In the whitewashed Spanish village of Alozaina, about 40 minutes from Marbella, is a very special center, called Casa de Pepe Bravo. The center takes in the socially unfortunate, helps them, and teaches them the crafts and skills needed to work productively. If you live in the area, it’s a place you must visit!
Trips
17
Oct 11
Oct 11
Cycling through the chestnut valley
It’s October, and that means it’s the season for the chestnut harvest in the nearby Valle del Genal.
We left Marbella this morning around 10am, heading up the Carretera de Ronda where we stopped (as usual) at the Venta Navisillo for a late-morning breakfast. It was an absolutely beautiful morning — cool, crisp, sunny and blue. Perfect for a bike ride.
09
May 10
May 10
El Chorro – Camino del Rey
This Saturday we visited another intriguing and spectacular area of Andalucia — the city of El Chorro, and its historic “Camino del Rey.” El Chorro, about an hour northeast of Marbella, is a small city that sits at the base of the “Desfiladero de los Gaitanes,” one of the world’s most impressive canyons, with a depth of over 700 meters (2,300 ft). Back in 1901, the King of Spain, wishing to visit the El Chorro electrical installation had a pathway — known as the “Camino del Rey” — constructed along the side of the canyon walls.
Continue reading →01
May 10
May 10
Hike: Cañon de las Buitreras.
This 6km round-trip hike took us from the Estación de Cortes de la Frontera to the famous Cañon de las Buitreras (Vulture Canyon). Again, it was an absolutely astounding hike — and the bridge crossing the canyon could easily be the centerpiece of a national park. Continue reading →
24
Apr 10
Apr 10
Hike: Benaojan to Montejaque Loop.
On this beautiful spring Saturday in Andalucia, we decided to do a hike from Benaojan to Montejaque. Leaving Marbella early in the morning, and stopping for coffee and a catalana breakfast at our favorite venta along the Ronda road, we arrived in Benaohan at around 10:30 to start the hike. Although Pino and I have covered all of this hike, in bits, during the various 101 km de Ronda and Homenaje events, we’d not done this particular 12 km loop before. It turned out to be probably one of the most beautiful hikes we’ve done. Continue reading →
29
Mar 10
Mar 10
Homenaje de los 101km de Ronda.
Each year in March, “La Sufrida” organize an event in Ronda, Spain, in homage to their annual “101km of Ronda” race (which takes place in May). The March “Homenaje,” just like its big brother in May, offers three modes of participation — a 69 km mountain bike ride, a 44 km run or a 70 km duathlon (run and bike). Last weekend, Pino and I participated in the event — her doing the run (crazy, I know), and me doing the mountain bike ride. Continue reading →
29
Mar 10
Mar 10
Hike to Puerto Martínez.
It’s springtime in Andalucia, and that means weekend hikes. On Sunday, we drove out towards Casarabonela (about 45 minutes from Marbella), to hike the 3.5 km trail around Puerto Martínez. Continue reading →
14
Aug 09
Aug 09
Nacimiento del Rio Grande.
The Rio Grande river begins its journey at the mouth of a cave near Yunquera, Spain, and makes its way down through the mountains and just by the Tolox venta where we like to have lunch on the weekends.
For quite some time, we’ve been wanting to visit the river source (“nacimiento,” in Spanish), having heard that it’s a particularly beautiful place. Unfortunately, however, neither the routes we’ve found in books, nor the ones we found on the web have accurately described how to find the place. On our first attempt, two weeks ago, we simply couldn’t find it.
This past weekend, we tried again, and this time we did find it. In this blog article, we’ll describe how to get there, and point you to the trip page we created at EveryTrail.com, where you can download the GPS track file, to ensure your own ability to find it.
30
Mar 09
Mar 09
Homenaje de Ronda, 2009
Background.
Every May, thousands of people from around the world gather in Ronda, Spain, to subject themselves to the grueling endurance event known as the 101km of Ronda, hosted and organized by the Spanish professional military, La Legión. A bit lesser known, this group also organize a warm-up even in March, known as the Homenaje de los 101km de Ronda. While I’ve done the 101km three times now, this was the first year that I participated in the Homenaje.
