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| Walking along Hawks Hill |
A rocky limestone ridge starts right behind the hotel, it’s about four kilometres
long and the section closest to the hotel is known as “Cerro Los Gavilanes” or Hawks Hill.
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| The start of the Hawks Hill Ridge can be seen just to the right of the hotel |
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| Here you can see the ridge towering up behind the hotel |
The term Hawks Hill is a little misleading as rather than a hill it’s a ridge
which is quite challenging to walk along. Some sections are covered in gorse, there
is a lot of sharp Karst rock and a small but definite scramble is needed to
traverse the middle section. However for the experienced adventurous walker it
does provide some spectacular views of the surrounding countryside and its
right by the hotel.
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| Hawks Hill and it´s jagged summit |
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| View from the summit of Hawks Hill |
The start
of the walk (climbing up to the ridge from the hotel) has always been the most awkward part of
the walk but last week I discovered a new way of accessing the ridge. Although this new “path” is slightly
overgrown it is still easier to use to climb to the ridge rather than the way we used
to go.
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| Sam and Andres climbing up to the ridge from the hotel on the "new path" |
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| The full length of Hawks Hill Ridge as seen from the Mirador del Fito |
The summit
of Hawks hill is 552 meters high and althought it is a low peak there are spectacular views of the Picos de Europa, the coast and the Sueve Mountains. It
takes about two hours to reach the summit from the hotel and when you are on the summit you are only about one third of the way along the ridge. If you carry on the ridge towards
the coast you come to “Los Escalarines” or small steps where some scrambling is needed and then
shortly afterwards the ridge gets even narrower and more exposed!
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| Climbing down the very steep "Escalarines" or small steps |
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| The ridge getting narrower and more exposed after the Hawks Hill summit. |
However there are
various points where it is possible to climb down from the ridge to join the
road and walk back to the hotel or you can return the way you came to avoid the more difficult sections.
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| Farming scenery as you descend down the ridge towards the road. |
As for
birds you can normally see various raptors on the ridge including hawks,
griffon vultures and there is even a nest of Egyptian Vultures.
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| Views towards the coast from the summit of Hawks Hill |
