Soto

Beautiful and mostly easy tour with many panoramas. We did the tour at the end of September and the colorful forests provided a great backdrop.

The 1st part follows the hiking trail PR9. The starting point is the lovely small village of Soto. First, you go along the "main street" through the village. At the end of the village, after the overview board, turn right, following the white-yellow markings, up the mountain. The path is very well marked (partly also with signposts "Vegabano"). It goes through deciduous forest, past pastures and alpine meadows, over streams, on field, forest, and hiking paths always uphill. After about 1.5 hours you reach a high plateau, which you bypass in a long left curve. After about 10 minutes you reach the rustic Refugio de Vegabano. There is an option for drinks and small dishes.

On the way back, we no longer follow PR9 because we don’t want to walk the path twice or the boring forest road. Instead, we take the connecting piece back over the alpine meadow Mda. de Vegabano. Keep left at the huts towards PR7! After a few meters, you notice the permanently high humidity of this area: the majestic trees are covered with mosses and lichens and remind one of a non-tropical rainforest. After about 1 km, you reach a fork. We stay left and follow the path, occasionally crossing streams. After another approx. 2 km, we leave PR7. A sign "Soto de Sajambre" leads us left downhill. Straight ahead, following PR7, we would reach Portilla de Beza. The path now winds downhill towards Soto and offers wonderful views again and again. Shortly before Soto, we encounter the long-distance trail GR201.