21 percent gradient!

Mieres. We have landed in a different world today. For hundreds of kilometers, everything was flat like Lake Constance, but now we are in the Cantabrian Mountains, surrounded by peaks still wearing their white caps. Since leaving Leon, we have been climbing. We might not have noticed it immediately, but our Hymer had to work hard, and the fuel consumption rose rapidly. The higher we climbed, the more the landscape changed; the mountains became sparser and rockier.

Today, we planned to cover about 60 kilometers, not quite half the distance to Gijon. I expected it to be a steady uphill journey, but after we left our first stop, La Pola de Gordon, we were only going downhill – and significantly! With a gradient of up to 21 percent. Narrow roads. Hairpin turns. And trucks whose drivers seemed to have never heard of oncoming traffic. I began to sweat. I was in second gear, creeping around the corners at 15, 20 km/h. Occasionally, I pulled over to the right to catch my breath for a few seconds and to let the long line of vehicles behind me pass.

When we finally reached Mieres – where we will spend the night – I took the opportunity while Icke picked up the stamp to check the altitude. Leon is at 300 meters, La Pola de Gordon is over 1000 meters. But Mieres is below 200 meters. I can't imagine how large trucks manage this route in winter...