Our first wilderness traverse took place in July

On July 24th, our “First wilderness traverse” finished after a four-day crossing

Alfredo del Campo and Carlos Tapia, participants in this activity, at Gorge of Los Beyos (León)

of the Cantabric Range from Riaño (León) to the coast. It aimed to experiment another way of experiencing and accessing the mountain, in complete autonomy, with minimal means, and without the aid of orientation technology. This initiative, inspired by the project “By fair means” developed by Mountain Wilderness International, is an attempt to recover the concept of adventure, not so much through risk, but rather through spontaneity and autonomy. While the experience was satisfactory, it did reveal the difficulty due to the excessive humanization of the territory, with many roads, tracks, villages and information everywhere. Because of this, the traverse had to be finished in Cangas de Onís, since from then on there was a total lack of any minimally wild nature. On the other hand, the cross-country traverse, without the use of paths and tracks, was not feasible, because of the impossibility of progression in dense vegetation. The territory showed its two antagonistic facets, roads, or impenetrable forests and ravines. Finally, we decided to follow the usual mountain paths and passes as well as some stretches of road , and the paths on the left bank of River Sella, where we bivouaced after 8 or 10 hours walking every day.

Majada Alta, in Beza Pass (Asturias)

We hope to design the next “wilderness traverse” in a less humanized and more isolated scene. We count on your suggestions and participation.