To be honest I feel mixed emotions when a walker using a guide points out a route change (thanks Amir). On the one hand, a bit of my precious guide is out of date while, on the other, the route is still being worked on and taken seriously. This is exactly what's happened in Aragon in general and Huesca in particular. As part of a 400,000 euro investment in the fabulous Sierra de Guara, the original routing for the GR1 has been diverted just east of Nazarre, southeast through Pardina Seral to Rodellar and then northeast and back up Letosa and Bagüeste before rejoining the original route back to Paules de Sarsa.
The change helps a lot. Although it adds an extra stage, the stages are more manageable. Because of the lack of accommodation, Stage 5 in the guide is huge (12 hours), and although heading south to Rodellar adds the overall distance there is accommodation there (camping, in a refuge, or in a hotel). So instead of Nocito to Paules de Sarsa, as described in the guide, the new recommendation is to go from Nocito to Rodellar (22.7km, 1010m up and 825m down taking an estimated 7h 35m), stop there, before heading to Paules de Sarsa (27.3km 1025m up and 1190m down taking an estimated 9hr 10m).
Abandoned houses in Used
Gaura in March
Follow the link to see the information panel for the route through the Sierra de Guara
Although I haven't walked the new Rodellar bits the report from Amir states that it is excellent although totally empty in March. Rodellar is a major climbing and canyoning destination so it should get a bit busier from April onwards, as the season opens up, but don't expect crowds. One slight regret is that the new route misses out Otin, the biggest abandoned town on the route, but there are plenty of other ones to explore.
As part of the upgrade, which was completed in 2022 and which apparently includes new signage, the available online information has improved since I walked the route 10 years ago. Better still the Aragon GR1 web presence has at least been matched by a similar effort in Catalonia. This means that the GR1 through the pre-pyrenees, from Olite all the way to the coast is now up-to-date and accessible.
Both Catalonia and Aragon are promoting the GR1 as a coast-to-coast walk and while the guide describes how this can be done there is no evidence, as far as I can see, that their enthusiasm is matched by all the regions on the route. As before expect to see signage in the Castile y Leon, the Basque Country, and Navarre but there is still a small gap in Cantabria and a lack of enthusiasm in Galicia and the Asturias.
My guide also heads from west to east whereas the websites go east to west. Finishing at the Mediterranean made sense to me back in 2012/13 but I know a lot of people prefer to follow the sun and head west. I don't think it's a big deal either way although if you're using the guide as your only source of navigation (unwise) it's less useful if heading west.
Although GPX trails for the guide are available on the Cicerone website it makes sense to download them directly from the people who maintain them in Spain via the following links. At some point, the new route to Robellar will get included on the Openmap database and the IGN digital maps but this hasn't happened yet.
Today we walked from Muxia to Nemiña, a tough stretch of walking but excellent. The weather was perfect, the scenery was fantastic and we even managed to adopt a Galician guide to show us the way. What more could we ask for?
Nosa Señora de Barca at Muxía
Keen eyed readers will spot that we have missed out a chunk of the Camiño. The original plan involved walking from Camarinas to Muxia yesterday. This was just too far, we were knackered from the previous day and the weather forecast was poor. We decided to have a rest day, got a taxi for most of the way (Praia do Logo) and after a 10km walk ate a late lunch and had a rest. The weather turned out to be OK, Christine even had a swim in the sea (very short), but taking a break was a good move as the last two days are tough.
Today's walk was huge in every sense of the word, huge scenery, huge distance and hugely knackered at the end.
Ancient fields near Laxe
If you are a regular reader of my blog you will know that my preferred style of walking involves staying in local accommodation as near as possible to the end of each day's walk. Ideally this means a looking to find a hotel or something similar about every 25 kms or so, allowing for around 8 hours walking a day. I try to plan a schedule in advance, and adapt the desirable to the available. When I do this, in order to make things work I am sometimes over optimistic about what is possible. Today was one of those days. We walked 35 hard and difficult kilometres from Laxe to Mourin, a hamlet to the north of Camarinas, arriving after 9 and a half hours with wet sore feet.
