Fire Lookout, Barranco Blanco, Coin

What a glorious day, weatherwise, it was for a walk in the wonderful Barranco Blanco (White Ravine) area of Coin, there were clear blue skies, bright sunshine but a breeze that at times was quite cool.

The walk started from the Rio Nacimiento car park with its picnic areas and the lake which today had its fountain working. The route leaves the car park and takes us up a stony path on an easy gradient and leads us to the picnic area in the trees near to the Spots Stadium. This stadium is in the middle of nowhere and with only recently improved tracks to get to it, to me it looks like a typical Spanish White Elephant. Our route then takes us across the almost moorland landscape, with splendid views of the forest all around.

After we have crossed this open ground we take another stony track with an easy gradient to start with but gradually gets steeper until we reach the tarmac road that leads into the Finca la Fuenta area, with its stream and waterfalls and the legend that the Timotei shampoo advert was filmed there.

We then take the track that leads not only to the Fire Lookout but also to a recently added Mirador. The track rises gently toward the first viewing point, and we are rambling through tall standing Pines with occasional glimpses through the woods of views over the Guadlehorce valley and beyond. The first view point is reached to the sound of some Ooos and Wows as the spectacular view is revealed. We take a short break here for a group photo and the opportunity for the taking of many more pics, this point gave us some very clear views down to the coast as well as to Alhaurin Golf and the Sierra de  Mijas.

It’s then a backtrack along the track and then onto the access track to the Fire Lookout, this is now manned for 12 hours per day from May to October following the tragic fire three years ago when it was only manned 3 days per week, and the fire started on a day when the Lookout was empty. As we get back onto the access track we spot some half a dozen Deer just down the slope from us, a real added bonus as they are normally very shy. The track takes another easy incline, but then we come across a tree that has fallen across the track and required a bit of Limbo dancing to get through.

It would seem that the Brica fire authority will have some clearing work to do before they can man the lookout in a few weeks time. From passing this brief obstacle we reach yet another viewing point before continuing up a slightly steeper incline to reach the Lookout Post, this after negotiating yet another fallen Pine. These must have been victims of the unusually high winds that we have been experiencing of late.

After a short climb we reach the Lookout building to more Ooos and Wow’s, because the views from here are even better than from the first Mirador. It is now time to take in some sustenance and the wonderful views. From here there are virtually 360 deg views that stretch for miles. The ideal place to site a lookout post, ahead of us are views down into the Secret orGerman Valley and in the far distance the Mediterranean Sea. Behind we have views beyond Alora and towards El Torcal.

Time now to start the descent back, but not before a slight detour to view the Finca la Fuenta area and the waterfalls. The route backtracks past and through the fallen trees and returns to the Tarmac Road, then it is straight across and along another easy track, giving us views across the valley, and after a while arrive at the lower edge of the old El Dorado studios. We then take the seemingly never ending ‘white’ track back down to the Spots Stadium and return to the car park on the path that we started on.

It was another successful ramble with everyone saying how much they enjoyed it, this route is always a joy and one that I never tire of doing.

To see all the photos from this walk follow this link or visit the Page

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Ruta de Canca – Alora

It was Thursday and it’s ‘día del descubrimiento’, this is when a small group of us go out and check-out a new route that we have never done before. Today is was a route that I found on the Ayuntamiento Alora tourismo site.  The first surprise was that the car park where we were to start from was almost full, but fortunately we did get parked and off we went.

The start of the walk was down a very steep hill on the edge of town, and it always amazes me how the little old bandy legged Spanish grandma’s manage to negotiate these climbs. We cross the road, past a few terraced houses, and head off into the campo. The early part of the walk is along tarmac roads but these soon end and we are onto the familiar compacted gravel surface. We pass a number of villas and Olive groves and have the view across the Guadlhorce valley on one side and the cliffs of Monte Hacho on the other. The route winds and undulates between villas and orchards and eventually we have the rare view of arable land ahead of us.

We now have views across to Alhaurin and Coin but still with the cliffs of Monte Hacho on our right. It is amazing that these are still standing because their composition is of a loose sand and gravel mixture, indeed holes are visible where birds have constructed their homes in the rock faces.

