24th May Section 15 El Toril- Las Chorreras

Our walk this week straddled  2 Provinces, Granada and Almeria, and again entailed a long drive down the A92, this time turning off at Calahorra, where we stopped for coffee. As we were pushed for time we limited Graham to a Maritoni (an apple biscuit) instead of the usual Tostada. Our plan was to do the complete section 15, from Puerta Ragua, which sits in both the middle of the walk and is also the summit of the only drivable pass that crosses the Sierra Nevada. We split the walk into 2 parts.
The first part set off from the carpark and headed off up hill in Granada province  towards Las Chorreras. Climbing up through a pine forest we were soon out in open countryside with open vistas extending west, and a new range of hill tops that we need to learn the names of and conquer the summits someday. It was while we walking across Morrón de la Cabañuela that we came across something we have not seen before on our Sulayr expeditions, two other walkers. Stopping to pass the time of day we discovered that they were English and out on holiday, sadly they were missing a sense of humour and appeared shocked when Mike said at the speed we were knocking the miles off the walk he might be in a wooden box before we finished the circuit, my offer to carry the box with us for the rest of the walk saw them scurrying off shaking their heads in bewilderment. Picking up the trail again we started the descent to Los Chorreras, this was a delightful path along the side of Morrón del Mediodía. With Mike on point duty, his worry of an early death almost came true when he nearly stood on a snake basking in the sun. Fortunately we all witnessed this poisonous Viper so there will be no repeat of the Pine Marten spectacle. The only thing in doubt was its length which varies between about 25 cm and 125 cm depending how close to death you came. With Mike relinquishing the job of point duty, preferring a middle position in the group, we set off again only to be confronted by a ladder snake, this is a constrictor, and as I was leading I can definitely say it was 2 metres long and as thick as an arm. Arriving at Los Choreras, a shepherds hut, we stopped for lunch before turning around and with some trepidation walking back on the snake infested route.
Arriving back at the carpark we then crossed over into Almeria province to continue our walk to El Toril. We had not progressed more than 100 metres before we had lost our path. The tree loggers had been out chopping trees recently and had obliterated the path and signs. Striking out through the forest we amazed ourselves when we discovered we had only deviated by about 2 metres. On this section we discovered numerous points where the path was poorly signposted and we had a lengthy discussion about who we could write to with our complaints. This came to the forefront again when even the sign board at El Toril, the start of section 15, was missing. Now we really did need to find someone to complain to. Turning around and heading back to the car we had not gone more than 50 metres when around a corner Enrike appeared, complete with a clip board, he was a man on a mission, working for the Medio Ambiente, he was cataloging all the problems with this section of the walk. We now know a man who can, and he said he would be pleased to receive any suggestions we would like to make about the Sulayr path. With section 15 completed in one day we headed off to the bar for a celebratory drink before the drive back home.     
The walkers Mike, Kees, Rene, Graham and myself.
Distance walked on route today, 10.2 km. Total distance today 20.5 km. Height climbed today 629 metres. Total distance walked on the Sulayr path 79.1 km. Distance left to do 220.9 km. Total height climbed 5800 metres. Total distance walked 186.5 km.