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Thursday, 25 February 2016

Monte Hacho, Alora – February 25th 2016

Thursdays are the day when a few of us go out to discover and try new routes, today there was just the three of us and it was lucky that we tested this route before we tackled it with a group of 30 souls.  This route was one that I found on a site on the Internet that someone else had done, but it was slightly different at the start to the ‘official’ version on the Ayuntamiento Alora website but cut out the part of the route that went through town.

We parked up outside of a very large sports complex, and armed with the GPX file on my smart phone, we followed the said route. After less than 100 mtrs we encountered locked gates across the track, but luckily there was a gap between the gates and the wall wide enough for three slim hikers to squeeze through. We followed the path around a large water deposito that obviously fed the local houses with their water, but what a waste, it had a huge leak and water was just running g down a drain. The path led us to the enclosure of the communication masts and again looked like a dead end but fortunately both access gates were open and we were able to pass straight through the enclosure. After descending a flight of concrete steps we followed a path across an Olive grove and to another set of locked gates, this really did look like there was no way out. Sitting on a low wall on the other side of the fence was an old weather beaten local Spanish man, who looked at us with some pity, and gestured to the far end of the field towards the row of terraced houses. Indeed this was our salvation and we were able to step down onto the access path to the rear of the houses and through the chained but unlocked gate. All of that would have been a bit embarrassing for me with full contingent of ramblers.

All of the walks that we do have been tried before, although things can change with time. If we do this walk again I will stick to the ‘official’ route!

At last we are on the right track and heading in the right direction. The track had a very good concrete surface but it was very steep, but the amazing views over Alora made the effort worthwhile. It was pointed out to me today that I use expressions like ‘fantastic’, spectacular’ and ‘amazing’ quite often to describe views. Those adjectives pale into insignificance to describe some of the views that we experienced today.

We kept climbing along reasonably surfaced tracks and now we are facing into a valley with steep cliffs and strange indents into the rocks that appeared to be made up entirely of crustaceans. The course of the route then took us onto a narrow and steep rocky path, negotiable only in single file. On either side of us were pine trees containing many both fresh and old caterpillar nests. These were overhanging the path and we needed to be very careful not to disturb them. Many of the pine trees were stripped of the needles where the evil creatures had feasted on them.

After a while and with a bit of effort we emerged onto another decent track, but were still on the incline. We then came to a junction with the track to the right leading to the actual summit of the Monte, we took this. It was whilst on this route that we were afforded views across to the Bay of Malaga no less, some 30 kms distant. We were also afforded views in the opposite direction to El Chorro and El Torcal. Before we reached the end of this track we decided to turn back as the route was in good condition and required no further investigation, and the views would be no better than we had already seen.

We rejoined the route that takes one around the edge of the Monte, passing many Almond and Olive trees and giving is vistas across to Caratraca and the wind turbines. This side of the Monte was more populated with many properties varying from one room fincas to grande villas with stunning views.
From now on the ramble was fairly pedestrian although some of the declines were quite steep and played on the knees. This track exited onto the road to Alora North and then immediately we took the road that led us back to the sports complex and our starting point.
This walk will be added to the group itinerary but we need to find a better start to the route before we tackle it again, and it will definitely be graded as a 4.75 because of the steepness of some of the climbs.

A worthwhile hike and a very satisfying route.

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