Walhalla: in the acequia

Surprisingly, we could not find any existing Wikiloc GPX tracks along either of the two acequias that are just below Casa Walhalla. But looking closely at the IGN topo map of this area, it seemed to us that we could work our way down from the house to the Acequia de Órgiva and make our own route. This morning we did just that, very pleased to be able to hop right into the acequia. (We knew from crossing it lower down on our walk yesterday that it was going to be dry.)

Feeling like we were our own little MEMOLA project, we walked several kilometers north, tossing aside branches that had fallen into the channel and dodging thorny vines that hung down from the trees above. This was the first time we’ve ever been able to walk in such a deep acequia, and we marveled at the engineering it must have taken to create it. Eventually, we came to a point where the channel was encased in a tube. The path beside it had a sheer drop to the river, so we turned around and investigated the other (west) end of the channel. Here the side walls were not as deep, and the channel itself was wider. In order to head off the danger of fast moving water cutting through earthen walls, the outer edge had been cemented where it went around curves. Eventually, we climbed out and used a small lane to circle back to our house, very happy to have had such an unusual experience. Now if we only knew why the acequia is dry at the moment…Read more