Go Spain: Verney Naylorgoes in search of some rare species of flower in the Picos de Europa mountain range in northern Spain and discovers an enthralling landscape along the way
THERE WERE three chamois; one of these antelopes was picking its way across the scree, another was just watching us and the third was lying down. Soaring above us was a griffon vulture, but our binoculars were scanning the base of the limestone cliffs that rose steeply above the scree slope.
At last we spotted what we had been searching for: tiny yellow spots on the rock face. Some agile members of the party scrambled with difficulty up the loose pebbles to check them out and, yes, we had indeed found the very rare Saxifraga felineri, a small green cushion plant with brilliant golden flowers only found here in the Picos de Europa, a mountain range just inland from the northern coast of Spain.
Facing the Bay of Biscay, its weather is influenced by the Atlantic rather than the Mediterranean so that the valleys are lush and green – and farmed; orchards with trees weighed down with cherries and pastures grazed by dun-coloured cows, the tinkling of cow bells an almost constant background sound.
The Picos has its own range of interesting flora which was the reason we were here on a nine-day trip that the UK-based Alpine Garden Society (AGS) had organised for its members. There were 22 of us, including our leader, Dr Christopher Grey-Wilson, an expert botanist. We had all made our own way there. In our case, flying to Santander, hiring a car and making the drive south from the main coast road to the Liébana district of Cantabria.
This hair-raising route follows an amazing gorge with the river on one side and protruding rocks on the other. Then the landscape opens out into several wide valleys with many narrow steep-sided offshoots – all with at least one red-roofed village reached by a series of hairpin bends. You need good brakes here, though we were impressed by the upkeep of what are basically dead-end roads.
The small town of Potes lies at the centre of this area and Monday was market day, with the square filled with stalls selling cheese, cured meats, dried beans and cider – all produced locally and forming the main ingredients of the regional cuisine. The hardware shops sold wooden spoons, baskets, hay-rakes carved from a single branch and, of course, cow bells.
Our party was accommodated in La Casa Chimeneas, (la casadelaschimeneas.es), a collection of beautifully restored self-catering apartments that had once been part of a large farm in the tiny hamlet of Tudes just south of Potes. We had wonderful mountain views and were woken by the cuckoo in the mornings.
The English-speaking owners ran a tapas bar next door – handy for slaking the thirst after the day’s hike and before we had our evening session going over the plants we’d seen that day.
We would generally drive out each morning to a different location – up and down the scary hairpins – and then a walk watching the butterflies, listening to the birdsong, gazing at the mountain peaks above us, exploring ancient villages and, of course, seeking out wild flowers.
These special interest trips are not so obsessive that we don’t get a real feel for the local countryside. Tudes, like many of these high villages, is set amidst glorious, species-rich hayfields full of blossom; mallow, buttercups and daisies and many different orchids.
The villages are linked by narrow paths, many forming part of the pilgrim route to Santiago de Compostela, so we came across simple shrines and churches along the way. One of these tracks passes through the most northerly cork oak forest in Europe and we could see how the bark is harvested by stripping it off every few years. Under the oaks grew arbutus, familiar to us from home.
One day was spent wandering through the high damp meadows on the Puerto de San Glorio, where we were entranced by a field of wild daffodils, kneeling on the wet earth to get just the right photograph. Plant photography is definitely an art form, and as the AGS has a strictly enforced policy of no plant or seed collection, the camera holds the only record for when your memory gets a little fuzzy.
Further along the track swathes of marsh marigolds shone on the ground made wet from melting snow. Along the stream sides were vivid purple displays of giant butterwort, which had been in flower at home in west Cork as we left for Spain.
The age of our group ranged from 24 to 84 with a variety of fitness levels. Not everyone came on the walk each day, but with the help of the cable car at Fuente De all of us managed to reach the highest level of 1,847m. The time we spent at this height was, for me, the highlight of the trip. The intensity of the light, the clarity of the air, the fantastic views: range upon range of peaks, still streaked with snow in June, and the silence you get in high mountains all add up to a thrilling experience.
Here were azure carpets of glorious gentians as well as, yes, the lovely golden saxifrage which we had struggled to locate only to find it later smothering a rocky outcrop not far from the top of the cable car!
Go thereRyanair (ryanair.com) flies from Dublin to Santander. Aer Lingus (aerlingus.com) flies from Dublin to Bilbao.
- alpinegardensociety.net
- Verney Naylor is a garden designer based in west Cork