Shell motif Camino de Santiago

Camino del Salvador
from León to Oviedo

 Shell motif
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Stage 3: Poladura de la Tercia to Pajares

Evening walk to San Martin de la Tercia - wooden clogs outside a house door

The church at San Martin



Map of Camino del Salvador from Poladura de la Tercia to Maria del Arbas (showing altitudes and times from Poladura)

Turn left at the road, and just over the bridge, the Camino starts again - a tablon is just visible in the distance - map point a

There is a clear path upwards

- map point b

The weather started off with light rain, which got steadily heavier as we went on - and at one point turned to hail.





View out to the left

There are occasional yellow arrows but no very clear path in this section. Generally, the path is tending slightly upwards all the time - the temptation to go down and then up should be resisted.



At this point, the path is following the countour round the hill, turning steadily more eastwards. On the hill in front of you, there are two paths - the Camino follows the upper one.

More westward views



- map point c





Nearly at the top

Weather getting worse



Distant pilgrim on top of the world - map point d

First view of Busdongo far below on the N-630

Going dpwnhill at last. The path curves round to theleftin order to cross the stream, and then follows the track down the valley. It is easy to go wrong on the hill opposite, where there are only a few tablons.

- map point e

Once you are on the track, there is no difficulty.- map point f



...but it comes to an end at a good viewpoint- map point g

and awell-marked path then goes down to another stream crossing- map point h





First view of Sta. Maria del Arbas



The track continues past the farm building - map point i



Lots of lovely autumn crocuses

- map point j

After the farm building, a marked path goes off to the right, leaving this hill on your left. But it runs into a high barbed wire fence with a locked gate - an alternative is to stay with the track whick leads to the Puerto de Pajares, the summit of the N-630 - map point k



The N-630 with Sta. Maria del Arbas just below the cloud - map point l
The pictures above were taken in September 2009 on a day with low cloud, some heavy rain, and half an hour of sleet!. In contrast, the pictures below were taken nearly exactly a year before, in much better weather, but on this occasion we missed the contour path at the Great Divide and ended up walking some 20 km. on the N-630. Take note that, even if it is sunny in Leon, it may be foggy and wet in Asturias, and that the weather in the mountains can change very quickly indeed!



The cafe at Puerto de Pajares

This building was once a parador - and is still shown in some guides as a place to stay even though it has been shut for many years

A hlepful map showing the way ahead







First view of the village of Pajares, some way below the Puerto

The excellent refugio at Pajares

with comfortable beds, blankets, and lots of hot water

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