Report: "mountain" route from Soto de Luina

[Mananath]

Last night I slept in Soto and spent way too much time researching and trying to decide which route I would take out of town. I didn't stay at the Albergue (instead, the wonderful Paulino for 20eur for a private room!) so I missed the talk from Pepe about the routes.

I was on the fence until I got to where the trail splits and there is a nice sign showing the two options. One look at jagged profile for the coastal route was enough to send me to the mountain route. I would my much rather one long ascent and descent than many little ones.

I didn't find it particularly hard or challenging. It's a proper hike, however, and you need to watch your feet. I did find it to be very beautiful with some excellent views of the mountains, valleys and coast. The weather was nice when I started, rained enough to put on my poncho in the middle and the sun came out when it was time to descend.

Pretty much the entire trail was well marked and in the cases where it wasn't it was obvious the way to go. Still, a mapping app would be helpful (wise pilgrim and mapy.cz have the trail). I did get a bit off the mapped trail for a bit in the beginning and ended up on a road. Eventually this rejoined the mapped trail.

With the exception of some parts on the descent the trail is in good shape. There are some sections where weeds have overgrown but the trail is still very much defined. I used the gravel road as much as I could.

I did have two very scary encounters with dogs. So that's something to be aware of. They were both fenced in, but the first one the fence was just two wires and the second one had a robust fence but there was a large gap under the gate. There was no other way around so I basically slowly backed up and out of sight until the dogs stopped barking. Then I waited about 15 min for one to wander off and the other to fall asleep. I was really scared walking past them and my heart was racing.

Dogs aside, I was really happy with my decision to take this route. It was an excellent walk. It took 4 1/2 hours (including waiting time for the dogs) I think if you have walked from Irun you will have no problem handling it -- there are no conditions you haven't already experienced.

I think what causes this trail to be labeled dangerous is the isolation (though I saw a few pilgrims) and if something goes wrong you might have a long wait for help. The weather is also of concern. However for me the dogs are the biggest issue (like most of the Norte so far).

Hope this helps if you are on the fence!

 

[BombayBill]

Keep up the detailed reports, I'll be there in 4 weeks. Always happy to hear where the nasty dogs are.

 

[El Cascayal]

With the exception of some parts on the descent the trail is in good shape.

Mananath would you please elaborate on what you found on the descent? Some YouTube videos show a large drop off without a trail where you slide through the grass/ bushes. What is your experience and thank you. I would really like to walk this way in October.
BombayBill, looking forward to your updates too.
One conga line of Peregrinos.

 

[Mananath]

Mananath would you please elaborate on what you found on the descent? Some YouTube videos show a large drop off without a trail where you slide through the grass/ bushes. What is your experience and thank you. I would really like to walk this way in October.
BombayBill, looking forward to your updates too.
One conga line of Peregrinos.

I didn't come across anything resembling what you describe. There was one small section where I had to step down and used my hand to brace myself. But it was nothing I would consider challenging. There were some rocky sections, like in this picture.

 

[WayWalker]

We walked this variation on October 5 in 2018. The owner of the albergue was reputed to have had a hand in creating the coastal route known as the Ballota route in order to direct pilgrim traffic to more commercial ends. The official route over the mountains was supposed to be way more scenic so we opted in. Here is an excerpt from my journal. I don't want to put anyone off but this post may.

"Headed out into the twilight ever vigilant for the split in the Camino. We found it and started climbing. We started to notice that we were walking through spider webs. I don't mean little stringers of little baby spiders. I mean gorgeously spun hexagonal webs crossing over the middle of the trail with a quarter coin sized yellow and black spider sitting in the center about face height. Poor John was blazing the path flailing his poles up and down and left and right. They were EVERYWHERE. All over everywhere. I have a bit of arachnaphobia. This doesn't play well. We needed machetes. Not only for the spider webs but because the undergrowth was so daunting.

"It was extremely slow going with many expletives being thrown around rather loudly. Then Charles from Ottawa comes up from the rear moving fast. 'I thought you guys were blazing the trail but I'm covered in spider webs!'. He had no poles! He kept going! He didn't stop to listen to how incredulous we were at this nightmarish phenomenon.

