Tag Archives: Sierra Nevada

Inside the head of a hispanophile

2015-06-26 admin Leave a comment

I spent most of my time from May 2014 to May 2015 walking in Spain and have learned to love the country and the Spanish people. I made long walks^∗ in the countryside, in the mountains, and along the coastline. I visited countless villages and towns, mostly staying in small guest houses and hotels, but also spent an occasional night outdoors camping.

I met hundreds of dogs of unknown origin and experienced breathtaking views from paths high up in the mountains of Sierra Nevada and the Pyrenees and from rocky coastal paths winding past a myriad of small beaches (calas) alongside the azure blue water of the Mediterranean Sea.

Andorra is still far away :) — Andorra is still far away 🙂

And I can honestly say that I solely met nice and friendly people that were pleased to help and also showed great patience with my faltering Spanish pronunciation and gave me credit and respect for trying to speak their language. Right now I am compiling the web site, joriki.eu “Inside the head of a hispanophile”, in order to organize my memories, experiences, and knowledge, and to make it accessible and hopefully useful to other people.

^{∗For example: GR-7 (E4) from Tarifa to Andorra la Vella and GR-92 from Valencia to Portbou.}

GR-7 11 Ventas de Zafarraya-Jayena via Alhama de Granada and Arenas del Rey

A stroll in a vegetable garden

2015-07-21 admin Leave a comment

The Zafarraya plain is situated in the Granada province just north of the border to Málaga. It is a large flat surface enclosed by mountains. The climate is a bit cooler than just a few miles in any direction from there and that is an excellent prerequisite for large-scale vegetable growing. The plain is one big garden dotted with farms and warehouses.

Coming up over the edge of the bowl surrounding the plain the views begins to be breathtaking. The dramatic mountain and valley formations of the Alpujarras in the south are coming into sight in the distance as does the mighty massifs of the Sierra Nevada in the north with several peaks reaching over 3000 meters, the highest, Mulhacén, is 3480 meters above sea level. In late May there still was a lot of snow left at those altitudes.

I walked into Arenas del Rey late in the afternoon after more than eleven hours on foot and realized that there was no accommodation to be found. There was a camping site some ten kilometers away but that was no option so instead I inquired at a supermarket and was told that there was a hotel in the next village,Jayena, and that there also was a taxi service available in Arenas del Rey.

The shopkeeper gave me the number to the taxi service, I called, and soon I was on my way to Jayena where a bed, a shower, and dinner were waiting for me.

GR-7 12 Jayena-Albuñuelas

Magnificent views of the Sierra Nevada

2015-07-21 admin Leave a comment

The day started out with a bit of a drizzle but as always the temperature was ideal for walking. As I was moving silently through pine forest country I had many panoramic views of the Sierra Nevada coming into sight every now and then.

Moving down to Albuñuelas through a beautiful ravine speckled with orange groves.

The guide-book suggested La Casa Azul, a B&B in the center of the village, but there was no answer when I knocked at the door so I went on and followed a sign to El Cortijo del Pino that is a small casa rural. The owners, an English couple in their seventies, had just arrived from having been to England for a while. I was given a charming room with a beautiful view overlooking the village.

The only thing remaining that day, after having had a shower and having made preparations for the next day, was to wait – wait until eight thirty before I could get a hot meal. I am not much for eating during the day while walking so you can probably imagine that I am starved at the end of the day and that the late dinner customs that the Spaniards have sometimes make me frustrated.

GR-7 13 Albuñuelas-Lanjarón via Restábal and Nigüelas

High as a kite…

2015-07-21 admin Leave a comment

This was another brilliant day, hot but not humid, and like the days before it offered many panoramic views – views overlooking the Sierra Nevada in the north but also fabulous views overlooking the Mediterranean Sea in the south. It is said that when the air is really clear you can see Africa from the edge of the mountain.

But that day also contained exciting passages up and down the edges of a wide valley and I ended up for the night in the village of Lanjarón.

