Agua Amarga to Carboneras

This 10 km stretch is really interesting from an industrial architecture point of view. Aqua Amarga was the terminus for a mining railroad from the interior of Armeria to the Mediterranean in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Iron ore was shipped out and supplies destined for the mine were shipped in from here. Mine supplies were landed by ship and lifted up to the railway on the headland using a static engine that pulled small wagons up a very steep ramp using cables. We saw the line of the railroad when we rode our bikes along the track when we were riding the Transandalus in 2009. But we never got to see the terminus, so we were very excited today to see that our current route followed the remains of the cable ramp up to the headland (and, yes, it is definitely steep) where we saw the remains of the terminus. It must have been an incredible operation.

The fourth photo shows Ned, having shed his own pack, kindly coming back to carry my pack up the steepest part! I was afraid I was going to topple over backwards… and it looked like a long way down.Read more