Spain 2013 - Coast to Coast

December 2013 - January 2014

Using the route laid out by Guy Hunter-Watts, we walked 416 kilometers in southern Spain from Maro on the Mediterranean to Bolonia on the Atlantic. Read more

List of countries

Spain

Categories

Family, Hiking

283kilometers traveled

Means of transport

Flight-kilometers
Walking-kilometers
Hiking-kilometers
Bicycle-kilometers
Motorbike-kilometers
Tuk Tuk-kilometers
Car-kilometers
Train-kilometers
Bus-kilometers
Camper-kilometers
Caravan-kilometers
4x4-kilometers
Swimming-kilometers
Paddling/Rowing-kilometers
Motorboat-kilometers
Sailing-kilometers
Houseboat-kilometers
Ferry-kilometers
Cruise ship-kilometers
Horse-kilometers
Skiing-kilometers
Hitchhiking-kilometers
Cable car-kilometers
Helicopter-kilometers
Barefoot-kilometers

Newest first

Footprints
Photos

Traveler Spain 2013 - Coast to Coast
- Show trip
- Add to bucket listRemove from bucket list
- Share
- Day 21
- Monday, December 30, 2013
- ☀️ 54 °F
- Altitude: 384 m
- Spain Valle de Abdalagís 36.935661, -4.68272536°56’8” N 4°40’58” W
Antequera to Valle de Abdalajís
December 30, 2013 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 54 °F
Dec 30
Antequera to Valle de Abdalajís, 24 km - Hostal Vista de la Sierra

Wow! Today was the kind of day you dream about - as challenging as can be handled, with rewards galore. I felt good enough to walk today, so we set out for the great trail that goes right through the La Torcal Pass on the challenging track called La Escaleruela. It was zero degrees Centigrade when we started up the pass, but we had sunshine and very little wind all day. The rocky track up to the pass meant we had tremendous mountain scenery all morning, followed by remote tracks trough high cortijos after we rejoined the Coast to Coast route. Now we are the only guests in the Hostal Vista de la Sierra in Valle de Abdalajís, the same hotel where Ned and I stayed in 2009. Tomorrow...El Chorro.Read more
1 like
Traveler Spain 2013 - Coast to Coast
- Show trip
- Add to bucket listRemove from bucket list
- Share
- Day 22
- Tuesday, December 31, 2013 at 9:02 PM
- 🌫 41 °F
- Altitude: 226 m
- Spain El Chorro 36.908459, -4.75993136°54’30” N 4°45’36” W
Valle de Abdalajís to El Chorro
December 31, 2013 in Spain ⋅ 🌫 41 °F
Valle de Abdalajís to El Chorro, 11 km - Complejo Turistico Rural La Garganta

We left Valle de Abdalajís this morning with a beautiful climb beside steep rock faces with glorious colors, and then a descent to El Chorro, which attracts people from all over the world for its rock climbing. We watched climbers on several walls on the way in to the gorge. Luckily for them and us, it's short-sleeve weather in El Chorro this afternoon. Tomorrow: a steep climb up the cliff opposite us and on to the old spa of Carratraca for a rest day!Read more
1 like
Traveler Spain 2013 - Coast to Coast
- Show trip
- Add to bucket listRemove from bucket list
- Share
- Day 23
- Wednesday, January 1, 2014
- 🌧 59 °F
- Altitude: 316 m
- Spain Arroyo del Ganado 36.915432, -4.76870636°54’56” N 4°46’7” W
El Chorro
January 1, 2014 in Spain ⋅ 🌧 59 °F
El Chorro loop, 5 km - Complejo Turistico Rural La Garganta

We decided to stay here another day to enjoy the area and made a short loop hike out to see the famous bridge on the Camino del Rey. We climbed high above it - not a trail for anyone with a fear of heights!!! We had good views of the cliff on the other side of the gorge that we are going to climb tomorrow. If it goes up as steeply as the water pipe we can see, it is going to be a very difficult climb. Given my difficulty today on sheer loose rock, I am worried about tomorrow.

There are rock climbers everywhere here. Every time you go around a corner you see more campervans. I'd say the village has at most a population of 150 , and there must be 300 climbers here.Read more
1 like
Traveler Spain 2013 - Coast to Coast
- Show trip
- Add to bucket listRemove from bucket list
- Share
- Day 24
- Thursday, January 2, 2014
- ☁️ 57 °F
- Altitude: 546 m
- Spain Carratraca 36.852154, -4.81822236°51’8” N 4°49’6” W
El Chorro to Carratraca
January 2, 2014 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 57 °F
El Chorro to Carratraca, 14 km - Casa Pepa
We've left the land of olive trees and entered the land of sheep! We made it up the 1100-foot cliff opposite the hotel in two hours with no problems, and got to the abandoned Mozarabic village of Bobastro only to find it is only open Fri to Sun in the winter. Too bad...we really wanted to see it. We consoled ourselves by having lunch out of the wind in the information booth across the road from the ruins.

