May 25, 2024 – Oviedo to Avilés – 30 kms – Avilés Por Visitar apartment 

May 26, 2024 – Avilés to Rellayo – 32 kms – Hotel Casa Fernando II

May 27, 2024 – Rellayo to Canero – 39 kms – Hotel Restaurant Canero

May 28, 2024 – Canero to Navia – 29 kms – Casona Naviega 

May 29, 2024 – Navia to Penarronda – 31 kms – Hostal Restaurant Parajes

Ruth: This is the third time I have been on the Camino del Norte and it’s both new and familiar. My memories inconveniently only return when I am right at a place and then suddenly I recall it. This doesn’t help me in planning my daily routes and making the tough decisions of whether or not I can stay on the walking Camino route. I always prefer to be on the walking route, but on the Norte, it’s often not possible. I’ve already ripped Grandma open once when her trailer hitch snapped and I have promised to be more careful. 

Our day between Canero and Navia was great. Gord and I followed the marked trail together for an hour out of Luarca. For the second time I climbed out of the town on the steep cobblestone street that switchbacks up to the top of the plateau. I only remembered it when I was committed and had passed the point of turning around. Once on top the route follows lovely rural roads, lanes and tracks – all perfect for Grandma and I . We were just about to start a steep descent into a valley when I suddenly remembered what happened down there last time. It turned into a narrow cobbled path that Gord and I had to carry Grandma and the trailer through. Fortunately I remembered in time and diverted to the smooth national highway for my descent. 

The road cycling is often wonderful, but I like seeing all the pilgrims.  The ride the previous day to Canero was a wonderful ribbon that contoured around deep valleys between the mountains and the sea. As soon as I was on it my memories returned.

Pulling into the Hotel Canero I realized it was the bar that I fled into two years ago to escape a torrential downpour. It was also the place where I bought my shell necklace. They still had some of them at the very back of a crowded display case, so Gord bought me another one. What I didn’t know two years ago was that the hotel is just a short walk away from a lovely beach. 

Maybe with a memory like mine all I need is one Camino, one book and one movie, and I can just revisit them on a loop.

Gordon: Tonight we are staying in a hotel overlooking the extraordinary Penarronda Beach.  We are a few kilometres from the bridge to Ribadeo, where we will part company with the Camino del Norte.  Our time on the Norte has been brief, less than a week, but it has been pleasant and varied.  It doesn’t hurt that we have finally moved into good weather, with sun, 20 degree highs, and no rain forecast for the next 10 days.

Unlike the reports we have received from the Camino Frances, the Norte still has a comfortable number of pilgrims.  The more spontaneous pilgrims are just walking until they want to stop, and they are easily finding accommodation.  We did hear that many pilgrims were turning off onto the Primitivo route, so there was more competition for beds before Villaviciosa.  The Norte still skews towards a younger cohort, with many doing their first Camino on this route.  We met a surprising number of Americans.

Tomorrow we leave the pilgrim traffic behind as we continue on the seldom used Camino del Mar.