Hornos: Peña del Águila

We managed to sneak a quick walk in before the predicted thunder and lightning started. Quite dramatic- but none of the predicted rain yet.

Peña del Águila is a ridge that gives good views of the olive groves that surround the embalse, each with its own special colors in the soil - red, blue, green, and grey. The last ten meters to the peña were unfortunately inaccessible due to a locked gate, but since we were already up to within a meter of the maximum elevation, it didn’t really matter. The handy boulders nearby made a comfortable spot for a mandarin orange break.

We are always speculating about how a person could make a living in these small villages. The walk today gave us some hints. First we passed a man working down in a manhole on the water system. He joins the other five men we see every day using jackhammers to dig up areas of the town streets that we assume are over waterlines. Next we had a good view of the hoppers and conveyor belts that move the olives that are trucked in to the local oil processing plant. The plant isn’t processing right now (wrong season) but we saw some local farmers on a robust tractor headed out to their olive groves. Finally, we passed the imposing sand and gravel quarry. So our conclusion is that if you want to work in Hornos, you should either be in the hospitality business or know how to run machinery.

Today’s Wikiloc track:
https://www.wikiloc.com/hiking-trails/hornos-pe…Read more