We now take a left and follow a track that leads around a very active working farm, and this is where the highlight of the walk came. A coral of kids (baby goats), all of which were very inquisitive and friendly, we spent some time here relaxing in the glories of nature. We continue around the edge of the farm and past what presumably were the kids parents, and out into the country with fabulous open views across the valley of Arroyo de Alcuna. Our route then takes us to the ‘Roman’ Fuenta which unfortunately was very short of water by big on rubbish!

We then head back to the start and shortly rejoin the route that we had taken at the start, it’s then the steep climb back to the car park.

The weather was again very kind to us with clear blue skies and plenty of sunshine; however the wind was quite strong and did have a bite to it.

There were a few short sharp inclines and my legs knew that they had done a good walk, but this was a very successful route that was well liked by everyone and will definitely be included in the itinerary.

More photos of this walk can be found on the pages in the right hand column.

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Huerta de Coin

Another record broken today, as we had 35 souls on the walk today and we are becoming truly international with members from Switzerland, Holland, Austria, USA, Canada and Sweden and not forgetting that the Brits come from all over the UK including Scotland and Wales. With so many it meant that parking was going to be a problem so we initially met at the Cortijo Benitez and then consolidated into as few vehicles as possible. We then drove the 4 km to the start of the walk along the Agricultural road to Alozaina which fortunately has been resurfaced for much of its length. Even though we had reduced the number of cars down to about 8 we just about managed to get them all parked safely at the starting point of the walk.

The first part of the walk is along the actual camino (road) which is bounded by mainly Olive plantations.

After a while the route drops down into the Rio Grande valley where we take our first stop to let the group catch up. With so many of differing abilities it is important that we have someone at the very back to make sure that no one gets left. This job usually falls to Alan K, so as always a big thanks to him for his ‘herding’ abilities. We continue along the tarmaced road until we reach the track that takes us into the heart of the countryside.

The last time that I did this walk the track was just a couple of ruts where 4x4’s and farm vehicles had driven, but now it had been topped with compacted sand and gravel and even concreted in places, this was a much more pleasant surface to walk on. We follow this track through the arable fields with crops starting to show through until we reach the next direction change.

The route then takes us up the first serious gradient and still on the recently improved surface. As we approached a very isolated property, I was informed that this was owned by a friend of one of our group, who came out to greet us. Unfortunately there was too many of us to impose for tea and cake. We continue up the incline to the top where we are afforded 360 deg views. Time for a break and some refreshments. In one direction Sierra Gordo is in sight whilst in the opposite direction the Sierra de los Nieves are looming large with still a small capping of snow.

After taking in some sustenance and the views we continued on our way across the brow of the hill and past the field of sheep, and with cattle in the next field and down into the valley of the Arroyo de los Piedras.  We then turn onto the track that takes us back to the start, but first we have to cross the Rio Grande again, and time for the group photo. The camino then starts its gentle incline and we pass through a farm with a barn of young calves. In this area there are quite a few properties including one with a very large Goat, and another with an ancient Almond orchard.

The walk then continues up the incline and through the Olive groves and back to the start.

The weather was again kind to us, with blue skies and fluffy clouds, although when exposed to the wind it was both strong and chilly, whereas when sheltered from the wind the sun was very warm.

The next stop was to collect our vehicles parked at the Restaurante Cortijo Benitez and a well deserved beverage. I think that we somewhat overwhelmed the place as they weren´t expecting a group of over 25 thirsty walkers, but they coped well.

For more photos go to the page for this walk

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Cuava Santa, Monda

This was the first of our Thursday Group walks, a few of us had been taking ourselves out on Thursdays to find and try out new routes, and we agreed that it would be good to open them up to everyone. There were 11 of us on this week’s hike which took us to the Cuava Santa in the mountains above the village of Monda. None of us had done this route before and did not know what to expect so an adventure was had by all.

We consolidated into only 3 vehicles and were able to find somewhere to park on the country road that goes to Istan. The weather was again very kind to us with clear bright blue skies and warm sunshine, even the wind was much subdued on the actual walk, although it did remind us of its strength when we reached the summit.

