Such a wonderful drive from Bilbao to Santander. Plenty of lush green fields. From Santander the road heads inland and gets very tight and twisty. There is a gorge along the way, and it offers some stunning scenery, but the road is so narrow and tight, plus there is no where to stop and take pictures.
I arrive into Potes and the weather is good, sunny and cool. After unpacking i head to the tourist information office to get info about hikes in the area. The very helpful girl tells me the best hikes to do, and there is one that i can do before sunset. So o head off to Brez, a very tiny little village about 10ks away. This walk is a nice loop walk and offers some stunning scenery.

Today i head to De Fuente to take the Funicular to the top of de Fuente. I was advised to take the funicular to the top and walk back down, about 14k return walk. I was going to do the opposite, but heading local advice its the funicular to the top. The drive form Potes takes about 30 minutes through some very pretty countryside. Once at De Fuente i find the funicular and ask for a one way ticket. The guy looks at me with contempt, and after looking me up and down tells me there is snow at the top and i am not dressed accordingly, and i should buy a return ticket. I had jeans, jacket and walking shoes. The sun was out and the temperature was going to be around 10 degrees, so i ignore him and get a one way ticket. There are some other people getting ready to take the cable car and i can tell you that they were dressed to the hilt with all the latest and greatest hiking gear. Made me feel very inadequate. Anyway we get to the top and i am glad i chose to ignore the guys advice. There are patches of snow, but thats all. It is nice and warm with the sun out, so off i sent on the long winding path back to the start.
I pretty much had the whole park to myself, only passing one other person along the way. What a magnificent park. The views of the mountains, the lush green fields, just awesome. I make it back in just under 3 hours. I brought some food with me, so i find a nice spot in the sun and enjoy my late lunch. What a great day out.

With a little research i decide to walk The Cares route is called The Divine Gorge. The path is carved in the rocks of the mountains and it is 24ks return. Now the little town of Cain is only 60ks away but it takes 1.5 hours driving on some of the narrowest and windy roads i have ever driven on. There were places where if you made a mistake you were over the edge to certain death. I stopped at the top of the mountain pass to get some pictures, and could not believe how windy it is. Not sure what i have got myself into here as the car is telling me the temperature is zero, its starting to snow, and i am only half way. Oh well lets push on.
I arrive at Cain, a very small village where the walk start from. So i park the car and head off at a brisk pace. The advised time to do the return trip is 6.5 hours, but i am going to try and do it in under 4 hours, as there is not a huge change in altitude, and according to the NP web site the walk is considered easy.
Well it does start off easy, but it seems the storm on the mountain pass has followed me into the gorge. The wind is howling, i have never experienced wind so strong before, ever. Lucky there was a few place along the way where you were shielded from the wind, but more than once you turn a corner and you were quite literally blown over by the wind. Many times i had to hang onto a rock, or drop to the ground. I was standing still waiting for some people to pass when a gust of wind hit me from behind, and took my feet out from under me, and i was dropped to the ground. Wow that took me by surprise. Probably helped by the very loose rocks i was standing on. The main concern with the wind was that the path you are on is about 100 metres up from the bottom of the gorge, and there are no safety rails anywhere, so one must always be looking at the path, which would be no wider than 1 to 1.5 metre. The adverse conditions were certainly worth it as the views were just brilliant. Probably the most challenging walk i have ever done, all because of the wind
Anyway i made it to the end, took a 5 minute breather and headed back. Made it back to the starting point in just under 4 hours, and was so relieved to sit in the car where i was able to relax.

Well i have to conclude that this part of Spain is just amazing. Loved the mountains, the tight twisty roads, the really nice villages, plus the happy people.
Next stop is Barcelona