Sejos

Almost two months after my last walk I decided it was time to get fit for an expedition to Picos, so I revisited Polaciones, a region of Cantabria that's a bit out of the way and I hadn't been to since 2008.

I started out from the village of Uznayo, in the photo, beneath the Sierra de Peña Sagra, shrouded in cloud at this earlyish hour.


the track wound its way past huts, meadows and beech woods with the mountains behind

Peña Labra (on the right) is the easternmost peak of the mountains that limit Polaciones to the south

Peña Sagra, over to the east, was beginning to lose its cloud cover as I made my way up the track

I then took a path up towards the Sierra del Cordel range - a continuation of the Sierra de Peña Labra


I had several sightings of deer as I followed the base of the escarpment to the left


By now the Picos were in sight and free from clouds


the Sierra de Peña Sagra


Iján and the Jorcada peaks came into view as I made my way east


Jelgueras and Concilla peaks, with Sejos below them

I caught up with the does again as I started to descend into the next valley - but they were off before I could take a decent photo


on my way down to the grazing pastures of Sejos I found these horses rather more amenable to having their picture taken

The Picos de Europa again

Cuetu Concilla, with Sejos below


Picos Cordel and Iján


Picos Liguardi and Cordel


this gorge goes down to the Saja valley

Sejos is well-known not only for its grazing land but for the menhirs that lie there. These photos are taken from a previous visit I made to the area - there are inscriptions on some of them. Our ancestors clearly appreciated the beauty of the place long before we were around

There's one stone still standing, called the "Piedra Jincá", at the base of the Concilla, though it's been adapted for modern-day use in a way that doesn't take aesthetics into account

the walk back down to Uznayo afforded me different views of the valley I'd crossed earlier on

gorse at the foot of Cueto Jelgueras

and a final view of Peña Labra and the mountains to the west