The Battle of
 El Mazuco

Expedition log, Summer 2002

A summary and index of the Speleogroup logbook.

El Mazuco, Purón/Pruneda, hikes, General Strike, Cabañuca etc.

Date	Activity
13.06	On-time flight; soon checked-in in Castro Urdiales, then off to explore some new depressions. First to a large one with lime dump, on the south flank of Peña de Otañes. Large vulture-like birds feasting on cattle carcasses were the main feature; well-washed limestone at the bottom, but no entrances. A warm climb to large entrances 50m above led only to rock shelters, and some minor passage below where it was just possible to get ‘out of sight of daylight’; 50m in all, with a possible round trip and pitch. Carried on down the track, but only dry fossil resurgence remnants were found. Back to Castro for Chuletillas, etc.
14.06	Headed east. Roadworks forced a diversion south, just where we had intended to leave the main road anyway. Over the hill to Toyu, exploring some minor depressions, then on to La Hermida for an “authentic” axed chicken and seafood Paella followed by bacon chops. Paddock above Roza On the way to La Hermida, Mike had spotted an interesting road and Cueva above Roza, so after lunch we backtracked and headed up the track. Enventually forced to stop at altitude c.580m by deep gullies in the road; a hot 3km/+500m walk in the sun took us in 90 minutes to a saddle with a paddock, above an enormous closed valley which should feed La Honda del Val Major. Not very promising, however. Eventually back to La Hermida for a tinto and on to Llanes, just in time for dinner.
15.06	First to Cueva de Caldueñin in case it was dry enough to be passable. It wasn’t, so we investigated a possible fossil inlet. El Mazuco village Then on to El Mazuco to locate Pozo de Fresno » (Ash Tree Pot), which was explored by OUCC in 1969-1971. It turned out to be conveniently close to a track running south from the village, and quite vertical (but with a convenient viewing ledge). Retreated to El Mazuco for Fabada and Chuletillas, the latter cooked on the open grill at the bar/restaurant.
16.06	East to the Purón valley, psyched-up for a trudge up the hill. Delighted to find the old track is now surfaced, though we were stopped by roadworks just short of the saddle. Soon exploring the familiar entrances of El Cuevón de la Pruneda (AKA Purón cave), and explored the dry series near the entrance (previously largely ignored). As an experiment, exited by the light of a PhotonLight key-fob white LED torch; very successful. Also investigated sundry rock shelters, and the route up to Viango for future reference, before returning to the car for some heroic reversing by Bill to get the car down to a turning-place.
17.06	Map-shopping, then west of Ribadesella to look at Cueva Rosa and its depression. Very foggy and damp, and with suspect maps we barely managed to circumnavigate the depression, let alone find the cave. Dampened enthusiasms were restored by a pleasant lunch at Mesón Miño in Ribadesella (Fabada, Escalope, etc., €8). Spent the afternoon investigating possible routes to Cueva Negra. Did not get far up the track from Santillanes, so around the mountains to Llamigo (unsuccessful) and finally a westerly track starting just north of the river bridge on the way to Nueva. Parked the car after a longish drive at +270m and a walk in sun took us up to the line of depressions behind Tinganón, and fine views from a saddle with gnarled pine trees. A classic ridge descent then circled us back to the car just before fog and mist descended. Dinner at El Retiro.
18.06	Poor weather forecast, so off to Fuente Dé, stopping in Potes for shopping. On arrival at the cable car, the clouds were low (1600m) so the high Picos would have been wet & cold. Retreat back down the road for lunch, then slowly back to Llanes, with side-trips to Colio, San Esteban, etc.
19.06	Wet. First to La Pareda to look for the resurgence reported by OUCC as “near the Bar Roxia”. Unable to find even the bar (or any locals foolish enough to be out in the rain), we abandoned the search and went on to Posada and then Ribadesella for lunch (market day). Still wet, so head inland to Arenas in hope of better weather. By now, even in Arenas, the cloud base was down to 400m, so track-bashing pointless – though Bill did find a copy of the film Gentes sin Historia so not an entirely wasted trip. Headed back to Llanes, with a spot of drive-in caving at ‘Cueva Geoffo’ on the way.
20.06	The day of the Spanish General Strike. Breakfast in the hotel with lights off and curtains closed so no one could see the staff working. Wet and gloomy; everything (except the duty pharmacy) closed, including all the bars and restaurants. Off to El Mazuco for a soggy walk to explore the saddle beyond Pozu de Fresno. Back to the village, where even there the bar is closed (and the square is full of men, talking seriously). Back down to the coast to hunt for food; finally a rather stale Bocadillo de Queso was secured at El Brao. Back to La Pareda to look for Bar Roxia again. Found it – closed of course! Still no luck in finding the fabled resurgence. Back to Llanes, where only one restaurant was open; Antonio’s Pizzaría Sabor Latino. Only one of his staff had turned up, and the bar was packed, so it took 3 hours to be served – but better than no food at all...
21.06	The sun is out and the town is open! Inland to Arenas, then loop north-east via Alles. Unpromising tracks still 300m below the limestone wall when became unpassable. Saddle en route to Oceñas Back to Arenas with a side trip to Oceañas; the latter sits in its own limestone closed valley; no sign of a cave, but idyllic. The track beyond Oceañas looks passable; worth a visit with good maps. Lunch in Arenas; back to Llanes where Mike takes a long walk along the cliffs to Cue and Ballota to look at the blowholes.
22.06	On the way to Suarias via La Borbolla route, we spot a big depression shown on the map, above Andinas; noted for a return visit. On to Suarias and beyond, up the track to Cabañuca. At the cave entrance we give the animal pen a wide berth, and headed down the streamway and soon reached the 10m pitch. Fortunately this can be bypassed via an unlikely inlet leading up on the left, we progressed to the next (3m+) pitch. This proved a bit too vertical for our limited equipment, so we left it until we can return with a short ladder or SRT gear. Late lunch in Panes, drove east to Castro, dined well and had an early night.
23.06	Uneventful trip to the airport and back to UK. Mike’s caving gear arrives on the same flight as he does, for the first time in 3 years.

Personnel: Bill Collis & Mike Cowlishaw.

Other log details:

Exchange rate: 65p = 1 Euro = 166 pesetas (255 pts/GBP). Follow-up list. Speleogroup organizational matters (decide to set up website, etc.).

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