This past Sunday, we got up early–especially early, given the switch to Daylight Savings Time–dropped the kids off at the grandparents, and headed off to Ronda. I’d planned to do the 70km mountain bike ride, while my wife planned to do the 43km running option. We got to Ronda about an hour later, parked and headed to the start area.
14
Sep 08
Sep 08
Alto Chorrillo to the Siete Lagunas (Sierra Nevada)
Although it’s still wonderfully warm here at sea level in Marbella, it’s quickly getting cold in the Alpujarras and Sierra Nevada, and so thought this could be our last weekend to try camping at the Siete Lagunas. Setting out early Saturday morning, we arrived in Capileira in time to catch the 3:00 PM bus up to the Alto Chorrillo, where our three-hour hike to the Laguna Hondera would begin.
With advanced reservation, you can catch the bus to Alto Chorrillo from either Capileira, or, as we did, several kilometers up at the Hoya del Portillo. From Alto Chorrillo, you can hike to the Refugio de Poqueira, down to the city of Trévelez, up to the famous peak Mulhacén, or over to the beautiful Siete Lagunas (seven lakes).
As is typical in Spanish national parks, the trails are not well marked. Although we asked several people for directions, we were led ambiguously towards the Mulhacén, instead of the Siete Lagunas, which we realized after speaking with some folks heading down. Rather than turning around, and hiking all the way back down to the Alto Chorrillo to start over, we decided to hike straight up and over the mountain ridge, to join up with the trail which leads around the other side of the mountain to the Siete Lagunas.
Contrary to what many told us, the subsequent trail that leads down to the Siete Lagunas is actually marked, by the largish pile of stones shown in the following photo. (Note that on my EveryTrail.com page for this trip, I’ve included the two Siete Lagunas turn-off waypoints in the downloadable GPS track file.)
Traversing the mountain on the Trévelez side of the Mulhacén, at about 3,000 meters of altitude, we began closing in on the hidden Seven Lakes. It’s a stunning view from here, looking down the valley towards Trévelez. (Turns out, we were actually lucky to even be here! There was so much fog at the Alto Chorrillo, that the bus driver strongly recommended we spend the night at the Refugio Poqueira, instead of risking not finding the lakes and getting lost. We had a GPS though, felt adventurous, and decided to head to the lakes. It was the right decision, since we ended up climbing out of the fog at about 2,800 meters into gorgeous and stable weather.)
At about 7:30 PM, we crested the final ridge, looked down the steep slope into the gully below the Mulhacén, we saw our destination, Laguna Hondera, the lowest (and largest) of the seven lakes.
Although we sort of expected it, we were caught a little off-guard at how cold and windy it was. It seemed that the natural gully channeled cold winds directly off the Mulhacén down the valley towards Trévelez. We bundled up, quickly pitched the tent, and headed off to bed.
The next morning, we woke up about 7:00 am to an absolutely gorgeous sunrise over the valley.
We had a leisurely breakfast while watching the early-morning wild mountain goats and deer having a drink by the lake, and the other campers (two groups) waking and stretching by their tents. After packing everything up, we climbed out of the gully, and retraced our path back up the mountain, and back down to the Alto Chorrillo, where we caught the 12:15 am bus back down to the Hoya de Portillo.
What I really noticed about this trip, was the affect altitude makes. We only walked about 7km on Saturday, and 6km on Sunday, but I felt exhausted when we got back to the car. Of course, carrying much more equipment than usual had something to do with it, but even more so (I believe) the lack of oxygen at that altitude!
And, of course, it wouldn’t have been a proper trip to the Alpujarras, of course, without a stop off at Casa Julio, in Pampeneira for a good old Plato Alpujareño (this time with migas, instead of potatoes.)
Resources:
Full trip details, including downloadable GPS track and waypoints. at EveryTrail.com:
31
Aug 08
Aug 08
Pinsapo de la Escaleretas (Partial)
Feeling a bit knackered after yesterday’s 10km walk in the hot sun, we decided to take things easier today. Leaving Marbella at about 9:45 am, we drove up the Carretera de Ronda, stopping about 5km after the “Cruz de Hierro” at our favorite venta, La Navasilla, for some breakfast of toasted molletes with oil and tomato, and cafe con leche.
