Monday 19 November 2007

A valley walk


Bit of a walking theme this month! Yesterday we explored a new path to us, one that follows the path of a stream (barranca) up a valley between two of the mountains behind us. It is a signposted walk along the “ruta d’agua” (route of the water) so is not too difficult to follow.

We decided to walk about an hour outwards and then back giving us about two hours in total. This is a really pretty walk as it goes deep in the valley amongst the pine trees. The barranca has to be crossed at several points using conveniently placed stepping stones. Occasionally the path climbs steeply away from the water in order to get past a waterfall or two.

Where the path climbs up away from the bottom the going is quite strenuous, picking a way along rocky steps.

Part of the walk goes onto and along the centuries old terracing which provide flat growing areas for olive trees.


With the sun being low at this time of year there was a strong contrast between the shadows in the valley against the strong light on the mountains.

Our camera-phone struggled to cope with this so the photos don’t do justice to this beautiful area – but hopefully you’ll get some idea of just how natural and unspoilt it is around here.

At the one hour point we had reached a crossing of paths just past an old ruin, which we will explore next time, so we came back down the same way. But, the great thing about walks like this is that the views are so different on the way back that you get two walks in one!

Thursday 15 November 2007

A walker's paradise!

The weather is wonderful at the moment - 20ish degrees, brilliant blue skies, lush green vegetation – November is a great month for mountain walking! At hotter, more intense, times of the year walking would be more limited to mornings and afternoons but avoiding the midday heat. But, now, we can walk anytime or even all day as the temperatures are really comfortable.

Don't forget - click on any image to get it's full size view.

We have just been for a walk to the top of the mountains behind us – the PeƱes Albas. It takes just a few minutes to walk from our house to the foothills that start the climb.

The entire walk is on tarmac then unmade stony tracks and it’s a fairly steady climb to the top zigzagging along the track, each turn providing ever more spectacular views.

At the top of this walk is a walker’s refuge, which is a lovely place to picnic and rest.

Time taken to get to this point at about 1000 feet above Montichelvo is an hour and a half (at a leisurely pace).


From here the choices are to go back (an hour and 10 minutes mostly downhill) or to carry on to the neighbouring village of Terrateig with more stunning views on the descent into the village. From Terrateig there is a nice walk back to Montichelvo using country lanes (Caminos). The complete circuit takes about 3 hours


Wednesday 7 November 2007

History on our doorstep...

We’ve been doing a lot of walking lately, exploring the mountains behind us and discovering stunning scenery - and a ruined castle.

“Our” local castle can be seen in the distance from our roof-terrace, on the peak of a mountain by Ayelo de Rugat which is the neighbouring village to Montichelvo.


The castle dates back to Muslim origins sometime before the 11th Century and is apparently best know for being the place where King Jaime 1 (otherwise know as The Conquistador) was nearly killed, along with several of his horsemen, when they were ambushed by the rebel, Al-Azraq, who had invited the Aragonese king to a pretend wedding. – Exciting times!


In 1339 parts of the castle were dismantled and from about 1500 it was left to decay.




Today, there are still parts of exterior walls and battlements, interior walls window openings and an almost intact hallway of some kind.









Click on any of the photos for a full-size picture





A fascinating place to sit and ponder and with the castle being some 490 mtrs above sea-level the views are stunning.




The castle is reached by way of a signed trail that leads out from the back of Ayelo de Rugat, crossing streams via stepping stones and rising steeply towards the summit which is visible for most of the walk.









Good shoes or walking boots are a must as the going is tough in places but the result is well worth the effort! There and back is under 3 hours so it can be walked either side of the hottest part of the day.