Monastery / albergue of San Pedro de Montes.

alwalker said:

This is near Ponferrada but well off the main caminos.
Does anyone know if it is linked to the camino by walking trails?

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alwalker,
Have you checked their web?

It’s Spain - there is a path to everywhere! You can walk there from Molinaseca, but it’s not likely to be marked in any way and will likely follow small roads mostly. I’ve walked a number of “off-camino” routes without issue and found the solitude quite enjoyable compared to the crowds on the CF. Use an app (maps.me, etc) and you should have no problem.

mspath said:

alwalker,
Have you checked their web?

Inicio | Monasterio de San Pedro de Montes

monasteriodemontes.wixsite.com

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If I click on the indicated link (which does seem to point to correct place) and then scroll down to map, I get this

CWBuff said:

If I click on the indicated link (which does seem to point to correct place) and then scroll down to map, I get this

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Sorry. We both know that it is not in San Franciso! When I tap the link I get the monastery's Spanish web.

Update. If I tap on that map it seems to bring up a map of where I am in rural France and then plots a way to the monastery from here.

mspath said:

Update. If I tap on that map it seems to bring up a map of where I am in rural France and thdn plots the way to the monastery.

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Well....LOL.. the joy of computers and Google. I still get the map of San Francisco (and of course I know that the place is NOT there!) but then if I click on directions I get a flight from Philadelphia Airport (which is my home airport) to Argentina
Hilarious stuff

alwalker said:

This is near Ponferrada but well off the main caminos.
Does anyone know if it is linked to the camino by walking trails?

Click to expand...

yup, it is. there should be some threads on the forum as well.

you can get there by following the route called la mirada circular which is waymarked with blue arrows (still?) and in theory goes in the other direction. I'm not entirely sure which of the routes on their map is the one. and I just figured out this website is for the organized route which is apparently primarily a MTB route. huh.

I walked a variant of it in 2009, helped by the notes from tomas from manjarin. you can find my wikiloc tracks here:

el acebo - penalba de santiago
- I took the road down cause the path wasn't well waymarked, but was later sorry for it cause it looked like it was the only path down anyway. the path should start behind la trucha de arco iris guesthouse.
- I also took the road via compludo, mainly bacause I wanted to see the site of a disappeared monastery there
- there is a local waymarked path directly from the herreria to espinoso de compludo
- from espinoso there is a collections of paths of which I remember that I needed to turn right in both valleys with bigger trees; I saw one signpost on the way
- don't miss the millenial jew tree in san cristobal!
- from san cristobal you just need to get to the correct gravel road and then it's all straight to penalba de santiago
- don't miss penalba, its beautiful architecure, church and setting, apparently there are now two albergues there

penalba de santiago - ponferrada
- a very long day because I missed the last waymarked portion and toured the mountain instead!
- the local route to cueva de san genadio should be clearly waymarked
- from there it's a backtrack to the crossroad then left across the torrent up to the beautiful ridge with the labyrinth, also waymarked
- down to the next torrent valley with some old roman? road is the obvious path
- then I think there is a track into montes de valdueza
- there were no services there in 2009 except plans to renovate the monastery
- on the descent into the valley you need to be careful to not descend too soon, the split was marked
- I think there were some changes from valdefrancos to san esteban?
- at the point where I mark 'should have gone right', please go right and save yourself the wiggy-waggy tour of the pajariel ridge

The map of SF points to the world headquarters of UBER!!!!

CWBuff said:

Well....LOL.. the joy of computers and Google. I still get the map of San Francisco (and of course I know that the place is NOT there!) but then if I click on directions I get a flight from Philadelphia Airport (which is my home airport) to Argentina
Hilarious stuff
View attachment 132895

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But do you get a compostela for this?!

found some info from 2020. apparently private albergue in penalba is no longer open. that's a shame, it was a beautiful one and the village is definitely worth an extra day, too. is there a municipal albergue?

and this thread from 2021.

This path is one way to skip from the Frances to the Camino Invierno without going into Ponferrada. Take the path down to Compludo from behind La Trucha guesthouse, follow the signs from Compludo up the mountain to Penalba -- it is marked as a "romeria," a neighborhood saints' day pilgrim path, and sometimes you'll see the old Mirada Circular waymarks, too. Spend a night at Penalba.. there are guesthouses up there if the albergues are not open (be sure to do some advance planning! Penalba is a popular tourist spot in summer, and all-but abandoned off season). The path the following day is the hardest day's walk I've ever done in all my camino-ing -- follow the Mirada Circular as Caminka says above, past the high-altitude labyrinth, over the ancient roman waterways, to Valdeuza. The monastery there is fascinating, if you are lucky you'll get a tour. I am told there's now a super fine albergue there, so if you can, Stay There and report back!
Because the next day, up over the mountain to Campo de las Danzas and on to Las Medullas, is also a real nosebleed... be sure to take food and water with you.

peregrina2000 said:

I walked this route with Reb years ago and posted some additional information and pictures here. Though the monastery of San Pedro was very interesting, the real jewel is in Peñalba, so don’t miss it!

The albergue where Reb and I stayed in Peñalba is now definitely closed.

And for anyone who is contemplating walking from Peñalba - San Pedro de Montes - Las Médulas to join the Invierno, here is the wikiloc track that I had hoped to follow a few years after Reb and I walked. But my GPS got all messed up, so I hitched a ride back to Ponferrada and started the Invierno from there.

las medulas-peñalba de santiago

las medulas-peñalba de santiago Hiking trail in Las Médulas, Castilla y León (España). Download its GPS track and follow the route on a map. Record your own itinerary from the Wikiloc app, upload the trail and share it with the community.

www.wikiloc.com

This last part is still very much on my wish list. I have now walked twice to Peñalba, once from El Acebo and once from Ponferrada and I would do it again in a heartbeat. Reb, you up for it?!

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You are a miracle, Laurie -- to put your hands on all that info, all in one place!
I am definitely up for it, IF we can start at San Pedro Montes. I need to do some mountain walking this spring to get into shape for the Inca Trail in June. This would be just the ticket!