In the mountains

We are thrilled to be up in the mountains, the Sierra Bermeja to be exact, which means the vermillion range in English. It gets its name from the reddish color caused by the minerals in the rocks.

Our cottage is a true casa del campo, out in the country, not in any village. Our original plan had been to walk along the coastal GR 92 as far as Casares Playa and then use a local trail along the banks of a river to get to the village of Casares where we could pick up the GR 249 to reach this spot. Thanks to all the rain that has washed out bridges and fords, that couldn’t happen, and instead we used a taxi to come the 13 km inland today on an alternate route. These are the mountains where we’ve seen the rain pouring down day after day after the clouds swept across the coastal strip and hit the uplands. Tomorrow’s forecast is for rain all day.

We had about an hour of walkable weather today, so we walked down to see where the road has been flooded and cut by a deep ditch that the water dug. Rain or no rain, it’s great to be out of the city and walking on mountain tracks again.Read more