After breakfast, we drove back to the turnoff for Los Quejigales. We’d planned to park at Quejigales, and walk up to the lower peak on the route to the Torrecilla. However, about 5 kms out, we found the passage bar down, effectively shutting off the road. I guess the simply cut the access to the top in summertime.
After considering for a few minutes, we decided to drive down the dirt road to the right (where the Quejigales road was cut), and walk part of trail we’ve done in the past, Pinsapo de la Escaleretas.
30
Aug 08
Aug 08
Puerto Jacara & Fuente de los Hornaos (Sierra Prieta)
Continuing our exploration of all places Andaluz, we set off today to the Sierra Prieta, just behind the small pueblo of Casarabonela. Our plan was actually to climb up to the Sierra Prieta peak; however, driving along the dirt road up the mountain, we took one look at the exposed face where we’d eventually be driving, and decided to stop short about 3.7 km, and at least try walking towards what would have been the beginning of the trail.
Just a few hundred meters after the car, however, we spotted a turnoff towards a small peak, “Puerto Jacara,” and decided to shoot up to the top.
24
Aug 08
Aug 08
Pico de Juanar
The plan this morning called for an exploratory walk around the Refugio Juanar (about 20 minutes from Marbella, direction Ojén), to find and examine the trail that leads from Juanar to Istán.
Turned out that trail was very quick and easy to find, and after about 1.5 km, we decided to save it for another day, as the sun was coming out and getting hot on the exposed mountain over which the trail passes.
Turning around, we decided to return via the “Pico Juanar”, the second highest peak around here (after “La Concha”) at around 1,100 meters.
We’ve been to Pico Juanar several times in the past, but had nearly forgotten how steep the path is to the top. But it’s relatively short, and there was a foggy cloud over the mountain keeping the temperature down. Arriving to the top, the kids were quite happy to have made it (again). We snapped a couple of photos, and headed back down to the car.
Visit the Flickr photo set for the day.
View ALL the trip details at my EveryTrail.com page:
23
Aug 08
Aug 08
Mirador de Luis Ceballos
The area around Yunquera, in Andalucia’s “Sierra de las Nieves” is famous (maybe even world famous) for its concentration of beautiful and majestic “Pinsapo” pine trees. Although we’ve been there several times in the past, we decided to head up there early this morning, to take in some of the cool mountain air.
18
Aug 08
Aug 08
Weekend in the Alpujarras
AFTER AN INTENSE WEEK OF WORK, my wife’s suggestion on Friday to head off to the Alpujarras for the weekend was music to my ears. We did some quick Googling, found a nice apartment for rent in Bubión, loaded up the Jeep and hit the road.
27
May 07
May 07
Carrera de Alpandeire
This weekend we stayed again at the cabañas in Jimera de Libar, where, on Saturday morning, Pino ran in the first annual “Carerra de Alpandeire”, a 10 km mountain race. She finished 6th (in the female group), and had a great time!
13
May 07
May 07
101 km of Ronda
Each year in May, for the past 11 years, the Spanish Legionnaires (“La Legión”, a Spanish military wing) organizes the famous, “101 km of Ronda” event, in which the 5,000+ participants endure a 101 kilometer (66 miles) tour through the mountains and sierras surrounding the beautiful namesake city of Ronda.
My wife and I participated for the first time last year, 2006. Of the three participation modalities — running/walking, mountain bike, and duathlon — I did the mountain bike option, and finished in a leisurely nine hours. She did the walk, and ended up having to quit at 70 km, due to an oversight. Not anticipating the extreme overnight temperature drops in the Ronda sierras, she hadn’t thought to bring cold weather clothes, and ended up having to quit before hypothermia set in around 1:00 am.
So this year, 2007, she wanted to give another go, and I decided to accompany her in the walk, as far as possible. In short, I ended up quitting at 1:00 am at the 65 km point, and my wife ended up completing the walk, in 23 hours and 30 minutes — a mere half hour from the official cut-off! Let me tell you — walking 65 km, much less 100 (!) is one of the most challenging things I’ve ever done!
Preparations.
Unfortunately, there were very little preparations. We spent a lot of time thinking about what to pack, but precious little actually training. I think the only thing we did, was a 14 km walk one morning.
