Turismo Natural

ROUTES: 1st STAGE ON REGIONAL SEASONAL MIGRATION. (SOTO DE LA VEGA – SAN PELAYO)

May 7, 2010 Activities, Sports, Nature, Leisure, Landscapes, Villages, Routes, Hiking, Traditions, Tourism, Tourism, Tourism León, Natural Tourism, Rural Tourism

The preparations begin with the shepherd putting the bells on the sheep. The flock, the Spanish mastiffs and the sheepdog know that they are about to set out on an adventure and you sense the group is restless.

It’s time to go and we’re off!

We hope we will have a good walk without any mishaps, given that there are many kilometres ahead and we have to adjust to the rhythm, but…the sheep are very keen to reach their destination. It’s impossible to do the entire route in one day, so it is spread out over four stages, this being the first leg of the journey: Soto de la Vega – San Pelayo (León).

This stage takes only half a day, just enough for us to adapt little by little to the group, to distinguish the Spanish mastiffs and the sheepdog, which are working non-stop from the very beginning.

As we advance along the route, we pass poplar groves which are exceptionally green thanks to the rainfall this year; we cross over River Órbigo, which is quite high at the moment, along the Paulón Bridge.

Once we are over the bridge, we find ourselves on the Bañeza road, headed towards Valdesandinas. On our left along this part of the route we can see the beautiful Hinojo Shrine, with some typical lodgers: stalks.

We now enter Valdesandinas, and we leave the road by crossing through the village and we continue our route along a very well looked after lane, which runs parallel to the River Órbigo. We reach the end of the lane and also to the end of the first stage.

The lane we are following ends in the road which we walked along earlier, but we shan’t be on there for long, because the refuge of San Pelayo is close-by and we branch off to go along a track to reach it.

You’ll be able to see a little of this stage in the video that follows and the map shows the route which you can do whenever you like.

We still have two more stages left to do and they are spectacular – don’t miss them!

Tags: Culture, Hinojo Shrine, Mastiff, Spanish Mastiff, Nature, Landscape, Sheepdog, Dogs, Villages, Paulon Bridge, River Orbigo, Route, Routes, San Pelayo, Hiking, Soto de la Vega, Seasonal Migration, Regional Seasonal Migration, Tourism, Active Tourism, Cultured Tourism, Tourism León, Natural Tourism, Rural Tourism, Valdesandinas