Viaduct thwarts hike

Hungry for more autumnal views I realised I'd never been to Montabliz. This is an area in central Cantabria that ecologists felt the need to protect a few years back when plans for the new dual-carriageway to the meseta revealed that a viaduct was to be built right over it.

I found some information on the internet about a route through the woods to Montabliz so set off eagerly with Monty.

Unfortunately, after scouting around for some time trying to find the beginning of the path into the woods I had to give up. Here's a photo of the trees that the path once traversed...

As I was near Somaconcha, a hamlet where a famous Roman road starts, I decided to follow it a bit as I hadn't done that walk for several years. The stones were barely visible with all the fallen leaves.

After a pleasant stroll we got to Mediaconcha, which is a semi-deserted hamlet beside the way

I decided to turn back and explore the woods off the beaten track

Eventually we headed back up the Roman road

On exploring the area near the main path we came out of the woods and saw what was between us and Montabliz:

At that point the dual-carriageway goes through a tunnel, but there was no obvious route into the woods from there either

So back up to Somaconcha, where Monty was the centre of attention

There's a hill nearby that affords decent views of the surrounding mountains with the dual-carriageway in the foreground as it leaves the other side of the tunnel: the highest point is El Ropero

Pico Jano

On the way back to Pesquera, where we'd set off from I took this photo of Peña Bustio - the hill the previous photos were taken from

Not all walks end up as you plan. With hindsight I should have realised that the info on the website hadn't mentioned the viaduct because it hadn't been built yet. In the meantime, the path through the Montabliz woods had fallen ito disuse. But I'll be back another day to explore the area starting off from another village...