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Segura de la Sierra

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    • TravelerSpain 2023 - Almeria/Cazorla
      1
      25
      Day 54

      Orcera: Three atalayas

      May 2, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 81 °F

      Saying we wandered around in stony olive groves under a hot sun looking at old crumbling towers doesn’t sound anywhere near as inspiring as it actually was. There are three Muslim watchtowers from the 12th century near Orcera (built atop Carthaginian ruins from the 3rd century B.C.), with no defined path to any except the last one. We wound our way through the groves, trying to guess the best route to the first one, and suddenly, there it was - stones from over a thousand years ago that we could reach out and touch in a landscape little different from how it would have looked then.

      The olive trees themselves are of great interest close-up. Right now, the branches in full sunshine have clusters of tiny yellow and white flowers opening up, while those in the shade are still green buds. Interestingly, a mature tree will have some 500,000 flowers, of which only 1-2% will become fruit. That’s still a lot of olives!

      Today’s Wikiloc track:
      https://www.wikiloc.com/hiking-trails/orcera-tr…      Read more

    • TravelerSpain 2023 - Almeria/Cazorla
      2
      Day 71

      Hornos: Around the village

      May 19, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 61 °F

      Although today was mainly devoted to tasks that needed to be done before we move on tomorrow (like buying four days’ worth of groceries - no shops in La Platera - and making our onward reservations), there were some noteworthy moments. Top of the list would be the muddy brown water pouring out of the kitchen tap this morning. I bet one of those jackhammers we’ve seen at work around town accidentally broke into the water supply line. While that was being remedied, a visit to the 16th century church showed details of the fortress churches we’ve seen in other parts of the Segura de Sierra. This one is typical of La Orden de Caballería de Santiago.

      We had originally planned that Hornos would be the end of our walking route, so I’ve been waiting for inspiration to strike as to where we could go next before meeting friends in Cordoba and then flying home from Madrid. The winning idea: moving to the tiny grouping of houses near the Embalse del Tranco called La Platera. This will give us a chance to explore a different part of the embalse and the historic cortijos nearby before we fly home in less than two weeks.      Read more

    • TravelerSpain 2023 - Almeria/Cazorla
      212
      Day 64

      Moralejos to Rio Madera

      May 12, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 64 °F

      To make it easier to say goodbye, Beatriz walked down to Moralejos Abajo with us this morning, and we then started up a beautiful climb to the pass that separates the Rio Trujala valley from the Rio Madera valley. There were lots of rocky outcroppings (Ned used his poles for the first time in two months), mountain dehesas (the first we’ve ever seen in high mountains), and plenty of birdsong the entire way. Once we were down in the Rio Madera valley, we had an even bigger surprise: the first acequia made from tree trunks that we have seen. And not just one, but two, both crossing the river at 90 degree angles. Pedro, the owner of the Rio Madera Hotel where we are staying, later told us that the first acequias that carried water from the Sierra de Segura to Murcia (190 miles east, near the Mediterranean) were entirely made of wood. Incredible!

      Pedro runs the isolated mountain hotel and restaurant here, and in fact, lives here year round. You can already guess that he is the only permanent resident. We had a chance to talk with him about the lack of rain and how it is driving up food prices in Spain. He says shepherds now need to buy grain for their flocks, so the price of meat has gone up as well as all the food crops that rely directly on water.

      As for today’s video clip, it’s a bit out of the ordinary. When I stumbled across these beetles this morning, I immediately thought of Chris Stewart who wrote a hilarious chapter about them in one of his books in the Driving Over Lemons series (recounting his efforts to create a self-sufficient life on his cortijo in Spain’s Sierra Nevada).

      Today’s Wikiloc track:
      https://www.wikiloc.com/hiking-trails/moralejos…      Read more

    • TravelerSpain 2023 - Almeria/Cazorla
      11
      Day 65

      Río Madera

      May 13, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 59 °F

      What could be better than spending a day with friends? Roman and Teresa drove all the way across Andalucía only to arrive on our coldest day yet temperature-wise, but the warmest day imaginable in terms of friendship. It was a day emblematic of all the things that make life truly good.

