we stood there, awestruck, whilst the other couple carried on along the pathway.

We stood, watching her graze quietly and as she went deeper into the meadow and further away, we said “Thanks bear” and turned to go back along the path. As we did, she turned around and reappeared…

so we stayed, talking to her (and to each other) as she settled down and began to pose!

First, showing us that she could scratch her head with her foot…

sitting still long enough for me to make sure her features were in the square of the fence.

Next, she lay back and put all four paws in the air.

Just as we were wondering how we could possibly leave her, we spotted a family with small children coming along the path. It seemed a good time to say “Bye Bear” and leave her to entertain her next visitors.

How lucky were we?

We’d gathered a good, clear map in the Casa Oso and followed the route up into the valley beyond Proaza towards Bermiego.

I must have asked my Hero a dozen times if he was happy to drive up that steep and narrow set of hairpin bends and though he said “yes” every time, that was probably because the very idea of turning around somewhere here was an even worse prospect.

We reached the top and parked the car within 1cm of the wall (!) deciding to get out and walk from here.

Before reading the sign, I just had to admire the wild flowers at my feet.

I think that we live in a hilly village with steep access, but we are not in the same league as Bermiego.

We wandered up the pathway and made our way between houses, animal shelters (hello sheep!) and hórreos. Bermiego claims to have 32 of them! Rather than share them all here, one by one, I will write a post about the details we saw here when I have my PC to work on.

Here is one of our favourites, complete with residents.

We spent a delightful time wandering about in this peaceful place, where most of the inhabitants seemed to be taking their siesta.

Apart from the birds, the only sound was coming from this fast-flowing stream and the nearby well it was feeding. Oh, and the chickens of course and that noisy rooster. I suppose the sheep were making a noise too - how else would we have known they were there?

What was missing of course was the traffic and my own bête noire, garden machinery.

Deciding that we’d make do with a distant view of one of the oldest (and largest?) Yew trees in Europe rather than walk the two km down to it (and back up again), we found our way back to the car, stopping to chat to two elderly women on the way. They spoke no English, we had no Spanish but with hands, eyes and smiles we all agreed.

Beautiful!

Thanks to my zoom lens, the Yew tree a number of fields away is just behind the small chapel.

I had envisioned our journey back to be downhill all the way but I was wrong. A steady climb brought us to this viewpoint from where the clearest identifiable peak is Peña del Alba. Googling that just now, I found a circular walk from Bermiego.

We didn’t even make it to the Yew tree!

We did, however, notice the wild violets.