Day 3 on the Camiño Dos Faros and a great day's walking, approaching epic!
Early morning near
The big change, after yesterday, was the weather. Last night's monsoons were replaced by a dry but fresh sunny day with white puffy clouds racing across an otherwise blue sky. The light was great, clear and crisp, presenting some great scenery in the best possible way.
The last day of the hike through Castellón is both a suitable climax to the whole trip and somehow, in a single day, sums up what makes walking in Spain special. The walk between what are arguably the most attractive hilltop towns on the whole route, Ares del Maestre and Morella, journey’s across a wide and open landscape, still farmed in places, and travels along paths that have obviously been used for centuries. It’s an old fashioned countryside in every sense of the word and the walk across it to Morella is the perfect way to end the journey through Castellón.
The Day 9 walk is 23km long and can completed in about 7 hours. There is nowhere on the route for lunch so ask the hotel at Ares del Maestre to prepare a sandwich. There are of course plenty of places to stay at Morella, a good choice of restaurants for an end of trip celebration. From Morella there is an early morning bus back down to the town of Castellón on the coast and the train network.
It is possible to walk all the way to Morella in a day, but it is a very big day (I’ve done it twice). The total walk is 34km and takes around 10 hours. If you like a challenge, it’s an epic way to finish the walk through Castellón but it does mean rushing through Ares del Maestre. Ares del Maestre is lovely and, if you have any appreciation of hilltop towns, is a place to enjoy. It also features a nice hotel.
Sensible people will make a leisurely start, have a late breakfast, have a look around Benasal, then set off to Ares del Maestre which is just 11km and between 3 and 4 hours away. Although I haven’t stayed in it, the menu in the little town’s hotel looks very nice and of course you don’t have to start it until about three o’clock. If you need more exercise, there are some excellent circular walks from Ares del Maestre with the attached just one example.
After a day spent in Vistabella del Maestrazgo, with a little detour up the Penyagolosa, it’s back to business as usual and another march across the wild and almost empty uplands of Castellón.
It’s possible to take ‘place-to-place’ walking too literally and go crashing on to the next town missing out on local treats. At Vistabella del Maestrazgo, with Penyagolosa on the ‘doorstep’, this would be madness, you just have to take ‘a day off’ and walk up what is Valencia’s most iconic mountain.
The full circular
Last time I walked the GR7 (on my E4 - Tarifa/Budapest trip) the weather was poor and I hardly saw the mountain. I was down on the coast and long past it when it revealed itself for the first time and but its importance to the locals was immediately apparent. In good weather you can see it for miles, it stands out like a sore thumb. The mountain (Peñagolosa in Spanish - Penyagolosa in Valencian - golosa derived from collossal) at 1813m is not the highest in Valencia (pipped at the post by Cerro Calderón - 1838m) but it’s by far the most prominent.
If you're a walker like me who is looking a challenge, somewhere different and not yet 'fashionable', and a route that takes you through great scenery to special places to sleep at the end of each day's hike than my suggested itinerary for Castellón should be interesting. It combines remote walking (not hard in Spain) along ancient but largely abandoned footpaths with visits to a series of stunning hilltop towns. It's accessible from the UK and elsewhere (fly into Valencia or Barcelona) and a hike can be combined with visits to the wonderful cities of Tarragona and Valencia. It's easy to self-organise and the accommodation and food are excellent, interesting and great value.
Europeans have access to great walking right on their doorstep. It's the continent for 'easy walking' - where walkers can travel long distances through wild, varied and remote countryside, and find at the end of the day a warm bed and great food. Even in Europe however, Spain is special. Spain was the last country in Western Europe to experience
rural depopulation. The ancient infrastructure, built for a population where everyone walked, is still there. The GR1 Sendero Histórico follows paths and trails that, until the 1960s, were the main way people and
their animals moved from village to village.
Although sadly, the days when every village had a bar, Cantina or
Hostalhave now gone, there are still just enough to make walking from place to
place the best way to travel.
