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  • TravelerSpain 2025 - Malaga province
    21
    Day 68

    Last walk in the Sierra de las Nieves

    May 8 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 68 °F

    Today was our last day in the Sierra de las Nieves. Tomorrow we are taking the bus to La Carihuela on the coast, a few train stops from the Malaga airport. We’ll have a few days to do some sections of the GR 92 that we missed in March due to the storms, and then on Tuesday, we fly to Madrid, and Wednesday to the US.

    The Sierra de las Nieves proved to be a great choice for this trip. We’ve gotten to explore eight villages and have had some spectacular mountain walks, especially the day up La Blanquilla, and our ventures into the Sierra Prieta. The March rains caused some trail damage and flooded fords, but the rain also brought a profusion of wildflowers and birdsong that we have enjoyed immensely.

    For our last walk, we chose an easy route that took us north of the village along the Río Real.
    A bridge at the end of the track connects across the river to the singletrack trail we didn’t take yesterday. It joins up with the dirt track we did walk that runs along the west side of the Sierra Bermeja. (We didn’t take the singletrack today either, having seen the damage farther up yesterday.) We also had a great view of the huge scar, maybe 150 feet long or so, where the cliff over the river collapsed and washed away. Whew!

    Ojén has been a great spot for our last village, a mountain town with a touch of seaside flavor. On the weekends, people flock up here from Marbella and fill the squares with lively conversation at the outdoor cafés. The trails are busy with walkers, runners, and mountain bikers. But the weekdays have been quiet and serene, just the right ending for our mountain days.

    www.wikiloc.com/walking-trails/ojen-rio-real-21…    Read more

  • TravelerSpain 2025 - Malaga province
    Day 67

    Sierra Bermeja

    May 7 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 63 °F

    Hurray! We finally found another loop out of Ojén that was as good as the one we walked on Sunday. This one went along the side of the Sierra Bermeja range, named for the red color of its rocks.

    The Río Real carves out a deep valley as it flows down from the mountains to pass by Ojén, complicating access to the village. We knew if we crossed the river by its one bridge this morning that there would be two possible routes back. One was a singletrack trail cutting down an arroyo to cross the river via a tree-trunk bridge. Our luck with those sorts of trails has not been good, nor was it today - more storm damage. The other was a dirt road that crosses the river via a ford, but does not connect with any tracks to get back into the village. Instead, you have to walk on the A-7103, the only paved route leading north out of Ojén. We were afraid this would have a lot of traffic on it, but it turned out to be perfectly fine in spite of the fact that it didn’t have any shoulder at all. Luckily, only one bus came by while we were on it. We knew from riding the bus from Marbella to Monda at the beginning of this trip that the bus occupies both lanes as it goes around the six hairpin bends that allow it to climb up out of the barranco. It beeps twice as it approaches each hairpin to warn oncoming traffic (and walkers!) to get out of the way.

    www.wikiloc.com/hiking-trails/ojen-sierra-berme…    Read more

  • TravelerSpain 2025 - Malaga province
    1
    Day 66

    Huertas loop

    May 6 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 63 °F

    Another easy walk today that took us by huertas and olive, orange, and avocado groves south of the village. There was a path down toward the river that we wanted to take all the way to Marbella, but it was badly eroded by the March storms and is currently impassible. Instead, we watched some men playing boules and then visited the Museo del Molino on our way back. We saw the water-driven millstones that crushed the olives and drained off the 30% of the fruit that is oil.

    Ojén is a conundrum in terms of access to trails. It is the southernmost of the villages on the east side of the Sierra de las Nieves, and the last of the villages for us to visit. The other villages have all had steep but doable access, but Ojen has escarpments on all sides but the west that are too difficult for me to negotiate. Tomorrow we’ll try a route to the SW that I’m pretty sure will work.

    www.wikiloc.com/hiking-trails/2025-05-06-06-38-…    Read more

  • TravelerSpain 2025 - Malaga province
    Day 64

    Puerto de los Carreros

    May 4 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 64 °F

    After yesterday’s adventure (narrow ledges, steep drop-offs, too precarious to even think about taking a photo), I wanted the exact opposite for today. That is exactly what we got: wide, smooth concrete or dirt tracks, plenty of space between us and the drop-off, and fantastic views all the way from the Mediterranean and the Rock of Gibraltar to our now-familiar Torrecilla.

    Because it was Sunday, lots of other people were out enjoying the same route - walkers, runners, and lots and lots of mountain bikers. They passed by pedaling valiantly on the uphill leg, and roared by at great speed on the downhill leg. Quite impressive.

