First Stage: 42km circular route starting and finishing at the Medieval Castillian Village of Ros.
The conquest of Hispania by the Romans lasted 200 years from 219 BC to 19 BC. The last Celtic tribes of the North West held out for decades, these tribes were characterized as extremely aggressive and indomitable. The fighting was so savage and resistance so fierce that seven Roman legions were called into duty. There was such a high loss of life that many Roman soldiers refused to fight or mutinied. The Legion, the I Augusta, even suffered the humiliation of being forbidden to use the legion´s name and banner as a punishment for their incompetence. Finally The Emperor Augustus himself arrived in command of his army in 26BC, and through his leadership, the Romans set up for the next seven years a permanent siege of the remaining hill fort cities until the last Celtic tribes were finally defeated and the “Pax Romana” imposed.
The Legendary hill fort city of Bravum on the edge of the Cantabrian mountains in the North West of Burgos was notorious during the Roman conquest as it held out against the persistent siege for decades and was the origin of the guerilla resistance that continuously humiliated the Roman legions. However when Augustus lead the final push, the freedom loving Warriors of the Turmogi Clan, physically diminished by years of ruthless siege, feared the inevitable and decided to vanish rather than be slaughtered or enslaved by the Romans. Thus one early morning in Spring they left the hill fort city disappearing without trace leaving the Romans bewildered. The Warriors choose to flee taking with them the seeds of the poisonous Yew tree to eat incase of capture as they preferred death over slavery. They and their families took with them the bones of their ancestors and a few worthwhile possessions into the thick forrests, narrow valleys and steep canyons of the head waters of the River Urbel from whence their forefathers had originally come from.
Stage 1 Begins at the Base camp in the Village of ROS and heads out in a northerly direction along a wide track up to the high plateau above the valley of the River Urbel, it then goes down towards the outsquirts of the village of Huermeces where the first control is situated. After crossing the road the stage keeps heading north up through a dwarf oak forest before heading sharply down to the river Urbel. After 11.5km the first Check point is situated at a small road crossing. The stage then heads in a westerly direction to the Perul Peak (CP2) at 1160m above sea level where there was an ancient Celtiberian hill fort city situated. The stage continues through forests, up and down several more valleys around the historic Turmogan heartlands passing through a few very remote villages before finally descending back into the beautiful Medieval Castillian Village of Ros where the Base camp is situated.
The Druids at the opening Ceremony
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