"After the hell of spidertown we were rewarded with thee most spectacular views I think I've ever had the pleasure to have seen. Pictures do it no justice! Yes Atlantic as far as you can see. And what a vantage point!

"Then came hell to pay again. The uneven footpath was threatening to twist an ankle at any minute. Underbrush so thick you couldn't see the big potholes everywhere. We finally plopped down on the track with the least amount of nettles and ate our ham and cheese sandwiches. A bright spot in an otherwise challenging day."

So I'm not sure that the spiders are not seasonal. It was early October. And the spectacular views were worth it in hindsight. Hope you enjoyed reading my experience! Buen Camino!

 

[El Cascayal]

I didn't come across anything resembling what you describe. There was one small section where I had to step down and used my hand to brace myself. But it was nothing I would consider challenging. There were some rocky sections, like in this picture.

Thank you ! That seems very doable. Ongoing Buen Camino!
Edit: @WayWalker thank you as well. and webs in early October !

 

[WayWalker]

Thank you ! That seems very doable. Ongoing Buen Camino!
Edit: @WayWalker thank you as well. and webs in early October !

And I'm sure the overgrown trail was also seasonal. Makes sense for that time of year.

 

[El Cascayal]

So I'm not sure that the spiders are not seasonal. It was early October.

Of course, that is precisely when I’m going. Yikes !

 

[Mananath]

We walked this variation on October 5 in 2018. The owner of the albergue was reputed to have had a hand in creating the coastal route known as the Ballota route in order to direct pilgrim traffic to more commercial ends. The official route over the mountains was supposed to be way more scenic so we opted in. Here is an excerpt from my journal. I don't want to put anyone off but this post may.

"Headed out into the twilight ever vigilant for the split in the Camino. We found it and started climbing. We started to notice that we were walking through spider webs. I don't mean little stringers of little baby spiders. I mean gorgeously spun hexagonal webs crossing over the middle of the trail with a quarter coin sized yellow and black spider sitting in the center about face height. Poor John was blazing the path flailing his poles up and down and left and right. They were EVERYWHERE. All over everywhere. I have a bit of arachnaphobia. This doesn't play well. We needed machetes. Not only for the spider webs but because the undergrowth was so daunting.

"It was extremely slow going with many expletives being thrown around rather loudly. Then Charles from Ottawa comes up from the rear moving fast. 'I thought you guys were blazing the trail but I'm covered in spider webs!'. He had no poles! He kept going! He didn't stop to listen to how incredulous we were at this nightmarish phenomenon.

"After the hell of spidertown we were rewarded with thee most spectacular views I think I've ever had the pleasure to have seen. Pictures do it no justice! Yes Atlantic as far as you can see. And what a vantage point!

"Then came hell to pay again. The uneven footpath was threatening to twist an ankle at any minute. Underbrush so thick you couldn't see the big potholes everywhere. We finally plopped down on the track with the least amount of nettles and ate our ham and cheese sandwiches. A bright spot in an otherwise challenging day."

So I'm not sure that the spiders are not seasonal. It was early October. And the spectacular views were worth it in hindsight. Hope you enjoyed reading my experience! Buen Camino!

For what it's worth, I didn't see any spiders. And i didn't walk through any nettles. I think the path has improved since you were there

 

[LTfit]

@El Cascayal , @Mananath 's description is pretty much my experience from last June minus the dogs which I never encountered. I stayed at the albergue for a second time, the first time I followed the hospitalero's instructions not to take the mountain route so I was determined on the second time around to do it and am so glad I did!

There is nothing dangerous about it except if something would happen as I encountered no one when I walked it.

October will be a great time to walk. I've been on the Norte on many occasions and in October I had better weather than in June.

 

[Mananath]

@El Cascayal , @Mananath 's description is pretty much my experience from last June minus the dogs which I never encountered. I stayed at the albergue for a second time, the first time I followed the hospitalero's instructions not to take the mountain route so I was determined on the second time around to do it and am so glad I did!

There is nothing dangerous about it except if something would happen as I encountered no one when I walked it.

October will be a great time to walk. I've been on the Norte on many occasions and in October I had better weather than in June.

I think I just had bad timing with the dogs. In the case of the second he had a large territory to guard and the cows just happened to be grazing nearby when I passed.