Fuente De: ride the cable car up and never take it back down

Fuente De, Espinama

One-way ticket to El Cable, lentils at Cabana Veronica, then 1,200 m of descent through the Puertos de Aliva to Espinama.

1. 8:15 am 1

   Potes to Fuente De for the first cabinFuente De

   The station car park is full by 09:30 in July. The queue for tickets is far longer than the queue for the cabin, so send one person ahead while the others sort boots.

2. 8:50 am 2

   One-way ticket up the telefericoFuente De

   Buy the single, not the return - you are walking down the other side. 753 metres of ascent in under four minutes; stand on the left of the cabin for the wall.

   3 min walk · 0 m
3. 9:20 am 3

   El Cable to Cabana Veronica by the Horcados Rojos trackFuente De

   A limestone desert with no water, no shade and no soil. The route is cairned rather than signed, so in cloud you follow the jeep track to the Horcados junction instead of cutting the moraine.

4. 11:45 am 4

   Lentils at Cabana VeronicaFuente De

   An aircraft-carrier gun turret bolted to the rock at 2,325 m, sleeping twelve. The guardian cooks one pot of lentejas a day for whoever turns up. Cash only, no card, no signal.

5. 12:20 pm 5

   Scramble to the Horcados Rojos colFuente De

   Thirty minutes above the hut and the only point on this route where you see the Naranjo de Bulnes head-on. Skip it in cloud - there is nothing to see and the scree is loose.

   69h 7m by train or taxi · 9124 km
6. 1 pm 6

   Down the Puertos de Aliva to EspinamaEspinama

   A long, kind 1,200 m descent past the Chalet Real and the summer cattle. Poles earn their place in the final hour, which is concrete track rather than path.

7. 4:30 pm 7

   Cocido lebaniego at Hotel RemonaEspinama

   First building you reach walking into Espinama. Cocido lebaniego is the chickpea stew of this valley and it arrives in three courses, so order one between two if you still have driving to do.

8. 5:30 pm 8

   Taxi back up to the car at Fuente DeEspinama

   Four kilometres uphill on the CA-185. There is no rank - ring from the hotel before you sit down to eat, not after, because one driver covers the whole valley.