We are in the tiny village of Carratraca tonight. I don't think many tourists find their way here. The whole town is full of Spanish families that are gathered for the holidays. Casa Pepa is a real find. Dinner here is a must if you are anywhere nearby. When we dragged ourselves in about 4 pm, the narrow street in front was filled to overflowing with local people waiting their turn to eat in the tiny dining room. We put our packs in the bedroom (don't sleep here unless you like beds like hammocks), and joined the crowd. The afternoon meal is all served family-style in what must have once been the family dining room, complete with photos on the walls. Every table gets the same menu of dishes. And they keep coming and coming! Maybe 10 courses in all. The family at the next table was celebrating a one-year-old’s first birthday. Great fun with everybody from great-grandparents to the baby. They included us too! We would love to stay here another day just to be able to eat here again, but bad weather is coming, so it is off to El Burgo tomorrow.Read more
1 like
Traveler Spain 2013 - Coast to Coast
- Show trip
- Add to bucket listRemove from bucket list
- Share
- Day 25
- Friday, January 3, 2014
- ☁️ 59 °F
- Altitude: 553 m
- Spain Burgo 36.791824, -4.9485336°47’31” N 4°56’55” W
Carratraca to El Burgo
January 3, 2014 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 59 °F
Carratraca to El Burgo, 23 km - Hotel La Casa Grande

Wow! We made it...23 km...through rain and mist...following cairns when the trail disappeared. We are really proud of ourselves. This is almost as long as the longest walk I have ever done. That was 17 miles (27 km) in Glacier National Park without a pack when I was 21. So today's nearly 15 miles with a pack at age 66 made me feel like I am in good shape. We started before it even got light, just in case, and made it to El Burgo in 8.5 hours. Ronda is next, 27 km. Along the way today, we came to an abandoned marble quarry, so of course we thought of the marble altar with the crack in it at Our lady of the Rock Monastery. (Note: the video of the lambs is from yesterday. Too cute to leave out!)Read more
1 like
Traveler Spain 2013 - Coast to Coast
- Show trip
- Add to bucket listRemove from bucket list
- Share
- Day 26
- Saturday, January 4, 2014
- ☁️ 61 °F
- Altitude: 558 m
- Spain Burgo 36.790519, -4.94960636°47’26” N 4°56’59” W
El Burgo
January 4, 2014 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 61 °F
El Burgo, 23 km - Hotel La Casa Grande

We had a nice rest day in El Burgo, getting ready for our 27 km marathon tomorrow! There was sunshine this morning, so we explored the town. It has Arabic roots, as do virtually all the towns in Andalucia.
We are in a hotel with sufficient heat in the room(!) and with wifi that actually connects in the room, a first for that combo, so I was able to download all the maps for the rest of the route in comfort. It has really been fun learning to use the iPad.Read more
1 like
Traveler Spain 2013 - Coast to Coast
- Show trip
- Add to bucket listRemove from bucket list
- Share
- Day 27
- Sunday, January 5, 2014
- ☀️ 55 °F
- Altitude: 746 m
- Spain Arroyo de la Toma 36.745731, -5.16035336°44’45” N 5°9’37” W
El Burgo to Ronda
January 5, 2014 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 55 °F
El Burgo to Ronda, 27 km - Apartamentos Tajo

We made it! I have just enough energy left to type these words. The climb up to Lifa was magnificent. We have many memories of making this exact route in the opposite direction on our bikes in 2009. Today we were able to take photos of Ned at the same tree and of both of us eating lunch in the same cave as on our TransAndalus trip. There were even cyclists exiting the pasture at the top just as we approached. Climbing 2342 feet and walking 17 miles makes for a long day, so we will be glad for a rest day tomorrow.Read more
1 like
Traveler Spain 2013 - Coast to Coast
- Show trip
- Add to bucket listRemove from bucket list
- Share
- Day 28
- Monday, January 6, 2014
- ☀️ 57 °F
- Altitude: 709 m
- Spain Mirador de Aldehuela 36.74094, -5.16508636°44’27” N 5°9’54” W
Ronda
January 6, 2014 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 57 °F
Ronda, 5 km - Apartamentos Tajo

Today is a holiday in Spain, Kings' Day, so of course, nothing that we planned to do here was open. We are now hoping we will be able to recharge our internet and phone cards in a small town when they expire in a few days, but who knows...? Marie and I had fun walking around in the sunshine, while Ned, who wasn't feeling well, stayed home and did laundry. Having built in a rest day for every walking day sure has been great, both for recovering from hard days and for adjusting for bad weather, as well as for getting to enjoy the places we are in. Ronda's famous bridge is visible from the balcony of our apartment... a great view, but no heat.

This is actually our third visit to Ronda. We first came in 2008 to meet with Miguel Angel, who laid out this section of the TransAndalus. In 2009, we cycled here and met up with fellow-TA rider Oriol.Read more
1 like
Traveler Spain 2013 - Coast to Coast
- Show trip
- Add to bucket listRemove from bucket list
- Share
- Day 29
- Tuesday, January 7, 2014
- ☁️ 59 °F
- Altitude: 689 m
- Spain Montejaque 36.733952, -5.25162836°44’2” N 5°15’6” W
Ronda to Montejaque
January 7, 2014 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 59 °F
Ronda to Montejaque, 15 km - Apartamentos Sierra del Hacho

We walked 15 km today with lots of ups and downs, beautiful views back to Ronda's Tajo and forward to the mountains behind Benaoján and Montejaque, and glimpses of the small cortijos outside of Ronda. Our route took us via Benaoján, although the current route heads directly west. Montejaque has a real mountain village feel. There are no other tourists around. We picked up the keys for our apartment (cold, as always) at a restaurant in the east end of the village. Our balcony overlooks a school.Read more
1 like
Traveler Spain 2013 - Coast to Coast
- Show trip
- Add to bucket listRemove from bucket list
- Share
- Day 30
- Wednesday, January 8, 2014
- ☀️ 61 °F
- Altitude: 684 m
- Spain Montejaque 36.736172, -5.25020336°44’10” N 5°15’1” W
Montejaque
January 8, 2014 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 61 °F
Around Montejaque, 5 km - Apartamentos Sierra del Hacho

We had a great day exploring the village, washing clothes, and checking out our route for tomorrow. The mirador above the village has expansive views of the karst sierras we'll be walking through. This would be a wonderful village to come back to for a week sometime. The streets are very narrow, the houses are well- kept with lovely old doors, and the people are friendly.Read more
1 like