How it unfolded.
After a hard friday night of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu training, we got up Saturday morning early, and headed off to Ronda, arriving about 9:30 am, one and a half hours before the scheduled start of 11:00. We got our Ronda 101km “Passport” signed, and joined the other several hundred walkers in the middle of the football field, waiting for the start.
At 10:30, the big artillery guns fired, and the mountain bikers took off in a big bowl of dust. Us walkers then grouped up at the start, where 30 minutes later at 11:00, the guns fired again, and we were off.
To walk 100 km in 24 hours, taking into account breaks (and the Legionnaires have a water/food stop setup roughly every 5km), you actually have to walk at a pace that’s a bit faster than feels comfortable (to me), so our strategy was to jog the flats (at a roughly 6:30 min/km pace, and then walk the uphills (at a roughly 10:00 pace).
This worked out for the first 35 km or so, until we came to the massive climb after the city of Arriate. Good grief — four kilometers of near vertical climbing, and I was ready to quit. I’d already started forming some blisters on my feet, and my hip had started hurting. After a rest at the top, though, I decided to continue on.
The daylight hours were marked by very high temperatures, and a beating sun. I was glad to be wearing my venting hat, draped with a connected bandana, protecting ears and neck from the harsh sun. I was also glad to be wearing my hydration system, and tried to drink approximately one liter per hour. The organized rest stops, every 5 km, had isotonic drinks, fresh fruit, and in one stop, sandwiches.
As I expected, my wife (and it’s true, women are tougher than men) looked fresh as a rose all day.
As the sun went down, around 9:00 PM in the evening, we arrived in Setenil, a major rest point. (Many people starting the race actually plan to quit here.) A lot goes on at the Setenil stop — there are doctors to treat physical problems, physiotherapists to provide massage and ice treatments, and foot doctors (“podologos”) to treat foot problems. It’s also the first stop where you can have, in advance, a bag waiting for you, in which most people include their evening/cold-weather clothing. Due to the long lines one usually finds retrieving the bags, we took advantage of a gracious offer from a friend, Luis Pérez, to meet us there with our stuff.
After a sandwich and a stretch, I visited the medical tent, to have the podologos take a look at my blisters. I had two — one on each side of my outer heels. After draining, and bandaging/taping them up, I was release to head off.
By this time, it was about 10:15 PM, and darkness had set in. I was wearing my Petzl headlamp, and marching off through the darkness. (The Legionnaires mark the path with glowing small lights, but one still definitely has to carry a headlamp, if there’s no full moon. And even still, I was tripping and stumbling through the potholes.
Pino and I arrived at the first rest point after Setenil, where under a lightbulb the Legionnaires were serving water and orange slices, and listening to a soccer game on the radio. At this point, people started to look in really bad shape. One girl waiting to be picked up appeared to be suffering hypothermia, and another man could hardly stand up.
I had planned to quit here, as my feet and hip were killing me, and more blisters had formed on my feet. My wife convinced me to carry on, and see if I could make it to the next stop. In fact, since Arriate, at 30 km, that had been my modus operandi the whole day — “let’s see if I can make it to the next stop.”
So we carried on into the night. At this point, it’s very desolate. We didn’t see anyone behind us, and so only a few small headlamps way off in the distance ahead of us. I told Pino that, definitely, the next stop was the end of the line for me.
And so about 5 km later, around 1:00 AM, we arrived at what for me would be the end of the road. To my happy surprise, they were serving some hot coffee with milk. After a short break, Pino and I hugged, and I agreed to wait for her at the Military Cuartel, where I would be taken by truck soon, and where she would arrive on foot some three hours later.
I climbed into the big military vehicle, in the dark, and could see about six or seven bodies — others for whom this rest stop would represent the end of their journey. There wasn’t any talking; just people wrapped up in blankets, ready to be driven back.
About 30 minutes later, I arrived at the Cuartel, and enjoyed a hot meal prepared by the military kitchen staff. There was a huge line for foot doctors, so I decided to have a leg massage. After waiting in line for about half an hour, it was finally my turn. (During the wait, I had the opportunity to stare at some of the most horribly blistered feet I’d ever imagined. My feet, by comparison, were pristine!)
