Tolox

The big quandary of this part of the trip has been the condition of the long distance trails. The GR 249, the Gran Senda de Malaga, has its own website with trail updates on it. Several stages nearby are closed right now because of trail damages.

The GR 243, the Gran Senda de la Sierra de las Nieves, the GR we are on now, does not have any up-to-date information online. Reports from people who have walked Wikiloc tracks in this area within the last two weeks are available though, and they are mixed. One for the area between Guaro and Tolox reports that two large trees have fallen across a sheer section of the trail and made it impassable. These sorts of damages don’t matter so much for our daywalks, because if we come to a part that is blocked, we can just turn around and go back; but when we are changing our location from village A to village B, if the trail is blocked shortly before the final destination, it would be too late in the day to turn around and try to get to village B by some other means. So when the caretaker of our house in Guaro offered to drive us to Tolox, we decided that was the prudent thing to do. I’m sad about missing the continuity of walking from village to village, but we just had two solid weeks of being able to walk every day, so there really isn’t anything to complain about.

Tolox has a magnificent setting. It is hidden from almost every direction, but then you come around a corner and there it is, tucked into a valley between the mountains and the river. School was just letting out when we arrived so we sat on a bench for a while and watched all the happy reunions of mothers and fathers and children. Our house is at the top of the village, quite a climb up from the river. Luckily, there are brightly colored benches all the way up offering a chance to catch your breath.

We had time this morning to do another of the national park village walks before we left Guaro:
www.wikiloc.com/walking-trails/guaro-around-the…Read more