Our mission was to get to Pamplona by Thursday and the route there was proving more difficult to find a campsite that wasn’t half way up a mountain. Camping Gavín near Biescas seemed our only choice and at first we were a bit underwhelmed. Arriving in a rain shower we felt that perhaps any hiking or cycling activities would be curtailed by the predicted storms for the next two days. The site was terraced, with neatly clipped bushes and fine views, but very narrow and awkward to find a suitable pitch, and after a brief domestic we finally settled right at the lowest point of the site in a more open area, with only two other Motorhomes.
From packed out pitches in La Noguera to almost isolation in Gavín. Yet it proved to be the quietest and most relaxing few days of our trip. Beautiful in the sunshine and clear skies with unusual birds to watch and listen to. We watched two pupats with distinctive plumage feeding but were too slow to get a photo.
We went for an easy hike down to the river, crossed over into a very pretty village with “ casa rural”rental properties, amid real farmland, a herd of cows, and a large equestrian establishment, which tempted me, but the weather was too changeable … storms every afternoon but bright warm sunshine in the mornings.
Casa rural near Gavín
Above: Engraving on the gate Altitude 857m on the path from Biescas up to Gavín
Below: horses grazing in the meadow as the clouds start to build
This ancient pathway covered in moss ran along the side of the campsite, and led to a path that forms a section of the Camino de Santiago.
Bright blue skies in the mornings, extreme heat then thunderstorms and showers. Luckily I managed on both days to get a swim in the deserted and freezing pool before the clouds darkened.
I don’t mind cold pools, and I get a perverse pleasure from the rush of cold water swimming. This was the coldest pool I’ve ever swum in, and it took about 8 lengths before even beginning to stop feeling frozen. What a wonderful experience to swim outdoors at nearly 1000m altitude!
The walk down from Gavín to Biescas was fairly easy and very well marked with a lot of locals getting their exercise in before the afternoon storms. There were plenty of shops and cafés in the small town of Biescas, and it was clearly the gateway to the ski resorts of the Pyrenees, but sadly we were headed west to catch our ferry home in a few days’ time. The tiny hamlet of Gavín ( population 95) looked newly built apart from one or two very old buildings. This more modern church tower with its 6 bells caught my eye, to show fellow bellringers back in our village! The information board explains about the original tower of the church of Saint Bartholomew built in the 10th century.
Above. Modern Gavín
Middle photo the hamlet Oros Alto
Below: information board about church at Saint Bartholomew