The physiotherapist noted that one of my legs was much more strained than the other. Upon hearing that my hip had been hurting badly, he indicated that was the explanation; my walk had tried to compensate.
While waiting for Pino to arrived, I watched people slowly arrive at the Cuartel. A couple of them would get their hot meal, sit down, and then just fall over into the floor, holding their heads with dizzyness and nausea. I was tired and sore, but considered myself very very fortunate to be feeling, overall, pretty darn good compared to those folks.
At 4:00 AM, Pino came bouncing in. I’d kinda hoped she’s be in worse shape, and would want to quit and go back to Ronda with me, but no, she was ready eat and head off on the final 25 km stretch (which happens to be the worst of the day!). At that point, a sergeant opened the door and shouted, “Next bus to Ronda leaves in three minutes!”
So we hugged again, and I left, to climb into yet another big clanky military vehicle which would take us on back to Ronda. Pino finished her dinner, stretched, and headed out walking again into the darkness, towards the day’s second big climb up to the “Ermita de Montejaque”.
I arrived in Ronda at 5:30 AM, and walked ANOTHER THREE KILOMETERS to my car, where I climbed in, folded the back seats forward, and tried to rest on the hard platform, using my jacket for a pillow.
Someone walking by the car at 8:30 AM woke me up, and I called Pino, who said she was about one and a half hours from the finish. I drove as close as possible to the “Meta”, parked, and looked around for a bar to have a quick breakfast.
At 10:30 AM, I saw Pino coming with a small group of people, and had such a great sensation of relief and excitement. She’s done it. She’d walked 101 kilometers. ONE HUNDRED AND ONE KILOMETERS. It’s truly an amazing accomplishment for her. Congratulations sweetheart!
Tonight, back at home, neither of us can move very well, and neither have any intention of trying that again. I may go back and do the mountain bike ride, but definitely no more ulta-distance walks (unless I change my mind! ;)
Equipment.
We both wore standard long-distance running shoes. I carried my dearly loved Salewa Cumbra 38 backpack, and my wife wore a Lowe Alpine fanny pack.
Photos.
All the photos we too have been uploaded to Flickr. Have a look, and enjoy!
Elevation Profile.
10
Dec 06
Dec 06
Casares: Sendero Cristellina
Today we decided to do a hike a little closer to home. Driving through Casares, we’d often noticed a few signs on the side of the road indicating hiking routes. However, since we’d never seen these routes referenced or discussed by people on the internet, we’d always kind of assumed they weren’t interesting.
Well, we tried one today — Route (Sendero, Ruta) Cristellina (8 km, circular) — and it turned out to be one of the most enjoyable, and most spectacular, routes we’ve done around Andalucia!
From Marbella, we went to Casares via Manilva, and parked the car at the Restaurante Laura, just a few meters down from the start of the hike. We had a quick tea, and started up the path. The route basically traverses a gorgeous valley up from Casares. The first half of the route is on a partially paved road, providing access to the various houses and fincas in the valley. At about the half-way point, we arrive at a mountain pass, where one can see (I suspected) Gaucin off in the distance (maybe it was one of other pueblos in the area.) Anyway, the path then transitions from road to path, and starts its way across the high mountains on the other side of the valley, back towards Casares. The path is wide enough still at this point, to easily ride a bicycle.
At about the 7km point, the path begins the vertical drop back down to the road leading into Casares (a drop of about 300 meters in the span of a kilometer), where one turns left, walks about 700 meters back up the road to the parked car.
This route offers spectacular views from the beginning, to the very end. It’s easy walking, perfect for kids, and one of the most enjoyable hikes we’ve done. All in all, it took us about 4 hours, start to finish, including about an hour of stops.
The next time, though, I’ll probably prefer to do the route in reverse, climbing those steep 300 meters, at the beginning when I’m fresh, and giving a break to my poor old knees. :)
Be sure to check out the following:
Route elevation profile:
09
Dec 06
Dec 06
El Burgo: Fuensanta to El Burgo
I’ve created a new category in the blog here: Routes. In this category, I’ll be recording the details of the hiking routes we do, including a description, links to trip photos on Flickr, and a downloadable archive of two files:
A Google Earth .kml file, which you can load into Google Earth for a satellite image-based view of the route.
