17th June 2011 Section 6 Capilerira to Treveléz

Our walk this week took us to Capaileria to walk the complete section 6 to Treveléz. With a bit of careful planning we had worked out that we had sufficient time, if we left Capileira by 9am, to do the 17.5 km route to Treveléz, have a beer, and catch the bus back to Capileira. This is the only section of the walk so far that we have been able to walk like this and use the bus to get back. It would make a nice change to be able to do a complete section in one day and not have to return the same way. It was also one of the few sections where a 4X4 was not needed so it was an open invitation to anyone, needless to say it was the usual crazy gang who turned up.
We made good time to Capileria in the morning rush hour, one car overtook us at Beznar and I don’t think we saw another. We arrived in time for a pit stop and coffee before the start of the walk.
For the first km the route follows the road up from Capileira before heading off up hill on two steep sections to cut out the long zig zags of the road. The path then sets off at a gentle climb across country, well in some places it was gentle but a lot of it was in shade and we did manage a good pace.
Passing through a forested section that the Medio Ambiente were thinning we noticed a lone hiker in front. This was going to be a first, someone else was on our route, we would be able to share experiences, if Graham had been with us, we might even have able to bond with her. Sadly, as we gained on her, she dashed off and started hugging a tree. I have heard about these people and seen them on TV, so we thought it best if we just gave her a quick nod of the head and leave her in peace.
The path continues upwards, coming out on the road again at Hoya del Portillo, this is as far as the general public can drive up the lower slopes of Mulhacen. We continued up the road a couple of kms, attaining a maximum altitude of 2243 metres, before picking up the path heading back down to Trevelez.
We were making good time, and that beer at the end of the walk was already starting to taste good. The path twists and turns as it slowly makes its way towards Trevelez, eventually meeting up with the GR7.
There are only two buses back from Trevelez in the afternoon and we planned to catch the first one at 4pm. With 4.5 km left to travel we estimated that we should arrive at 3.10, that cool beer was sure  going to taste nice. Five minutes later and disaster set in, our intended route to Treveléz was closed and a diversion had been set in place, what should have been a high speed level track was replaced with a steep 150 metre drop into a barranco at the bottom of which was a fast flowing river.
What had impressed us on this section was the number of new bridges that had been installed, even across tiny streams we could have jumped over. What did we get to cross the fast flowing river? 4 logs tied together with a bit of wire, a real test for Mike and Cees.
The problem with loosing 150 metres going down into a barranco is that generally you have to climb out up the other side, and this was no exception. In the morning, when we were fresh, our 700 metre climb was relatively easy, at 2.30 in the afternoon, and with temperatures in the low thirties it was a different matter. To make matters worse the diversion had slowed us down, and our estimated bar time was down to a few minutes.
Regaining our route our pace increased and we soon made it into the upper barrio of Treveléz and the end of the path, it was now 3.50 and the cool beer was a distant memory, what was more important was the 4 pm bus. The bus stop was at least a 15 minute walk away. Passing through the middle barrio we noticed someone waiting at another bus stop, after an in depth discussion we ascertained that the bus also stopped here, 30 seconds later the bus appeared and we were safely on our way back to Capileira, we could not have timed that if we had tried. The only thing missing was the cold beer, but there are bars in Capileira.
There are a lot of stories in the Alpujarras that the moors, when they were constructing their acequia ( small irrigation canals), had found a way of overcoming gravity, and were able to make water flow uphill. Kees, who is Dutch, claims to have witnessed this phenomena in the past whilst out on our expeditions. We came across one of these nature defying acequia today, personally I thought the water was going down hill, but I did promise to review it after a few beers. Sadly I have to report, even with my beer goggles on, I did not witness water flowing up hill. Our scientific journal of our travels around the Sierra Nevada remains true and believable.

This was the last walk for Rene for a while as she is off “woofing” in the UK, we don’t ask what her duties will be.
An excellent day out and, after the beer, the hard uphill sections just magically disappeared.
 
The walkers Mike, Kees, Rene, Ray, and myself.
Distance walked on route today, 20.5 km. Total distance today 20.5 km. Height climbed today 1038 metres. Total distance walked on the Sulayr path 108.7 km. Distance left to do 192.3 km. Total height climbed 8142 metres. Total distance walked 240.8 km.