The route started on a quite well maintained tarmac road, although it was only single track with a drop into the virtually dry gorge on one side and cliff faces on the other. We then reached the start of the route up to the cave which was actually quite well signed. When I had plotted the route it showed a category 2 climb (5 being the slightest and 1 being the steepest) and indeed there was, right at the very start, the surface was very good concrete, and rubber tipped sticks had the advantage over my metal tipped staff for getting some purchase and assisting.

With a steady plod it was soon climbed and the effort was compensated by the views. We passed a couple of small fincas and on this rare occasion we heard no barking dogs protecting their property. The concrete track turned into a very reasonable dirt track and the steepness reduced, but the incline continued.

The Orange blossom was just starting to appear and its wonderful heady fragrance was in evidence. The track was bounded by some typical flora and fauna of wild Rosemary, wild sage, Asphidal and wild Lavender, there was, of course, the usual abundance of Pine trees housing the deadly caterpillar nests, but fortunately these were well scattered and not right adjacent to the track.

The relentless incline continued, but with every turn the views became more amazing, over the valley to Alozaina and Yunquera in one direction and Pizzara and Alora in another. We eventually came to a col and we now had a virtually 360 deg vista. It seems that each walk that we do has views that are better than the previous one, but I think in truth it’s just that they are all so different.

It was a good job that the route to the Cuava (cave) was signed as the track leading off to the left could have been easily missed, as the cave was not visible at all from the track, but I was equipped with the route in GPX on my phone so there was no chance of us getting lost.

The path to the cave was very narrow and entailed quite a bit of climbing over rocks and then it emerged onto a grassy plateau at the mouth of the cave, complete with information board. One of our group was equipped with a light and explored further in but it was blocked at about 50 mtrs. Lots of religious paraphernalia had been deposited in the cave and the really surprising thing was that there was a visitor’s book to sign.

After some time exploring the cave and then admiring the views we rejoined the track via the rocky path and headed for the summit. Just before the very top was a convenient flat area to stop and take on board refreshments. A few of us headed off for the summit leaving some resting, socialising and taking in the views that now included the coast.

One of the noticeable features of this route was the tranquillity, it was very quiet but unfortunately we didn't see any of the wildlife although we did find evidence of wild boar. There was at one point, on the route down, a buzzard soaring above which was an awesome sight.

The route back was down the same track that we had ascended on but with views in a different direction. We arrived back at the cars without incident and decided that a celebratory beverage was required, which we took in one of the bars in Monda, with everyone looking forward to our next adventure.

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The discovery of the Roman Silver Mines

One of our walking group, Mr Alan Kenah, had arranged with the U3A Hill Walking Group to showcase one of the walks that he and I did a few weeks back. Namely the Quarry and Roman Silver mine in the Jarapalo area of the Sierra de Mijas near to Alhaurin de la Torre.

The weather was indeed kind to us today with clear blue skies and plenty of sunshine, but a very strong and fresh wind.

Our walk started from the usual place just past the entrance to the shooting range and we had taken the precaution of starting earlier as we were expecting the parking to be limited given that it was Bank Holiday. This proved to be sensible as when we left, cars were parked on the road side and the last one was almost a kilometre from the actual start of the walk.

The route that we had planned was in fact two normal length routes, but we thought that we would combine them for the purpose of showing the U3A participants options if they wanted to recommend a route to their members.

We start on reasonably surfaced tracks as this route has been used by works vehicle whilst the building of the new Visitors Centre has been taking place and a number of other improvements.

The route to the top of the quarry is a continuous 8 km incline, and although it’s not particularly steep it is unrelenting. Once we leave the enclosed forest area we have open views right across the valley of the Rio Guadlehorce to the snow covered Sierra Navada’s beyond, and to Malaga and its bay. As we climb higher the small villages high up in the Monte Malaga become visible.

After the 8 km climb we reach the very narrow, steep and rocky path that takes us up to the mirador above the Quarry. From this point you overlook the Higeron area of Fuengirola and on a really clear day the coast of North Africa would be visible. We decided that this was the place to take our snacks but spent most of the time trying to find a spot out of the howling gale that was blowing.

The start of our route back takes us a little higher and meets the main track that would eventually take hikers to La Bola, but we retrace our route until we reach the Fuente,

and this is the dividing point of the two walks, and we take the track that now leads down to the Silver mines. After a short way we detour to visit the old caravan site, where the new visitors centre has been built, but not yet open, this is an ideal place for a picnic with its magnificent views towards Malaga.

