This is an update for those planning on walking the Salvador.
I walked the route in mid-September 2009 with Piers Nicholson of the Confraternity of St. James. He did a full GPS survey of the poorly-waymarked, wild-weather high-altitude portions of the route over the Sierra de Cuchillos, and will post the info soon on the CSJ site.
I should like to add a few comments as well for those who plan to walk this route.
Everything I wrote before about taking precautions still stands true. Parts of it are downright dangerous. Even with updated waymarking, the path is sometimes hard to follow -- the marks are hidden by brush or snow, or they just are not there when you want one. To make the Poladura de Tercia to Pajares etapa you should carry a good map and a compass, and gear to deal with very sudden rain or even snow -- we had a gale-force frozen-rain thunderstorm sweep ´round us... in September!
Once you are down from the heights things are a bit more predictable. On the Pajares-to-Pola de Lena etapa I very highly recommend taking the route described by Laurie in her notes, climbing down to the river in the morning and following along the western side of the valley. It is green and beautiful, even if it is even MORE uphill climbing -- plenty of little friendly villages pepper the pathway, and the Asturian ministry of environment is now taking over waymarking and maintaining the path. So far they´re doing an excellent job.
Also, even though the final day is a drag through the first 10 km. or so, (especially ´round Mieres) the final 20 km. are such a treat: more greenery, medieval bridges and cobbled paths through dapply apple orchards, donkeys, kittens, horreos, friendly, chatty people who still see pilgrims as a novelty. I think El Salvador is what the
Camino Frances must have been like 30 years ago... except perched on a 15-percent grade. It is now my favorite camino of them all!
(I go into more detail on the blog:
http://www.moratinoslife.blogspot.com . (Yes, a shameless promotion.)
Rebekah