Spain's Sendero Historico: The GR1. John HayesЧитать онлайн книгу.
with a GPS-enabled app – an iPhone or an Android device will do the job. There are a number of GPS apps available but perhaps the essential requirement is the ability to buy and download Spanish maps through the application. The range of apps that provide this facility is growing all the time.
A good example, and the app used in the research for this guide, is Viewranger. The Viewranger website includes a map store which has a growing portfolio of maps from around the world including Spain. You can download the IGN 1:25,000 maps for the whole route at a fraction of the cost (and weight!) of paper maps. Viewranger’s default mapping – OpenCycleMap – is available at no charge. Included in the Viewranger route library is the GR1 route produced as part of the research for this guide, which can be downloaded and then displayed against the mapbase on a smartphone. The route is in a format that can be used on any GPS system and can also be displayed in Google Earth.
GPX tracks for the route can also be downloaded for free from the Cicerone website once you’ve bought this guidebook (www.cicerone.co.uk/member).
While many walkers have a smartphone it is surprising how many don’t use GPS. If you haven’t used the facility don’t leave it to the last minute before your trip to Spain to find out how it works. Smartphone GPS doesn’t use data roaming so you don’t need to have the potentially expensive international data roaming facility turned on. The battery on the smartphone should be adequate for a day’s walking particularly if you remember to turn off any facilities that you’re not using. (Many people have their phone permanently searching for a wifi connection and that facility is a particularly heavy battery user.) If you are nervous about battery life than take a charged battery and reload on the way or, if you are walking with someone else with a smartphone, have a duplicate version of the GPS as backup.
Most of the route is waymarked and generally speaking you wouldn’t need to use a paper map very often and similarly the GPS will be needed only on an infrequent basis. When a waymark has been missed however the GPS will show you where you are relative to the route, making getting back on track very straightforward. With Viewranger the GPS will provide directions on an ongoing basis but this consumes the battery and given the waymarks it’s a facility you don’t need.
If you are already an expert GPS user and have your own device then the Spanish maps on the IGN website are free to download for non-commercial use.
After completing the research for this Guide I can state with some confidence that the GPS route provided for the GR1 is the most up-to-date and accurate route available. I would not however claim 100 per cent accuracy. Route descriptions in this guide point out where the route has been hard to find and where there is the greatest degree of uncertainty. Even after several trips and the advice of local experts, mistakes can be made. The route also changes, either because locals want to bring walkers to their village or occasionally because landowners want to see them off. However, even if the route recommended doesn’t follow the latest on-the-ground version of the GR1, it will get you to the Mediterranean.
Santa Maria in Ujué (Section 4, Stage 2)
Using this guide
The 1250km of the GR1 are described here in seven sections, each one broken into stages roughly 25km in length. Sections begin with an introduction and summary information, and each stage begins with an information box – giving basic data such as start point, distance, ascent, descent, maximum altitude, walking time and grade – and a short introduction to give you a feel for the walking ahead of you that day. There follows a step-by-step route description, with extra information about any facilities available along the way and other points of historical, geological and natural interest. Each stage is accompanied by a clear, contoured route map at scale of 1:100,000 and features common to both the map and the description are highlighted in bold within the description to help you link the two.
The route maps in this guide are derived from publicly-available data, databases and crowd-sourced data. As such they have not been through the detailed checking procedures that would generally be applied to a published map from an official mapping agency, although naturally we have reviewed them closely in the light of local knowledge in the preparation of this guide. If you spot any errors or possible improvements please let us know by email to [email protected].
Stage grading
The pleasure of ‘through-walking’ – walking every step of the way from A to B – is not universally shared. Not everyone has the time or inclination and will want to choose which bits of the route to do with the time they have available. To help you make that choice, a grading system has been used. The first element measures the quality of the waymarking and the second the wow factor – a necessarily subjective judgment.
Quality of waymarking goes from 0 to 5:
0 = non-existent
1 = occasional signs only
2 = poor, rarely helpful
3 = helpful but use with care
4 = good with only occasional gaps
5 = excellent, proceed with confidence.
Wow factor goes from 1 to 5:
1 = poor, only a through-walker, completer-finisher would do it
2 = OK, but could be avoided if time is short
3 = good, fine walking including memorable highlights
4 = excellent, not to be missed but with occasional lesser stretches
5 = excellent, worthy of an international trip in its own right.
Olite (the end of Section 3 and start of Section 4)
1 PUERTO DE TARNA TO REINOSA
Peña Espigüete from the southeast (from Stage 1.4)
In terms of landscape the first stage of the walk is one of the best. The route crosses the southern flank of the Cantabrian Mountains, skirts the Picos de Europa and passes through two protected areas: the Regional Park of the Picos de Europa and the Natural Park of Fuentes Carrionas and Fuente Cobre-Montaña Palentina. It’s a stunning limestone landscape and includes a number of summits over 2500m high. The star of the show is Peña Espiguete, passed on Stage 3. Although it’s not the biggest mountain (at 2150m) it is the most admired and the one that attracts the climbers. It has an almost perfect shape, stands slightly apart from the rest of the Cantabrian Mountains, and dominates the scenery for most of the section.
Although the scenery is dramatic the trail is easy and the waymarking excellent. The GR1 is supported by the Castilla y León regional government and there are signs and information boards from the Puerto de Tarna through to Brañosera where the route crosses into Cantabria. It is, however, remote: services are few and far between and accommodation, particularly at the western end, is sparse. For this section booking in advance is essential if only to check that the accommodation is open.
From a historical perspective and compared with the others, Section 1 is perhaps less interesting but the landscape and natural habitat provide a ready compensation. Although you’re unlikely to see one of the resident Cantabrian brown bears you will see the Cantabrian Chamois, possibly otters and wild cats, and definitely vultures, particularly the huge Griffon vulture.
Access and Accommodation
The best way to get to the start of the route