I'm committed to writing a guide on the GR1 Sendero Histórico for Cicerone. Great fun but a lot of work and just a bit of rescheduling in terms of the trips I plan to do. So last September instead of going to France and walking around the Ecrins circular, I went back to Spain and another two weeks on the GR1.
It was happily a great trip. Good thing too, as it would be a bit late to discover that I didn't like the GR1. It was great to walk the route at a different time of year. I'm already looking forward to my next and hopefully final trip next April to its eastern end before completing the guide next summer.
Weather wise it's different but not really any better. The cold north wind which dominated yesterday has abated; today it's been a mix of heavy wintry showers interspersed with sunshine.
The first of the wintry showers came just as I was finishing my breakfast - more a blizzard than a shower. The Spanish men drinking their kick start coffees seemed to be mildly amused to see a mad Englishmen preparing to go out in the snow whereas the landlady and her daughter showed much warmer hearts and were genuinely concerned. When I insisted on going, but left my walking poles behind, they came running after me, giving a hands on a steering wheel impression, and saying they would drive me Olite.
The church in Larraga
Of course it wasn't that bad and within minutes the sun was out and I was at the church in the centre of Larraga getting my departure bearings.
Big walk today, 43 kilometres with around 2,000 metres of ascent and descent. It was also another gloomy one with showers on a cold wind. By the time I walked into Lagran at just before 7, I had been walking for just over 10 hours.
After a taxi out of Miranda de Ebro I rejoined the GR1, at Berantevilla, a small village deposited in a wide open valley. The wind was hurtling up the valley and on a Sunday morning Berantevilla was so quiet it could have been deserted.
The E4 through Catalonia was worse part of the whole trip. Accommodation was hard to find and I had to walk very long days. Worse still I was constantly missing the trail. Maps in Spain don't show the routes and unless you have a guide or a good GPS trail then it's easy to take a wrong turn. Of course I was never seriously lost but constant minor mistakes made long walks even longer - really frustrating and at times depressing.
Must admit that I couldn't understand why the E4 left the GR7. Having followed the GR7 all the way from Andalucia, it turns east at border with Catalonia and heads down to the coast along the GR8. It then heads along the coast via the GR92 to Tarragona, heads north via the GR172 to Montserrat and then onto Alp and the border with France on the GR4. Meanwhile the GR7 carries onto the Pyrenees ending up a few kilometres from the GR4.
The E4 through Catalonia does visit some amazing places, in particular Montserrat and Tarragona, but the walking itself was mixed. You are not walking around or through a particular mountain range and it's certainly not the most direct way to get to the Pyrenees. Catalonia is a busy place and although there is some lovely countryside you also have to cross some major transport corridors and built-up areas.
Montserrat Mountains
My negative view of the E4 through Catalonia is influenced by the extent to which I had been enjoying the GR7, particularly the last few days through Castellon. It was a change however and a change might be as good as a rest. I was entering a different sort of countryside and I was also entering Catalonia, a particularly distinct part of Spain with its own language and cultural traditions. The lack of love between Catalonia and the rest of Spain is manifested in many ways including the intense rivalry between the Barcelona and Real Madrid football clubs, something I had been observing throughout the trip (six El Clásicogames when I was there).
I had put my schedule together using the information on the La Federació d'Entitats Excursionistes de Catalunya (FEEC) , the Catalonia Climbing and Hiking Association, which identifies all the major walking routes and gives you stage distances, walking times and altitude gained and lost. Great help for planning the route but as it turned out only limited help when you are actually doing it - why can't they go the next small step and actually publish a GPS route!
I started walking through Catalonia on the 24th of April and got to Alp 16 days later on May 9th. I stopped for a day in Tarragona and had another rest day at Alp before crossing the border.
The first part of my Catalonia trip was from El Boixar down to Mol l'Abad where I stayed at a very nice holiday centre. Was driven there by the lack of accommodation on the main GR8 route which runs through the mountains just to the north.
Was aiming to re-connect with the GR8 at La Senia but ended up walking all the way along the road to Ulldecona - miserable, was missing the mountains already. Found a good hotel and got there early so some compensations.
