Turismo Natural

ROUTES: 4TH STAGE REGIONAL MIGRATION (LAGO DE OMAÑA – ABELGAS DE LUNA)

Jul 30, 2010 Activities, Castilla y León, Culture, Spain, Mountain, Nature, Leisure, Landscapes, Routes, Hiking, Traditions, Tourism, Tourism, Cultured Tourism, Tourism León, Natural Tourism, Rural Tourism

A while ago I wrote about Regional Migration and more specifically, about a migration made by a farming family from León. We still have one stage left to reach the end of this migration: Lago de Omaña – Albelgas de Luna, the most physically demanding.

Below are links to previous articles on this route provided here as a reference.

• Regional Migration.
• 1st Stage.
• 2nd Stage.
• 3rd Stage.

Just a note before we begin this next adventure: there is a map and a file of the route which you can download at the end of the article. Please remember that this information is merely representative so if you decide to do this route, we strongly recommend you equip yourselves with a map and compass or GPS.

7:00 am: we begin making preparations; we have a long, hard stage ahead with a lot of uneven and tough-going land.

The shepherd arrives… over a thousand sheep, mastiffs and sheepdogs know it’s the big day and we have to set off.

8:30 am: we set off; the temperature is ideal and the sheep move on at a fast pace.

As the morning passes, the temperature rises considerably but our pace does not lessen. Some sheep fall behind; the mastiffs keep up by refreshing themselves along the route and the sheepdog, untiring in their duty, keeps the flock on the way and urges those sheep that fall behind.

We have to cross through countless oakwoods of unusual beauty along this route; one of the most beautiful oakwoods is found along the path that we follow up the Peña del Jugo. This is undoubtedly the hardest part of the entire route. The large amount of loose rocks on the path make it tough going and even dangerous.

It’s now midday and we find ourselves in Majada del Ablano, where we shall take a break to gather strength to face the last leg until we reach Abelgas de Luna.

This last stretch has nothing in particular to mention, except for some rather steep slopes which you can view in the video.

Finally, I’d like to thank this lovely family for the opportunity that they gave us to live this thousand-year-old tradition with them.

Seasonal migration will eventually die out and with it, people like this family… They are quite probably the last seasonal migration shepherds.

I’d also like to thank everyone else who took part in this migration.

Seasonal migration was a source of wealth in the past. Today, it is a lifestyle for some, a culture or tradition for others… We mustn’t let this, one of our most important features of our identity, fade away and be lost forever with the passage of time.

Tags: Abelgas de Luna, Animal, Animals, Culture, Lago, Lago de Omaña, Mastiff, Spanish Mastiff, Mountain, Mount, Nature, Landscape, Sheepdog, Dogs, Route, Routes, Hiking, Traditions, Seasonal Migration, Regional Seasonal Migration, Tourism, Active Tourism, Tourism León, Natural Tourism, Rural Tourism