      Today’s Wikiloc track:
      https://www.wikiloc.com/hiking-trails/hotel-rio…      Read more

    • TravelerSpain 2023 - Almeria/Cazorla
      15
      Day 60

      Segura de la Sierra: Arab baths

      May 8, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 75 °F

      When we originally mapped out the route of this trip three years ago, our plan was to leave Segura on the main track of the GR 247 and continue to the Refugio Casa Forestal El Campillo, staying overnight there with sleeping bags and mats. While waiting for COVID restrictions to end, however, I read a few descriptions of this stage on Wikiloc and found out that there had been a big forest fire here a few years ago making the route impassable due to kilometer after kilometer of fallen trees blocking the path. Everyone now uses an official variant that goes via Moralejos and Rio Madera - so we will too!

      We did walk out some of the original GR today though, and then continued on a great dirt track through an olive grove below the mirador until we came to a locked gate. We could see the fire damage in the distance - trees that look like toothpicks. It must have been a terrifying scene.

      Working our way back through the maze of tiny alleys, we stumbled upon Arab baths from the 11th century - and the door was open to go inside! What great luck. Built on the Roman model, there are three rooms (cold, warm, and hot). You can see the hypocaust structure below the floor for heating and the excavated caldera for the fire.

      Just outside the hammam, there was a plant we have never seen before with leaves far, far bigger than my hand, and flowers that look like painted porcelain. Such a treat to see.

      Tomorrow: off to Moralejos, and then to Rio Madera, where the hotel is only open on weekends.

      Today’s Wikiloc track:
      https://es.wikiloc.com/rutas-senderismo/segura-…      Read more

    • TravelerSpain 2023 - Almeria/Cazorla
      123
      Day 58

      Segura de la Sierra: The castle

      May 6, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 77 °F

      We were pure tourists today, walking up to the castle that towers over the town and seeing the sights associated with it: the Arab baths, the workshops from the Middle Ages, the pozo de nieve (where winter snow was stored for summer use), the chapel for the Order of Santiago, and the bullring. The light was just right for us to get a good look at the 100 meter/300 foot sheer drop on three sides of the mirador we walked out to yesterday. I think you can even make it out in the photo. Ned went up the narrow staircase to the top of the keep while I kept my feet and hands firmly planted on the adarve (the walk around the perimeter walls used by the sentries). The Arabs described the site as being “as inaccessible as an eagle’s nest on a sheer cliff”. I agree.

      Today’s Wikiloc track::
      https://www.wikiloc.com/hiking-trails/segura-de…      Read more

    • TravelerSpain 2023 - Almeria/Cazorla
      3
      Day 57

      Orcera to Segura de la Sierra

      May 5, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 81 °F

      We knew Segura de la Sierra was perched on a steep slope , but it wasn’t until we walked up here today that we realized that it was a sheer drop in every direction. It wasn’t hard at all walking up, but I bet it is going to be a different story going down! We walked out to a mirador where the drop was so steep it made us nervous to stand by the railings. Too bad the camera can’t capture the sheer nature of the surroundings - it’s quite a sight.

      We got an early start (not wanting to climb 1220 feet/472 meters in the sun); had shade almost the entire way; and even saw some unusual wildlife: a lizard and a big flock of doves. The views back to Orcera were great - it kept getting smaller and smaller as Segura got larger and larger. And we finally found out the name of the big peak we’ve been seeing all week: Yelmo. Our trail out of this area goes right by it.

      Today’s Wikiloc track:
      https://www.wikiloc.com/hiking-trails/orcera-se…      Read more

    • TravelerSpain 2023 - Almeria/Cazorla
      1
      Day 59

      Segura de la Sierra: Gontar loop

      May 7, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 75 °F

      Our loop around Cerro de Gontar turned up some heartwarming surprises today. To start, although the peak of Peñalta had dominated our views from Puente Honda and La Hueta, we had never expected to see it again on this trip. So coming around the shoulder of a ridge on the GR 247 this morning and seeing Peñalta pop up felt like greeting an old friend. Not only that, we could also make out the line of the route we had walked from La Hueta to Orcera. Around the next corner was an even more unexpected surprise. We were looking down on the roofs of a tiny aldea, speculating on what it might be, when Ned recognized the terracing in front of the houses. “That’s Linarejos!” We were now far above it, looking down on the scene we had climbed up to from Orcera last Wednesday. It’s Ned’s favorite village so far, so it was a real thrill to see it again and to even hear its two resident dogs barking.