View across the Ebro Delta
Next day was much better, really nice walk and interesting as well. The walk takes you up the Sierra de Montsia to la Foradada (684 metres) which has amazing views of the Ebro Delta, the coast line to the north, and all the way back to Penyagolasa to the west. Really interesting information boards describing the impact of rural depopulation in the 1960s. After the climb and the views you walk down through ancient Mediterranean woodland, onto the delta and then into Amposta, a fairly large town with lots of accommodation.
Bridge over the Ebro at Amposta
After Amposta the trail is completely flat but still quite nice. The first part takes you across the intensely farmed delta and then, after Ampolla, along a lovely coastal path to L'Ametlla de Mer. Stayed at the Hotel del Port, very reasonable.
Coastal path after Ampolla
The coastal walk to Cambils was a bit more mixed. Some nice stretches, but also some horrible diversions around gated harbours (Sant Jordi) and a large diversion around a nuclear power station (and over/under railway lines and motorways). There were long stretches of concrete coastline with blocks of holiday accommodation running right up to the shore. Nice stretch along the beach after L'Hospitalet de l'Infant but a lot of hard surface walking over the whole day. Cambils itself was a tiny fishing village in the sixties but is now a huge resort.
Beach north of L'Hospitalet
Next day into Tarragona was just awful although I missed the route and possibly made it worse. Essentially you have to get around a huge port and chemical works to the south of the city (if you are English, think Middlesborough) and following GR signs in a built up area is not easy.
The 'players' entrance" at the Roman circus in Tarragona
Despite the chemical works to the south Tarragona itself is a wonderful city. I rested up there for a day and there was lots to see - it has a huge Roman heritage and is a UNESCO world heritage site. Would love to go back there again but would definitely choose a different mode of transport!
Ideally you would stay at Santes Crues the next day but I couldn't find any accommodation when planning the walk (when I went there next day it looked like there was some) and instead diverted to Valles. Not bad countryside but not stunning either. Initially through scrubby forest and then back to back vineyards. El Cattlar on the way is a pretty little town.
Santes Crues, or Santa Maria de Santa Creus to give it full title, is an important monastery dating back to the 12th Century. It was shut when I was there but looks like it would have been well worth a visit.
The ideal place to stay next day would have been St Joan de Mediona, a nice looking town with a historic centre. Instead I had to go to Capellades about 5 kilometres to the north. It was a long walk with about 700 metres of climb over the Col de Rimbalda and then a drop down again into the next valley. Nice countryside. I went to a distant suburb of Capellades but was rescued and given a lift directly into town.
Montserrat Monastery
Assisted by a short train journey I rejoined the route at Peira and walked onto the next historic highlight, Montserrat. The walk to Montserrat was had some tough bits crossing a series of steep sided gorges which had been cut into the soft loess at the bottom of the Montserrat mountain range. You do have to walk through a large suburb before you finally get to climb up to the Montserrat Monastery which is a 600 metre climb with great views.
The Montserrat Mountains are a spectacular feature, weirdly shaped and high above the surrounding countryside. The colour and texture of the rock are like ancient concrete and the shapes are reminiscent of Gaudi. The Monastery itself, with its famous Black Madonna, is an important focus pilgrims and a key symbol of Catalan nationalism. I stayed there for a day and walked to the top of Sant Jeroni (1200 metres) - the train, funicular and buses bring up the daytown crowds but it's empty in the evening.
The next destination was Navarcles (near Cabrianes) a 42 kilometre walk which was nice at either end but unpleasant in the middle when another busy valley spiralling out from Barcelona had to be crossed. You go on a huge detour to get inside the Parc Natural de Sant Lorenc and then walk along a really nice gorge before finally arriving at Navarcles. Really struggled to find accommodation but ended up in the Hostal Montane which was great, very cheap and very authentic.
