Photo Gallery
1. Sunday 14 October. Walk 1 : The ridge south and east of Capileira : 5 miles Today was a very wet day, getting the remnants of a hurricane which had hit Portugal. Our route took us on a ridge and then down to the village of Bubion, which lies only a kilometre south of Capileira. In this picture we are looking south with the mountain called Lujar rising to over 6000 feet above the small town of Orgiva. |
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2. Looking down on the village of Capileira. | ![]() |
3. On our shorter walk we encountered a column of horses being ridden up the track from Bubion. They stopped for a good ten minutes while we got more and more soaked by the heavy rain which started to flow down the track in a torrent. In Bubion we stopped at the Teide restaurant and bar and enjoyed a nice coffee, I had a lovely slice of chocolate cake. The rain stopped and we headed back to Capileira on a path parallel to the main road. |
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4. A nice view of the typical Spanish white mountain village taken back in Capileira. | ![]() |
5. Monday 15 October. Walk 2: Lanjaron, Soportjujar (witches), Canar : 9 miles The bus dropped us off south of the town of Lanjaron, which has an ancient castle on its outskirts. |
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6. We head east, I agreed to act as the back marker for this walk. | ![]() |
7. The rocks in the region are predominantly crystalline metamorphic rocks constituted principally from graphite micaschists. (in case you wanted to know). |
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8. Looking south towards the sea, with the Rules Reservoir visible in the centre. | ![]() |
9. We had lunch in the village of Cañar in the square dominated by the church. Today was dry and pleasant after the washout of yesterday. | ![]() |
10. A view down the main valley to the south with new and old road bridges. | ![]() |
11. A large, disused dam on which we crossed a small gorge on our way to Soportujar. | ![]() |
12. The circular stone-slabbed grain threshing area outside the village of Soportujar. | ![]() |
13. The village of Soportujar has a legend. It goes like this: In years gone by, any child who wandered outside of the village unaccompanied would be snatched by the local witch's coven and taken to the cave of The Eye of the Witch. There they would meet their grisly end, and the witches would sell their fat to the local dairyman the next morning, to be turned into milk, cream and cheese. |
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14. Tuesday 16 October. Walk 3: Trevelez to Busquistar and then Pitres : 10 miles Most well-known for its cured ham, the village of Trevelez is the highest in mainland Spain at 1,476m. We reach the outskirts of the village and pass a pair of dams which control the flow of water in the river. |
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15. Located at the head of the steep-sided and dramatic Trevelez river valley, the village's population of around 800 is divided between three barrios: bajo, medio and alto. We continue south gaining higher ground and passing the three barrios which compose Trevelez as the clouds close in for another wet day. |
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16. Another view looking back on Trevelez. | ![]() |
17. We saw a number of cows on the way, all with bell around their neck. | ![]() |
18. We stop for lunch at a rocky slope, what looked like an abandoned hotel sits near a main road across the valley. | ![]() |
19. We arrive at our destination in Pitres. | ![]() |
20. An interesting view somewhere on the route near the end of a somewhat damp day. | ![]() |
21. Wednesday 17 October. Free day: A walk with Sara retracing much of Sunday's walk, but this time in fine weather: 6 miles Heading south on the ridge and looking towards the mountain of Lujar which seems to be bathed in a blue haze. |
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22. Looking down towards the village of Bubion where we hope to have lunch if we can find an obscure path down. | ![]() |
23. A nice mirador (viewing point) in the direction of Capileira with blue skies and cloud to the north and west. | ![]() |
24. Having had a nice al fresco lunch, we head up the road out of Bubion, searching for the footpath alongside the road which leads up to Capileira. | ![]() |
25. Having found the path, we walked up towards Capileira, looking back for the last time to Bubion. | ![]() |
26. Now approaching the hotel, we can also see the third village, Pampaneira, which lies south of Bubion. | ![]() |
27. Thursday 18 October. Walk 4: Fondales, gorge and ridge, then Mecina: 7 miles Having left the small village of Fondales, we approach a stone bridge over the Trevelez River next to the ruins of an old mill. |
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28. Next to the old bridge was this old mill, with millstones and evidence of a vertical screw mechanism fed by a water course from above. | ![]() |
29. A zigzag mule track took us up on to the ridge above the Trevelez valley. | ![]() |
30. On the far side of the valley there are 7 white villages typical of the area. | ![]() |
31. In the afternoon we completed our ridge walk and it was time to descend on another zigzag path to the river, which had cut a narrow gorge into the rock. | ![]() |
32. It was one of the wet days which alternated with the dry and sunny days. I wore a flimsy polythene pancho, though it didn't do much to keep my legs dry. In future I will bring my Paramo trousers whatever the weather expected. | ![]() |
33. Another old industrial building is sited next to the river, probably another water mill. We ended up today in the small village of Mecina at a hotel where I was able to change into my shorts. My boots were sodden, like on Sunday, but a couple of nice cafe con leche and a cake helped to warm me up before we got on the bus. |
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34. Friday 19 October. Walk 5: Along the valley of the Poqueira River: 10 miles On this last walk we set off from Capileira towards Bubion, though we crossed to the other side of the valley before reching there and headed north. In this shot we are looking south down the valley. |
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35. Looking north with Capileira and behind is the ridge along which some of Spain's highest mountains lie, including Mulhacen at 3,482m, closely followed by the Pico del Veleta, at 3,396m. Some snow fell the previous day and covers the ridge in the distance. | ![]() |
36. Another view looking south. | ![]() |
37. Our first bridge crossing of four today at Puente Molino. | ![]() |
38. Continuing north with the high snowy ridge on the horizon. | ![]() |
39. I think this was the second bridge at Chischar. A group photo with me fourth from the right. | ![]() |
40. This is the feed pipe (about 2 foot 6 in diameter) which comes down 600 metres to the inlet of the La Cebadilla hydro-electric power station. It was built in 1957 to supply Capileira, and nearby are several abandoned houses and a church where the workers used to live during the plant's construction. |
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41. As we return on a wide track to Capileira here's a final look back to the mountains. An early start in the morning, bus to the airport at Malaga and the flight home to Manchester. |
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