The mouth of the Cares gorge at Poncebos

The Cares path was built in the 1940s to service a hydroelectric channel, and it runs twelve kilometres from Poncebos to Caín, carved into a vertical wall a hundred metres above the river. A photo session uses the first kilometre or two: that is where the gorge already looks like itself, and where the path is wide, dry and easy underfoot.

The first stretch climbs steadily from the Poncebos car park to a col, then contours into the gorge. Once inside, the two walls frame everything and the river runs turquoise a long way below. Because the walls are so high, direct sun only reaches the bottom of the gorge in the middle of the day; the rest of the time the light is a soft, bounced grey-green that suits portraits better than the harsh version.

On the other side of the bridge at Poncebos, the funicular to Bulnes climbs inside the mountain to a village with no road access. It is a two-minute ride and gives a completely different set: stone houses, no cars at all, and the Naranjo de Bulnes standing above them on a clear day.

This is a mountain path with unfenced drops in places, so footwear matters more than outfits. The Poncebos car park is small and fills by nine in August, and the last section of road in is narrow. Loose stones fall after heavy rain, and the path is occasionally closed for repairs — check its status before planning the session around it.