Driven on again by the lack of accommodation, next day was another huge walk (51 kilometres) all the way to Santa Maria de Merles. The first hour or so is not pleasant involving a walk up to Cabrianes through a fairly busy industrial valley. After that things improve and the route takes you through a very nice pastoral landscape - lots of old farmsteads and isolated churches. Eventually you get to the tiny settlement of Sant Pou de Pinos from which point you head west and then east, again in a huge and frustrating detour before arriving at the equally tiny settlement of Santa Maria de Merles. Stayed at the wonderful Casa Escrigas - and enjoyed home made everything.
The walk next day was supposed to be a short one but was again frustrated by really poor waymarks with one memorable sign sending me completely in the wrong direction. One of the problems I faced today was intersections with other GR routes - unless you spot these, work out which is the right one, you can easily find yourself following white and red markings in the wrong direction. If it wasn't for the frustrations of getting lost, today would have been an excellent walk, the scenery is good and Borreda, a lovely old mountain village, is a great place to finish the day. Stayed in the Cal Bardolet which was OK but a bit expensive.
Spring growth near Les Pilones
Great walk to La Pobla de Lillet, mostly in trees but in early May the trees were at there best. The highlight was the climb up from Castell de l'Areny to Les Pilones (1700 metres) followed by a walk along an upland valley. The GR4 is supposed to be an ancient transhumance trail but the climb up to Les Pilones felt a bit steep for a herd of cattle. Stayed at La Pobla de Lillet, a slightly run down mountain resort town home to a Gaudi garden (Artigas Gardens) and station for the Spanish Yellow Train (there is a French one on the other side of the Pyrenees). I stayed and ate at the Hostal Pericas which was cheap and cheerful.
The walk to Alp was the last full day in Spain and another good one. Wasn't as tough as I had anticipated and I needn't have left at the crack of dawn. There was a big 1200 metre climb up to the Coll de Pal but it was gentle and along a lovely valley with great views. Not quite so nice on the other side, horrible ski runs and scarred mountains but seeing the snowy peaks on the other side of the valley, in France, was encouraging. Stopped for a day in the ski resort of Alp staying at off-season prices at the Hotel Roca - very nice.
Just a short walk across the valley bottom to Puigcerda and France.
If you want to read what the walk felt like at the time than please go to the walk diaries. The links are below:
I published a whole series of stage plans before I started the E4 and these attracted some really helpful comments. What I'm now tediously doing is rewriting all of those blogs informed by the actual trip. Will try to be as candid as possible - there are parts of the E4 which are not so nice.
The logic behind "Stage 1" is that it takes you to the point where the GR7 splits into a northern and southern option. As it happens the split takes place at Villanueva del Cauche but to make my itinerary work for me I went slightly beyond that point.
The month leading up to starting the walk, by the way, was terrible. I was committed to the walk but had massive reservations. Wasn't sleeping and had an almost overwhelming feeling that I was about to fall flat on my face and make a complete fool of myself. Getting to Spain and starting the walk was just a wonderful release, the doubts disappeared and for the first few weeks I was powered by euphoria.
Tarifa is the perfect place to start the walk, it feels like and is the edge of Europe. It is also very windy (apparently the wind is virtually non-stop) and the views across narrow Straits of Gibraltar to the Africa are sharp and clear. Would have been nice to have stopped for the night in Tarifa but instead I trudged along the beach and shortened what would otherwise have been a 41.5 next day walk to Los Barrios. I stayed at the Hotel Artevida which was fine but expensive compared to most of my accommodation in Spain.
Cork Oak Grove
The first full day's walking through the Los Alcornocales Natural Park with its cork oak forests was nice rather than amazing. Lots of wind turbines along the route as well as a large reservoir but the views back to Tarifa and across the narrow straights to Africa were wonderful. Horrible and painful walk along a road to finish the day in Los Barrios. Stayed at the Hotel Real in which was cheap, simple and good fun.
The 34 kilometre walk to Castillo de Castellar is a poor one - long walk past a huge rubbish dump, a walk down a quite road, and then a walk along a cycle path alongside a busy road before you finally get off road just before the finish. A shame because Castillo de Castellar, a wonderful hill top town, is a great place to finish the day. Stayed in an absolutely amazing hotel, part of the castle itself.
