Pórtugos: Highest elevation on the trip

What a happy day! I have been feeling discouraged about future trips to the mountains given the difficulties I have had gaining elevation on this trip. But today we left Pórtugos early in the morning and climbed continuously to reach the source of the Rio Bermejo at 1759 meters … and I didn’t have any problems! Not any great shakes as far as mountain passes go, but what a fine event to have in the last week of this trip.

Yesterday, the owner of the house where we are staying sent me a WhatsApp saying that there was a beautiful trail, the PR-A 29, that started from here and went to an impressive waterfall, the Cascada de Cortes. “Queda un poco lejos, cuesta arriba, pero muy bonito,” he texted.

When we looked closer and saw that the trail could continue just a bit further and bring us to the manantial of the Río Bermejo, how could we resist? (A manantial is a natural upwelling where groundwater flows out of the earth. It is formed when an underground aquifer fills to the point of overflowing.)

We wanted to get all the climbing done before it got hot, so we left Pórtugos just after 7:30. Ned had found the trailhead yesterday, leaving from the highest era of the village, now the site of the village water tank. After passing an interesting acequia partidor, we came upon the grandest chestnut tree we have ever seen. The diameter of the trunk was larger than Ned and Marie’s outstretched arms put together! Lots more beautiful chestnuts, and then Holm Oaks lining a rocky trail that took us right up to the border of the Parque Nacional de Sierra Nevada. A picnic area accessible by four-wheel-drive give us actual tables to sit down and enjoy a midmorning snack of apricots and nuts.

We could hear the waterfall roaring away the entire time we were eating and were eager to climb down to a viewpoint where we could see its entire 20 meter drop. What a sharp decline it has dug into the rocks, leaving behind a wall called the Tajo de Cortes. We spent some time admiring all the natural features as well as the rainbow created by the falling water. When we finally tore ourselves away, we ended up on the four-wheel-drive track between Capileira and Trevélez, the exact road that Ned and I cycled in 2010 and 2018. We had an emotional moment standing on the bridge we had crossed then, little knowing that a few meters below us was one of the most beautiful waterfalls of the Alpujarra.

Our search for the manantial was only partially successful. We found the exact spot, but the upwelling was hidden by branches. Beautiful, nevertheless.

At a mirador where we could see all the way down to the village of Fondales, we realized that in the last three weeks, Ned has traversed the entire length of the Rio Bermejo. On Sunday, he and Roman were just a few meters from the point where the Bermejo flows into the Trevélez. Today he was at the birthplace of the river. During the time we have been in La Taha, he has walked every meter of the kilometers in between!

The trip back down was uneventful, although certainly hotter. We were glad we were descending rather than ascending. Now we need to look for walks just as thrilling for tomorrow and the next day.Read more