Peso Da Regua to Braganca via Alvao National Park

A good downpour in the night left us contemplating weather and route options over breakfast. In the end most of us decided to ride the planned route and see how the weather fairs. By the time we were underway the sky had brightened and liked more promising. Nevertheless I had my liners in my suit and over jacket in the top box ready for any change. The route today takes us back up north to Braganca. We were underway just after 9 heading south west following the Douro in the opposite direction to yesterday climbing high into the hills and terraced vinyards.

We found a great little cafe in one of the hillside communities overlooking a valley of olive groves. The rest of the group arrived a little later just as we were leaving. Quite amazing to see how high up we had climbed too, and it seemed the climb was continuing up higher and higher along the N211 towards Juncal. 

On the way up we could see huge concrete bridge structures in the distance spanning the valleys along with other roads snaking up high too.  Eventually we climbed right up into the cloud base , the roads quite dry at this stage but as the rise topped out into a forested section the rain started with visibility low now, and that fine rain hanging off my visor. However, on the way down the sunshine appeared on the other side. The road twisted right up under those huge generator windmills near Amarante. We were both surprised at how high we had climbed now visibility was better revealing the huge vista to our left.
The view kept getting better right across the valley below. This was turning out to easily rival the Alps in its grandeur, road surface and the fast flowing bends.  Some time after taking these photos Kevin appeared on his 1250 GS alone without Sean and Gerry this time, clearly having a lot of fun he followed me down the ridge where Steve was waiting, and then took off into the distance. I followed for a while and flipped to Dynamic to improve the engine response but eventually lost him as he shot off down the valley.

Some time later we took a right turn on to the M1200 following what looked like a country lane. At first, while waiting for Steve I wondered if I had the correct route.As it turned out the road led us in to the fantastic Parque Natural do Alvao (National Park).

The scenery was amazing all covered in yellow 'Broom' as it's called, with a superb gnarly 'GS' road. Kevin was waiting just off a bend so we rode together on what turned out to be a real highlight of the day passing through rocky outcrops and a hill farm passing by a farmyard nervously  with pack of loose dogs. No trouble from the dogs in the end, we continued through the park overtaking a farmer walking his cows. Later we found a small restaurant full of workmen on their lunch break. Great service with basic food this lamb dish cost 8 euros with a Fanta and really filling too. We caught up with Sean and Gerry at a Cafe spotting their bikes outside. We had a chat swapped stories had a quick coffee and left them to their meal.  Later in the day Sean and Gerry passed us as we were refuelling. Kevin took off after them and I was last leaving the petrol station so had a great time catching Steve up, and decided to see if I could gain ground on the other three. Eventually I could see the flicker of Sean's K1600 across the valley between the trees so the chase was on. Within a few miles I caught them and had a spirited ride tailing them for a while before we all stopped for Ice Creams before the final leg to the hotel.

Our stay tonight is at the Pousada Braganca, excellent location with all rooms overlooking the valley and the castle with walled village. Great food and service, the Cod was very nice and gave us chance to sample some local wine too.