After two big days the third day was a short 15 kilometres walk to Jimena de la Frontera, through pleasant if not particularly exciting countryside. You spend quite a bit of time walking alongside a famous (apparently) wide gauge railway line. I really liked Jimena de la Frontera and you can see why a lot of ex-UK residents have decided to live there. I managed to stay in another really lovely hotel, the Casa Henrietta, brightly decorated with real Andalucian style.
After Jimena de la Frontera the countryside really starts to match the towns for interest. After an initial climb up to about 800 metres your into fairly open moorland with great views all the way back to Gibraltar. It's a tough 40 kilometre walk and you stay high all the way until the final descent into Ubrique, another recently interesting and ancient town rammed up against huge cliffs. Didn't stay in a hotel in Ubrique, was the guest of the local tourist board, but there are hotels in the town or nearby. The Hotel Ocurris is one which seems to attract recommendations.
On the next day I walked all the way to Ronda but this is fabulous countryside and anyone sensible would have stopped along the way. Stopping options with accommodation include Villaluenga del Rosario (bit close to Ubrique) or Montejaque (bit close to Ronda). Either way this is a wonderful stretch. Highlights included the march up the Roman road (everything still there) to Benacoaz; the walk through the valley to the pretty village of Villaluenga del Rosario (nestling under the Navazo Alto) or the walk through the limestone scenery of Sierra de Grazalema Natural Park. If you do decide to walk all the way to Ronda, like I did, you'll find the walk after Montejaque painfully long.
The Stunning Sierra de Grazelema
I only stayed one night at Ronda, which is probably a capital offence for people who love Spain. It is a lovely town, an important tourist destination and has lots of places to stay.
The next day's walk was another poor one, difficult to find the route between Ronda and Arriate and a lot of road walking between Arriate and Cuevas del Becerro. Cuevas del Becerro is slightly away from the route but there is no accommodation at Serrato which would otherwise have been a good place to stop. Had a nice afternoon in Cuevas del Becerro, there was a fiesta, but not much of a draw otherwise.
The following walk to El Chorro is much nicer although a bit tougher than I had anticipated. Lovely open arable countryside with long views. Ardales, half way along, is another interesting looking town (the walk takes you over a Roman bridge) with accommodation if you want to really short day. The second half of the walk is a lot tougher, a nice ridge walk and then a climb up to the spectacular reservoir above El Chorro and a really steep climb down. I stayed in a camp site with huts but there is other accommodation available.
El Chorro
The walk to Antequera via the small town of Valle de Abdalajis is a pleasant one but with a nasty bit of road walking in the middle. Valle de Abdalajis has accommodation and if you wanted to break the walk up with a day off than there is enough to see in Antequera famous for its ancient bronze age tombs. Lots of accommodation but I stayed in the Hotel Colon which was OK.
The last day of this stage was a really wet one for me which was a shame because it meant I missed the views of the El Torcal peak in the natural park to the south of the route which has the same name. Not a bad walk but you do have to work you way underneath the motorway and there is a bit of associated road walking before you eventually get to Villanueva del Rosario. Stayed in the Hotel Venta Las Delicias which was cheap, cheerful and good fun.
Most people would sensibly walk section of the GR7 at a slower pace and there are enough accommodation options to do things differently to the way I did it. Perhaps the key issue is whether or not to stay at Ronda. If you have been there before than it would make sense to stay at Montejaque, then Arriate, then Ardales, Valle de Adbalajis and then Antequera. Another day to the itinerary but perhaps more sensible.
If your interested in what it felt like at the time please have a look at the daily diary entries.
After a week of really good walking, Christine has gone back to the UK and I'm on my own again. It's been great going from mountain town to mountain town and unfortunately she is missing the best one, Morella. The only consolation for her is that the weather continues to be bad.
Set off on a 35 kilometre walk having seen Christine go at 9. The weather was already looking poor which some heavy rain clouds to the south.