    The only snag came at the end of the route. We had turned off on a dirt track and were within a half km of joining up with our outward track when we saw a sign saying “ Peligro. Colmenas” (Danger. Beehives). Well, we thought, we’ve passed a lot of beehives on various tracks in Spain and never had a problem, so let’s not worry about this one. But as we got closer, we saw two men working there, all suited up in protective gear. They waved their arms madly at us, shouting that it was dangerous and telling us to go back to the paved road. We did so reluctantly, retracing our steps and plotting a new route back to Ojén. It worked out fine, but when they passed us in their truck a few minutes later, I wondered if we would have gone through just fine had we arrived at that point after they left.

    www.wikiloc.com/hiking-trails/ojen-puerto-de-lo…    Read more

  • TravelerSpain 2025 - Malaga province
    21
    Day 63

    The Tunnel, Part 2

    May 3 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 68 °F

    Two years ago when we were walking the Camino del Argar, the route passed through a long tunnel that we had to shimmy into through a silted up entrance. The next day, we learned that the ayuntamiento had warned people not to use the tunnel due the danger of possible collapse. So when I read that today’s route had a tunnel under the A route that snakes through the mountains here, I had my doubts. But it all turned out to be easy - short, with a visible exit 0.2 kilometers away, a clear entrance, and signs of many users.

    The bigger problem was the first kilometer of the track out of the village. It looked easy on the map, but I was soon in over my head (literally) because the trail was quite overgrown and right on the edge of a gorge. It then went along an acequia with a tube cemented into its bed, making for some tricky footing, again with the drop to the arroyo directly beside us. I was thrilled when we finally got to a cemented road. That first kilometer took me an entire hour.

    The rest of the walk was pleasant and easy through the Parque Botánico El Cereza (which is more like a forest park than a botanical garden) and back to the village along a nice wide track.

    https://www.wikiloc.com/hiking-trails/ojen-parq…    Read more

  • TravelerSpain 2025 - Malaga province
    1
    1
    Day 62

    Adventures with the locksmith

    May 2 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 68 °F

    The minute the wind slammed the door shut behind us as we stepped into the street to see if we had cell service in our new village of Ojén, I had a panicky thought. “Do you have the keys in your pocket?” I asked Ned. He didn’t, nor did I. So there we were in a new village where we knew no one, with our backpacks and all our gear on the other side of a locked door.

    Luckily, we had our phones in our hands, so I immediately WhatsApped the owner, asking if he lived in Ojén, and explaining the situation. He answered right away that he was on a three day trip and currently 150 km away!

    A lot of thoughts ran through our heads at once:
    -What is the Spanish word for a locksmith?
    -Is there a locksmith in the village? (Probably not; we haven’t seen one in any of the other villages.)
    -Where might the nearest locksmith be? (Probably in Marbella. Ugh )
    -Would a locksmith be able to get here before nightfall?
    -If not, where would we sleep?

    We tried to be calm problem solvers. Good, we had cell service, so we were able to look up the word for locksmith. It’s “cerrajero”. Google then told us that, incredibly, there was a cerrajería in Ojén. No phone number, so would it be open? Google Maps showed us the way, and 10 minutes later we were in front of a very unprepossessing building, but there was a man working outside, an excellent sign! We ventured in and explained our problem to the first person we saw. He called the boss, and she immediately took down our address, and sent us back to our house. Within five minutes a man appeared on a motorcycle with a piece of plastic that looked like a giant credit card. He patiently wiggled it in the door for 5 to 10 minutes, and, whoosh, the door swung open and we were reunited with all our gear!

    We’ll be thinking very kind thoughts about Cerrajería Ojén as we go walking tomorrow!    Read more

  • The Great Eddi-Tour 2025
    Day 34

    Cabopino

    April 24 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C

    Nach dem Aufstehen haben wir die letzten Sachen in Eddi gepackt, den Kühlschrank eingeräumt und die Fahrräder aufgeladen. Wir haben uns von Manu, Estrella und ihrer Mama verabschiedet und uns für die Gastfreundschaft und das gute Essen bedankt. Von Estrellas Mama haben wir noch Gewürze, Orangen und Zitronen bekommen, von ihrem Papa ein 5 Liter Pack Tempranillo für Sangria oder Tinto de Verano (das ist junger Rotwein mit Zitronenlimo und Eis, sozusagen die schnelle Variante von Sangria). Das waren echt schöne Tage bei und mit Estrella.
    In Albox waren wir Tanken und schnell in der Waschanlage, aber die hat es nicht so richtig gebracht, nur der gröbste Dreck ist runter bei Eddi (inzwischen ist die Frontpartie wieder richtig voll mit zerplatzten Insekten). Dann ging es in knapp 4 Stunden bis zum Campingplatz Cabopino, kurz vor Marbella. Hier bleiben wir eine Woche. Der Platz gefällt uns ganz gut, ist schon gut gebucht (Deutsche, Holländer, Spanier, Engländer, Finnen usw.) und es ist nicht weit bis zum Strand. Nach unserer Orientierungsrunde über den Platz haben wir gekocht, es gab Gemüsesuppe, sehr lecker, Es blieb heute lange warm, wir saßen draußen und haben gekniffelt.    Read more