Lanjarón is situated in the western extreme of an area called the Alpujarras. This area is famous for its beautiful and dramatic nature with high mountains, mighty pine forests, and deep valleys, speckled with white villages.

Lanjarón is a bit different from a normal Andalusian village in that it has a relatively open village plan with wider streets in average than other villages I have visited. Another impressive thing is that Lanjarón must have at least ten hotels and with a population of 4000 that tells me that it must attract many tourists. One explanation is probably that it is a spa town and another that its surroundings offer excellent hiking, mountain biking, and climbing. Lanjarón is also famous for its bottled spring water that can be bought all over Spain.

GR-7 15 Pitres-Cádiar via Trevélez

¡Arriba, arriba!

2015-07-22 admin Leave a comment

All the villages in the Alpujarras are located in the valley and that makes two things certain: one is that every day walking starts with a steep climb and the second is that every day also ends with a steep descent, and in between, all day, the path moves continuously up and down. Walking there for ten hours a day is really hard work but it is worth every drop of sweat as the scenery is absolutely fabulous in whatever direction you look.

Below is the astoundingly beautiful valley and to the north the mighty Sierra Nevada where the glaciers is coming closer and closer for every step.

At noon I walked into Trevélez that was a busy little place with quite a lot of tourists moving around. A popular item to bring home from Spain is a leg of cured ham, jamón curado, and in many places in the country they argue that the original and best ham comes from their village, and Trevélez is no exception, big signs explain that it this is the home of ham 🙂

Later on in the afternoon I got a bit lost when the GPS track disappeared into nothing and the guide-book led me into a very dangerous, eroded area with steep slopes covered in loose, sliding dirt. I managed to find a relatively safe path but I had to crawl to keep myself from sliding back down.

Just half an hour before sunset I reached Cádiar and the Cádi bar which was full of happy people. The cup finals featuring Real Madrid and Átletico Madrid was on. The bar had rooms to let and a pizza oven so I ordered pizza that showed itself to be big enough for a small family. I couldn’t eat all that but the waiter swiftly put the leftovers in a pizza carton and gave it to me for future needs.

GR-7 17 Laroles-La-Calahorra via Puerto de la Ragua

A touch of heaven

2015-07-22 admin Leave a comment

The time had come to turn straight north and pass right over the Sierra Nevada. At Puerto de la Ragua 2000 meters above sea level I had a very good vegetable soup before I started the descent on the northern face of the mountain range.

In the afternoon I was moving through more densely populated areas once more and went through the picturesque village of Ferreira.

Not long after that I saw the characteristic shape of the fortress of La Calahorra, painted in red.

I made myself comfortable in a hotel in the village and prepared myself for the big leap to Narváez the next day.

GR-7 18 La Calahorra-Baza via Narváez

Finally: The big leap

2015-07-22 admin Leave a comment

Leaving Sierra Nevada behind made me a little sad. We had had company for a long time and it was constantly visible to me. Early in the morning I found myself on a huge, red, dusty plain where several square kilometers were covered by huge solar panels that made spooky sounds as they moved with the sun.

Today´s stage was to be over 50 kilometers and went mainly through a natural park. It is not as great as it sounds as the major part of the day was spent on dirt roads lined with densely growing pine trees. So it really was a struggle with few rewards in terms of nice views and other interesting things to see, and there wasn’t a single village in my way.

After some 50 kilometers I reached the recreational facility of Narváez. In the high-season accommodation and food is available there but not when I passed by, but there were some people. They had held a course that day and were preparing to leave. They asked if I wanted a ride to Baza and I happily accepted. We were five grown men that packed ourselves into a very small car and I besides that carried a 20 kilo backpack, but we managed to find the space and had a pleasant chat on our way to the city.

The guys dropped me off near Baza center and wouldn’t hear of charging me for the ride. I made my way to a hotel by asking the locals and called it a day. The big leap that had worried me for some time was over and done with and I had proven to myself that walking 50 kilometers in one day carrying a (to me) heavy backpack was quite feasible after all.