Having climbed out of the village the sky was clear enough for a short time to get a view Penyagolosa, the second highest peak in the Valencia region, as well as some great views back to Culla.
Penyagolosa
The first target was Ares de Maestre yet another hill top town. You could stay here it you had a more leisurely schedule, or just stop for lunch. It looked like a great place with lots of visitors on Easter Saturday.
Ares del Maestre
The main issue for me was how far I would get before it started to rain and sure enough it was pouring from about 1.30. It wasn't the end of the world. With the rain, the dry stone walls and the more open scenery you could easy have been in the north of England. In addition to the stone work there was livestock out and about, and for the first time since the early few days of the walk I was amongst grazing cattle, cows with suckling calves.
Another storm
Another feature of today's walk were the wonderful ancient caminos, old cattle trails which in this part of the Spain have not all been turned into local roads. I guess the nearest equivalent in the UK is a green lane but here they are much more widespread. Some of them today, with the dry stone walls on each side, and bedrock running along the bottom were particularly impressive.
Camino
One picture I would have taken if I had had the nerve was that of the bull standing astride a particularly deep camino about 20 yards ahead of me. I've been told that bulls with cows are not dangerous but wasn't going to test the theory, even less ask him to stand to one side, and within seconds I had climbed over the wall and disappeared.
Morella
Got to Morella at about 6 by which time it had stopped raining. It really is the jewel in the crown of the wonderful mountain towns along this part of the route. It still has it's city walls as well as usual brilliant location. Had a good look round, not least because it was packed and finding somewhere to stay was not easy.
The past six days have really been excellent. If it wasn't for the schedule it would have made sense to walk at a much more leisurely pace and take 8 or 9 days to cover the distance. As it is, because I can't get accommodation at the next planned stop, Boixar, tomorrow is going to be a big 40 kilometre day.
Last night we lay in bed and listened to the rain pour down. The weather forecast was bad and it seemed unlikely that Christine, without full waterproofs would be able to do today's walk to Benasal. We started thinking about alternatives when we saw the sky start lightening from the South. By half past nine it looked good enough to set off, especially as a kind fellow guest in the Casa Rural had let Christine have her spare poncho mack.
Cloud clinging to the hills
The first part of the walk was a continuation of the upland plain which we had walked through in the rain yesterday afternoon. A strange feature, perhaps the bottom of an ancient glacial lake. Along the track a local farmer had found a new use for empty coke bottles. After about 3 kilometres we turned east and contoured along the side of a pretty gorge gradually gaining height.
Noisy fence
We were walking quickly because we didn't trust the weather and wanted to get to Culla for a late lunch. Despite this we enjoyed a quick sandwich break at the abandoned Ermita de San Bartolome. After more contouring the path dropped down, through some beautiful ancient pasture, to a dried out river bed.
Ermita de San Bartolome
Abandoned village - Casa del Capote
The last stage before lunch involved a 500 metre climb up to Culla. The smell of pigs as you approached from the southwest was sickening and we were thinking we had made a mistake to rush. As usual when you arrive you can't see anyone and you can't believe there will be a bar, never mind somewhere to eat. Actually there were two and we dived into the first as the clouds gathered.
Climbing up to Culla
The restaurant was full of young Spaniards with their children and Christine, who is expecting two grandchildren in the next few months, couldn't stop staring at them. Had a great meal and didn't notice that it was pouring with rain outside until the postres arrived. Tried to stretch things out with extra coffee but in the end we had to go, another hour or two's walking to get to Benasal.
Just as we had finished climbing into our waterproofs the owner of the restaurant asks where we are going and offers us a lift. Seemed unfair to put Christine through 90 minutes of torrential rain on her last day on the GR7 so we accepted and he kindly took us directly to the door at the Hotel la Piqueta.
Not sure what happened to my first version of the diary entry for April the 16th, it literally went missing between sending it from my IPad and arriving as a blog. It left without leaving a trace and didn't turn up. Really annoying.