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  • TravelerSpain 2025 - Malaga province
    15
    Day 28

    GR 243 Guaro to Monda

    March 29 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 63 °F

    It’s amazing what a few days of brilliant sunshine with highs in the mid 70s will do for drying up tracks and paths. We were able to walk from Guaro to Monda on the GR today without any problems at all. All of the fords we were worried about were dry. We were passed by two mountain bikers on the trail, but otherwise we didn’t see anyone else even though it’s a Saturday and you would expect lots of people to be out. The route has a remote feeling of being out in the mountains with high peaks close by.

    Back in Guaro, it was obvious that something special was going on. In front of the ayuntamiento, just below our house, musicians were setting up amplifiers and children were gathering around floats. It must be something like the village’s Saint day. From our rooftop, we have a front row seat for the festivities.

    www.wikiloc.com/hiking-trails/gr-243-guaro-mond…    Read more

  • TravelerSpain 2025 - Malaga province
    Day 71

    Playa Carvajal to Playa Chaparral

    May 11 in Spain ⋅ 🌬 73 °F

    Our final walk for this trip started where we left off yesterday on the GR 92 along the Paseo Marítimo, close to the beach, with the Mediterranean on one side and shops and restaurants on the other. (The most frequent combination today: Indian/Italian/Tex-Mex.) Plenty of sunshine for Ned to enjoy his shorts! The surprise of the day was seeing one of the famous Osborne bull steel silhouettes appear on a hillside above the endless stream of apartment houses and hotels. We didn’t know there were any in this area.

    The city of Fuengirola provides many amenities along this stretch: art installations, beach showers, WC‘s, lifeguards, exercise stations, and more. So we were taken by surprise when we crossed the bridge over the Rio Fuengirola, and the nature of the route changed completely. We were suddenly on a cliff above the water, directly beside the A-7 four- lane divided highway with cars, trucks, and buses thundering by at high speeds and only a guardrail between us and the fast-moving traffic. The views of the Mediterranean were still there, but we did not find this section pleasant because of the constant traffic noise. We were very glad when a bus showed up to take us back to our apartment!

    www.wikiloc.com/walking-trails/carvajal-to-chap…    Read more

  • TravelerSpain 2025 - Malaga province
    1
    Day 70

    La Carihuela to Fuengirola

    May 10 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 72 °F

    Today was a good day for a walk along the beach. It was sunny and warm - a big change from when we were in this area in March and almost got blown off the cliffs. Ned wishes he had worn his shorts today, but he’ll have another chance tomorrow.

    The Paseo Marítimo is right along the beach starting from La Carihuela, so on one side you have a beautiful view of the Mediterranean and on the other side, you have your choice of literally hundreds of restaurants between Torremolinos and Benalmádena offering every possible nationality’s specialties - Dutch, German, and British of course, but also Indian and Chinese and more.

    Today is Saturday so there were lots of people out enjoying the path: runners, walkers, cyclists, swimmers, sun-bathers, fishermen, and even a couple having romantic engagement pictures taken on one of the breakwaters.

    From Benalmádena to Fuengirola, the cliffs come right down into the ocean, so the walkway is often elevated. The water below is very clear and looks like it would be great for snorkeling.

    Once in Fuengirola, we had our choice of taking either the bus or the train back to La Carihuela. We first settled on taking the bus, but it pulled away from the bus stop when we were still about 20 feet away. We decided to walk ahead to the next bus stop rather than sit and wait 20 minutes, but the same thing happened again, so we walked up a really steep road to take the Cercanias commuter train back to the station near our apartment, but we ended up on the wrong side of the tracks and couldn’t find a way to cross. Back down the steep road, up 106 steps, try to make sense of the ticket machine, and -whew- we made the next train.

    www.wikiloc.com/hiking-trails/fuengirola-212905964    Read more

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