      The third surprise of the morning was coming across another pozo de nieve like the one below the castle. I had really hoped to see one for the first time on this trip, and now I’ve seen two in two days. They were used to store snow during the winter that would then provide ice during the summer. Inside the well, the snow was stored in compacted layers separated with straw. When the well was full, a covering was sealed to maintain the interior temperature. When summer arrived, the well was opened and the ice was cut into blocks to be sold. The one below the castle looks to be about 20 feet deep, so that’s a lot of ice!

      Speaking of snow and ice, we had a brief rain shower about 8:30 last night. It lasted for less than an hour, but was enough to make the trail smell damp this morning. This is the third tiny bit of rain in ten days after five months of no rain.

      Today’s Wikiloc track:
      https://www.wikiloc.com/hiking-trails/segura-de…      Read more

    • TravelerSpain 2023 - Almeria/Cazorla
      11
      Day 61

      Segura de la Sierra to Moralejos

      May 9, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 79 °F

      The aldea of Moralejos is tiny. I forgot to ask Beatriz, the owner of the house we are staying in, what the actual population is, but we’ve seen only two people since we arrived. Beatriz lives upstairs and we have the downstairs of a large stone house that looks delightfully old and sturdy. We are staying here three days so we can explore the remains of the original Segura settlement in the cliffs above us. Unlike Puente Honda, La Hueta, and Linarejos, there is no central square or gathering place here, but we did see the remains of an era on the way in.

      We carried in three days worth of food, but we could have left most of it behind because Beatriz has left us eggs from her chickens, tomatoes, potatoes, and mandarins, as well as an array of bakery delights.

      The walk to get here was all along small paved roads. We wanted traffic to see us well ahead of time, so we carefully arranged our orange jackets in the mesh pockets of our packs with the arms dangling down to wave in the breeze. But it turned out to be totally unnecessary; only four cars passed us the entire morning. I’d say this part of the Sierra de Segura is not heavily traveled!

      Today’s Wikiloc track:
      https://www.wikiloc.com/hiking-trails/segura-de…      Read more

    • TravelerSpain 2023 - Almeria/Cazorla
      121
      Day 63

      Moralejos: Río Trujala

      May 11, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 73 °F

      We had a nice Wikiloc track picked out that would take us on a loop walk up the Río Trujala and back by a forestry track today, but shortly after we left Moralejos, it became very overgrown. By the time we crossed the river (it’s pretty narrow, but we should be glad it’s running at all!), we realized it was useless to try to continue. We had noticed some electrical towers nearby and thought if we followed them, it might make a nice second choice. What luck! They led us up high above the river through glades full of flowers, and then to a walker’s equivalent of a superhighway: a wide, smooth forest track, complete with some of the original kilometer markers. Eventually this joined the GR 247 stage that we are going to walk tomorrow when we move on to Hotel Río Madera. I was especially glad to get a preview of that stage today, even in the opposite direction, since I have been worrying that it might be too precarious for me. My fears were totally unnecessary. It is steep, but it’s not at the edge of a cliff, and there is nothing precarious about it.

      Just before getting back to Moralejos, we had a first on this trip: meeting other walkers with overnight packs! A friendly Dutch couple who are doing the same thing we are - staying several nights in a village and making loop walks before moving on - stopped and chatted with us about the area.

      This afternoon we toured all of Beatriz’ buildings here. She has done a lot of work to make them comfortable. We ended up with a taste test comparing gazpacho and salmorejo. Thanks, Beatriz!

      Today’s Wikiloc track:
      https://www.wikiloc.com/hiking-trails/moralejos…      Read more

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