Allan C; Ruta del Cares is 7 miles or 11km each way, so if you're not back-packing it's 14 miles or 22 km back to the hotel! However not as hard a walk as some in the area - just lonnnnnnnggggggg! There's a "bar" halfway along where they put whole crates of cerveza and agua in the canal to keep them cool! Time this thread was turned into New Year resolutions: one of mine was to burn less midnight oil on Mudcat so it's broken already!