Hiking in the Alpujarra
Trip Start
Jan 28, 2008
1
37
83
Trip End
Sep 18, 2008
Lanjaron,
Andalusia,
Spain and Canary Islands
Saturday, May 3, 2008
Our first walk was on the GR-142 to Orgiva. The trial started on the road out of Lanjaron and just on the outskirts it headed up into the olive groves. We had good spring weather for walking and started to warm up quickly. After the climb we were on a flat dirt road with fruit and olive trees, pastor and the odd house next to the road
1st day hike - View of Orgiva below
. Our lunch spot was next to a trickling irrigation channel. On the descent into Orgiva we were passed by some mountain bikers. It was a steep slope to walk and bike down. One rider did very well when he hit a rock and did a hand stand to avoid face planting a rock. We found a room in Orgiva and went to explore the town. It was a small town but it did have a small Indian takeaway shop. After buying some supplies for the next days walk back to Lanjaron we happily ordered and ate some curries. It was a change from everything we had been eating in Egypt , Turkey and Spain and it tasted delicious. The original plan was to visit the markets in Orgiva the next day but our information was incorrect. The locals were a bit confused if the market was running or not. Walking back to Lanjaron was the best we came up with and so we retraced our foot steps. No surprises that the path out of Orgiva seemed even steeper on the way up. We passed a tiny, old woman carrying a bucket of wet woolen clothes. She had walked up to a nearby creek to wash them. The nearest huts were still a long way away. When we looked back later she had stopped to collect firewood from beside the path. We also met a British man who was walking at a steady pace as he passed us and working on his sunburn at the same time. We found our lunch spot from the day before. The channel had been opened and water was rushing downhill
Old church in Orgiva
. The sound of the water made a good spot under the olive trees great. Two days later we were ready for some more walking. We caught the bus from Lanjaron further into the valley and up to Capileira. We had to ask a local lad where the trial to Bubion, the town below Capileira, started. He led us through the twisting and turning streets to where we wouldn't get lost. The GR-7 runs through Capileira to Bubion, Pampaneira, Soprotujar and Canar on the way to Lanjaron. The trial is part of the trans-Europe route that starts in Greece and ends in Portugal . (We found another section when we were in Portugal .) Anyway, we walked down downhill to Bubion. On the way we passed a group using a map and compass to find their way up to Capileira. Looking back up the hill we could see the town and being on the trial already we wandered why the group needed to navigate. In Bubion we found our way by always choosing the downhill paths and alleys. The information centre in Pampaneira was a good place to stop and read about the local environment, its flora and fauna. From Pampaneira we walked passed the local hydroelectricity plant and around to Soportujar.
We had booked a room above a bar for the night. It took us a while in the small town to find the bar before we were shown our room. It turned out to be a large apartment for up to eighteen people, two bathrooms, a kitchen and a roof top terrace. We picked our room, checked out the kitchen and then went shopping for dinner and the next day's supplies. We had a look around town as it was an adventure finding the local grocery store. The options were limited and pasta was the best. The woman running the store gave us one of the onions from her kitchen when we could finally explain what the last item was
View of Canar and Sorputujar on the hillside
. An onion! She was pretty good at charades. Our last day walking in the Sierra Nevada was from Soportujar to Lanjaron via Canar. Again the trail was fairly clear and flat following the contour lines. We passed a lot of houses for sale and ones being renovated. There were a few English accents coming out of the houses and we later discovered that the valley was a popular place for British to move to for a tree or Spain change. We couldn't resist eating beside the fast flowing creek (irrigation channel) but it was a little cooler. The GR-7 and the GR-142 had crossed paths near our lunch spot and after lunch we decided to find the GR-7 and not just walk the GR-142 again. We didn't find it and wondered around the olive trees and slopes for a fair while. We gave up on the trail and walked up beside a creek and then in the general direction of Lanjaron. It became a bit more of an adventure but we were always near huts and houses and ended up walking down a dirt road into Lanjaron. We were tired but happy when we walked slowly into town. The main road seemed a little longer though.
Lanjaron was not the easiest place to find a connection to Nerja and our time at the Donkey Sanctuary. The worst option was returning to Granada and changing buses there. We did find a town on the coast where we could change buses and booked our seats out of Lanjaron.