We leave this and continue our decline which takes us past the helicopter landing area and the water reservoir for the forest fire fighters, and after a somewhat steep decline we reach the bottom track. Another detour here to the Roman Silver Mines, which on our previous visits we have not actually found the mine entrance but to our good fortune there was a Spanish family, who wanted to practice their English and were proud to show us the way into the mines.

There be Silver in them there hills!

Unfortunately the photos are not good so I am hoping for better luck on our next visit. This was truly a magic experience and I am looking forward to our next visit in a few weeks time.

From here we start our trek back to the parking area, and whilst we are now much lower than earlier the views are no less amazing. This track needs some care as there are a lot of loose stones and is not of the same standard as earlier. We pass the isolated house and continue through the Pine forest back to the start. Once again I am glad that I left a rather upset BarneyWoo behind, because we saw some very long processions’ of caterpillars, they are still very prevalent and the damage done to the trees is now very apparent.

After a 20km and 5 hour hike the sit down with a cup of coffee at the Mirador Hotel (where some of the cars had been left) was very welcome.

I personally felt a great sense of achievement, because I have organised a 20km sponsored walk at the end of April, and this gave me a good idea of the timing and proved that I can do it. 

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Alpujata Ramble, Monda – Part II

Although I, and a few others on this walk, had done this same route a couple of weeks back with the U3A group, the route is so good no-one minded doing it again so soon.

The weather angels smiled on me today and the various weather forecasters actually got their predictions virtually spot on. It was forecast to rain yesterday evening and be finished by about 21:00, it did exactly that and this morning brought almost clear skies, some good sunny intervals but very strong winds and dramatically dropped temperatures compared to those that we have been experiencing of late.

Everyone found the meeting place, which was new to most of the group, but it was me that was more nervous as I had done this route a couple of times but always as part of a group, and you tend not to take a great deal of notice of turns and forks when someone else is leading. Fortunately my memory of studying the route on Google Earth and a couple of quick questions to Janet, that went unnoticed by the rest of the group, kept us on the correct trajectory.

The start of the walk is through the village of Monda which is a typical ‘pueblo blanco’ or White village, with its narrow streets, however our route was out of town on the main through road. This leads us to the Roman Road and its very slippery stone surface but, with care,

was negotiated without incident. We then cross the Arroyo de Casarin
which fortunately was still dry. I have to admit that after the rain of the evening before I was somewhat relieved that it was still dry! Following this the route is along well made tracks between fenced Olive groves leading to the main road into Monda, which we have to follow for about 100 mtrs before we cross it and take to the countryside.

We follow reasonably surfaced tracks that were only very slightly affected by the previous evening’s rain. The track then turns into a single file path which was in surprisingly good condition with only one short stretch that was muddy, but it was like that 2 weeks ago without any rain. This path takes us past the Kitchen factory and a small industrial estate, and again Olive groves, and then we emerge onto the hardest part of the walk.

This is a quite steep incline of almost a kilometre but it has a good concrete surface and is easily achieved at one’s own pace. I did lie to Bernie and tell him that there was a Bar at the top so he strode ahead and we found a very disappointed Bernie waiting for us at all the top.

We then enter the main wooded area and after I had given a short talk on the dangers of the Processionary Caterpillars, it was fortunate that we actually never saw any at all; probably the rain had kept them at bay. The track that we are now on winds around the terrain and affording excellent views of the snow capped Sierra de los Nieves (Mountains of Snow) and in places the village of Monda and it’s Castle. The valley of Arroyo de Alpujata now comes into view and we have a fairly steep but steady decline into it, with the rock cliffs to our left getting higher with each bend on our descent.

Apparently this valley was occupied by a Hippy Commune in the late 60’s and early 70’s but unfortunately there is very little evidence left, except a certain calm about the place.

Our walk has almost finished and we walk a steady incline and decline to the underpass under the main A355. We are then back into civilization with the villages beautiful narrow streets and Geranium festooned balconies.

It is then a well deserved beverage at the bar in the square with the monument to the local miners, and then back to the car Park.

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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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