EL Condao - La Xamoca (I)

La Xamoca, at 1,281 metres altitude, it is the mos significant mountain which belongs to a small mountain range which limits the municipalities of Laviana, Sobrescobio and Caso. It occupies a priviledged place within the Trapa mountain range, of a bright shape of limestone and a summit extension, from which la Collada de Arnicio stretches out towards the north-west (N-W), till it joins the the Breza hill with the Peña Mayor mountain range.

The forest, located in scattered areas of its geography, forms a vital community. In the lower areas there is a predominance of the deciduous species (chestnut, humerus, salguera, ash, hazel, etc). While the beechwood tree is predominantly situated in the high areas at 700 metres with preference on the slopes orientated to the north.
the shepherds´cabins, most of them perfectly restored, their rural architecture stands out in the lush meadows.
La Xamoca dominates the beautiful landscape of outstanding mountaineering prestige, like Peña Busllar, Trapa, Cerro del Rosellón y el Arrudu. This entire enviroment of mountains, surrounded by folds and terraced villages on its slopes.

We begin this mountain route in the village of the Condao, along the LV-6 road (Condao - La Ferrera). Soon we find ourselves at a crossroad, we take the one which goes up to the village, which stands at 420 m altitude, on the western slopes (W), of la Peña La Aldea. We find ourselves in its different neighbourhoods the Casona de los Menéndez, which is a historic and artistic monument, with an inscription "By the law and by the king", the building dates back to the sixteenth century.
To the east (E), of the palace is the village, which distributes its houses between "tracks" where the classic ambience oozes from a village. Four raised granaries and two grain stores, next to their houses, form the cultural ethnographic knowledge of the town.

We leave the village along a place near the house where you can park your car (and where we can take ours if we want) and after passing the water trough, we go towards the left along an agricultural path which leads to the north, on a slope which offers us views of the landscape of Peña Mayor and the villages of La Ferrera and La Sierra. We continue along the path and we enter the valley and its river Riasco del Monte, crossing it a short time later The farmhouse of Sacadiella, which has a recently built raised granary. Just after passing it we continue forward, we pass a path on our left, progressing along a slight slope amongst a woodland of chestnut trees with samples of enormous dimensions. At the next crossing a bypass continues ahead to Calencia, but we turn to the right following the route with the widest dimension, which goes up the permanent slope and with great bends on the western sloper (W) of Pico Peña Blanca, scattered with chestnut trees, some of which have a perimetre of six metres.
The winding path which leaves us without breath as we continue and pass an area marked with rural stables, El Toral (617metres). The first stable has been conditioned to live in, even with a garage. We continue climbing to the next crossroad, whose direction to the left dies at a nearby stable, we continue along the path on the right. We arrive at a spring with a water trough and the view of Breza opens with its path marking its short curves.