A .gpx file of the “track”, suitable for downloading to a GPS device. I will try to always include a waypoint of the start of each route.
For today, we headed off from Marbella to Monda, then Guaro, then Alozaina, then Yunquera, finally arriving at El Burgo, in the heart of the Sierra de las Nieves. From there, we began the 2.5 km hike to the recreation center known as Fuensanta. (The track I recorded is actually the return trip from Fuensanta to El Burgo.)
The route is very easy, first heading uphill, then flattening out, then finally descending into the Fuensanta recreation area. The recreation area itself has a beautiful area for picnicing and hanging out.
Be sure to check out the following:
Enjoy!
04
Mar 06
Mar 06
Three-day Trip: Granada & Sierra Nevada
Taking advantage of the Semana Blanca holiday here in Spain, we took the kids for a three-day trip to Granada, a get-away that turned out to be one of the most enjoyable in quite some time.
After the scenic 2.5 hour road trip from Marbella to Granada, we dropped our stuff off at the Cortijo Balzain enclave of rural houses, on the single-track road up between La Zubia and Cumbres Verdes. This is the second time we’ve stayed in the super-cozy rural houses for rent at Balzain, and it’s truly one of my favorite place to stay. The 300 year old little houses are fully refurbished, retaining their original rustic look and feel, while providing for all of the modern necessities (electricity, heating, water, fully equipped kitchen, heated floors, TV, etc.)
On Thursday afternoon, we drove down past La Zubia, and into Granada proper for an afternoon trip to the Parque de las Ciencias. Our children (and my wife and I) just love this place. It’s a huge science-themed parked, offering interesting attractions for kids and adults alike. We saw a dinosaur exhibition, a giant pendulum, rooms full of hands-on experiments demonstrating the principles of physics, math and science, an outdoor area full of “thinking puzzles” (remove the ring from the ropes. It’s impossible. Ok, it’s not impossible.), an outdoor labyrinth, and a greenhouse room full of exotic butterflies. And that’s just a small sample of what this place offers!
Before heading to the Parque de las Ciencias, we had one of the best meals of the trip, at the Fuente del Hervidero, a really old restaurant sitting just off the dirt road above Cumbres Verdes, heading into the Sierra Nevada national park. We sat on the sunny and warm terrace, and enjoyed some of the best cooked chicken and potatoes I’ve had in a long time. And what would be a country side lunch without wrapping things up with a home-made Crema Catalana, and Cafe con Leche!
Friday morning, after a pretty good breakfast in La Zubia, we headed up the 30 km drive to the Sierra Nevada ski station. We expected relatively few people, being Friday and not quite the weekend, but were we ever wrong. The place was packed. Unfortunately, and quite unbelievably, they don’t have anywhere at the lower levels for kids to play around in the snow. We ended up having to hire skis and boots for the little ones, and enroll them in a 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm ski orientation class for children.
All in all, we didn’t really enjoy the trip to the Sierra Nevada Ski Resort. There were just too many people, the place was kind of dirty, and as a family with small kids, we sorta felt unwanted.
Friday night we took a trip to the local Mercadona grocery store, and picked up some hot-dogs, buns, tiramisu, and wine, for a nice little cozy (and too easy-to-prepare) dinner at home.
Saturday turned out to be the best day of all. After a nice breakfast at the rural house, we took the car up the dirt road past Cumbres Verdes. At around the 1.5 km point or so, we parked the car, geared up, and started the hike up the trail towards the famous Trevenque mountain. The trail, which is wide and perfectly suitable for kids (at least as far as we got), circles the Trevenque, and forms a nice looping 11 km route. With the kids, we couldn’t do the whole thing, so we hiked up about 2 to 2.5 km, to a point where we could get a good look at Trevenque, had a picnic lunch, and headed back down.
During the hike, we were pleasantly surprised by a pack of wild mountain goats (or some kind of largish mountain animal) rushing down the mountain, and across the road.
On the way back home, we stopped just outside Granada, in Santa Fe, to pick up some those famous and incredibly scrumptious “Piononos”, from the source itself, the Pasteleria La Isla. (Thanks for the recommendation, Diego!)
