GR-202. Great Route of the Reconquest. Stage 2 Poncebos , Vega de Comey

• Type: Linear
• Distance and duration: 17.7 km / 8 hours and 20 minutes
• Level: 2,044
• Difficulty: High

Profile: Very steep and hard climb. Start in the Cares: You leave Poncebos (200 m) and enter the famous Path of the Cares. You will walk for quite a while on this flat/false flat route until you reach the area of Culiembro (445 m).

1. The big climb (Canal de Culiembro): At Culiembro (where the ruins of the hermitage are), you must abandon the comfortable route of the Cares and turn right (looking upstream) to start climbing.
   • The terrain: It is a path carved into the rock that climbs in short and very steep zig-zags. You will pass by the Gonzomera spring and the Posadorio cave. It is the hardest stretch.
2. Arrival at Ostón: At the end of the channel, you come out onto the meadows of Majada de Ostón (1,002 m). The effort is rewarded: it's an incredible balcony over the Cares gorge you've just left.
3. Shepherds' traverse: From Ostón, you continue climbing, skirting a stone wall towards Vega Maor and Pozo Los Texos. You continue ascending to Collado de Sierra Buena (1,400 m, the highest point).
4. To Comeya: From the pass, descend towards the Arnaedo sheepfold and continue towards a junction near the Belbín sheepfold. You follow the marks (now coinciding with PR-8) passing by the Vega de las Mantegas and the Cantón del Texeu.
5. End at the Vega: You descend through the "Apretadoriu" pass among the rubble of old mines until the immense Vega de Comeya (846 m) opens before you, that great plain that looks like a dry lake.