Anyway my birthday walk was a bit of a rushed affair as I wanted to make sure I arrived at Andilla before Christine who was flying out from the UK on the same day. Left Chelva at 7 in the morning and although it was starting to get light the sun had still to rise. Managed to get an early morning coffee and a piece of cake in a bar opposite the hotel.
Heading east out of Chelva early in the morning
My recollection of the walk now is that it was pleasant but not breathtaking. Long steady walk through a valley where the path varied from a forest trail to seriously overgrown. Seriously overgrown means scratched legs and slow progress as you keep loosing the route.
On an ancient camino near Caserio de Alcotas
The first major milestone was the little village of Caserio de Alcotas but there was nothing there to make you hang about. After dropping down a bit you walked along another overgrown valley path before emerging on a hill side which was overgrown with wind turbines. The wind had actually got up a bit and they were spinning around and creaking, can't say I'm a major fan, no pun intended.
Arrived at Andilla and it's twin village of La Pobletta at about 3.30, taking roughly 8 hours to cover the 28 kilometres. Andilla is a really nice little mountain town. For the first time on this trip I saw a large number of serious looking Spanish walkers who were eating lunch when I arrived. They had a good look at my ruck sack and footwear just to see if I meant business, I think I passed muster.
The church in Andilla
The casa rural I'm staying in is very close to the church which like most churches around chimes the time all night and does the hours twice. Sure I'll be used to it by the time I have left Spain.
Apart from my birthday and Christine's arrival the really big news is that I have worn out my first pair of walking shoes. The soles of the right shoe have completely split and there is a gash in the left shoe. Although they were showing other signs of wear and tear there was nothing as terminal as a split sole. My feet by the way are now totally acclimatised and pain free. I am absolutely sure that I made the right choice with as light as possible and I'm really pleased with the Inov8 Terrocs I've been wearing. For the record they lasted 47 days during which time I have walked around 1400 kilometres. The timing is perfect as Christine is bringing out another pair, same a before but not Gortex, given the weather I don't think they need to be waterproof and should be cooler.
Didn't get quite get as far as I had planned today but then perhaps the plan was just a bit too ambitious. Had originally hoped to get to Montanejos, which is at least 40 kilometres from Bejis, but at 5.30, the sign said we still had another two hours walking to do. Christine was accusing me of trying to finish her off, so I decided to cut things short and head for Montan which is just off the GR7. This seems to have worked out well and after two beers Christine has cheered up.
Tried to get a really early start from Bejis but a nice breakfast slowed things up a bit (delicious home made pots of semi jam-like fruit puree with butter, toast and lots of steaming cafe con leche). Great value hotel, nice dinner last night, and as well as breakfast they made us a packed lunch.
Really nice crisp weather this morning, actually a bit cold, the route took you across the valley on a track through terraced fields of almonds which have now set - you can see the green almond fruit growing. The views back to Bejis were good, apart from the blots on the landscape here and there caused by the Spanish tendency to fly tip.
Bejis
Fly tipping near Bejis
Turning east we followed a disused railway track which had been converted into an 130 kilometres long cycle route, the Vio Verde (the route of GR7 almost follows this for about 7 kilometres and leaves it just on the other side of the motorway). The most exciting thing was an E4 sign saying that it was 2,132 kilometres to Tarifa. More than happy to claim I have walked this far but don't think it's true, I'm sure its nearly 800 kilometres too much.
I don't believe it
After going underneath a motorway you start to travel in a more northerly direction. We got lost briefly then rejoined the way marked route, over rough fields and terraces and past sad looking abandoned farmhouses. We continued and annoyingly the path turned southeast for a while before going north again. A couple of miles later we discovered we'd been on a long detour off piste. It was hot and we were getting tired but we now had a long trek up a narrow valley, over a brow, down the other side then up a very steep mountain side through the gorse scrub on a tiny steep path. We finally got to the top and rested on a bed of pine needles and ants.
Rosemary and Cistus
A long descent, part on a dirt track and part bushwhacking through scrub brought us to the Montan sign and we decided enough was enough and walked the 30mins into Montan, a pretty place clinging to wooded hillsides with one bar and one perfectly good Hostal Pilar.
