La Polarda
With one day to go before the Autumnal equinox the available day light is getting shorter, we are losing about 15 minutes a week at the moment. We thought it best to try and get some of the sections in Almeria Provence done as these involve a considerable amount of driving time to get to the start of the walk.
Section 12 is at the far end of the Sierra Nevada range and, at 150 km it is one of the longest drives, fortunately there is only a short off road bit to do. We met at 7am at the Cozvijar petrol station, the attendant looked incredulously at us when we said we were going off walking, it was pitch black, the sun would not be up for another hour.
We had arranged to meet Mark at an obscure motorway junction near Guadix as he lives that side of Granada, but luckily we caught him up on the motorway. So proceeding in two cars we made our way to Abla, our gateway village up into the Sierra Nevada. The off road section to the start of the walks is often long, and sometimes over difficult terrain, but this weeks forest track was short and in excellent condition.
Plan A was to start in the middle of section 12 and walk to the start of it, at La Polarda, a distance of only 7.5 km, but involving a climb of around 600 metres. Both Rene and myself had had funny turns whilst walking the previous Sunday and so we did not want to push it. We had put it down to not eating enough for breakfast, with this in mind we started the walk by eating muesli bars and setting an easy pace.
The path starts in a pine forest and climbs quite steeply on a good track which eventually leads into an oak forest with extensive views in all directions. The guide book says the area was mined up until the 1940s but nowadays there is little evidence of the workings, just a few abandoned cortijos scattered about the hillsides.
We soon arrived at our destination of La Polarda, a lofty perch some 2000 metres up. Our new diet obviously worked well, we were fit and eager to continue the walk.
We had to show Graham we had not lapsed into Micky Mouse walkers in his absence, so we opted to put our second plan into operation. Plan B was to extend the walk by continuing a further 4.5 km along section 11, it would have been a shame to turn around because the conditions were perfect and the going was easy.
The path slowly descended down into the delightful Barranco de Ohanes with its rock pools. Rene suggested we could go swimming but as she did not have her swim suit she declined to lead the way. The path then climbs up to Collado de los Huertecillos, our terminus and lunch stop for the day, our chosen spot was on rocks in the shade of some pine trees.
Our return was back along our outbound route. It was a delightful path in stunning country side which takes the Sulayr path out of the Alpujarras and into the Guadix plain. We did not see one other person all day, what a shame this area is so under utilized.
Arriving back at the cars our thoughts turned to a cool beer. Returning to the Publeo of Abla we eventually found a Bar after several U turns in the middle of the road.
Now the last time we had been in this area we had trouble ordering drinks as they did not understand our brand of Spanish. We thought it best to try a new linguist not tainted with a Durcal accent. We sent Graham off with our order because he is more wildly travelled than the rest of us Hillbillies and surprisingly he came back with the correct order but without tapas, but we were in Almeria provence.
We arrived back in the valley 12 hours after setting off, an excellent day out.
The walkers Mike, Kees, Rene, Graham, Mark and myself.
Distance walked on route today, 11.9 km. Total distance today 23.8 km. Height climbed today 991 metres. Total distance walked on the Sulayr path 165.7 km. Distance left to do 134.3 km. Total height climbed 12173 metres. Total distance walked 369.9 km.
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