Hike report - 2003

Every year there appears to be something new about the Winter Hike – and 2003 was without doubt no exception. We embarked upon our first overseas adventure with a trip to Malaga, Spain.

At the planning meeting, held as usual in December, there was a problem with picking a date that suited most of the regulars. In the end everybody agreed that they could make the first weekend in February, apart from Brian, who wanted to spend some time in his newly completed apartment in Malaga. Someone then suggested that instead of Brian coming to us, we should go to him, and amazingly Brian agreed.

Drew arranged cheap flights (with easyJet) from Luton for the Thursday evening, with return flights the following Monday. Brian ensured that he had enough ‘put up beds’ for us to sleep on, and we took our own sleeping bags.

He told us to get taxis to a hotel on the coast road where he would meet us. As it turned out this was not too far from where he lived – on the coast on the edge of Benalmadena Costa, near Punta Negra.

This we did but it was still sometime before he arrived, and when he did the Fiat Multipla that he had hired was not big enough for all our luggage and us. We loaded the luggage and he gave us directions on how to walk the half-mile to a spot near his apartment. After taking the luggage back he parked the van, walked back to meet us and then lead us through a ‘building site’ to his apartment.

Indeed the view from the apartment of the numerous tower cranes is one of Malcolm’s particular memories.

All went according to plan until we arrived very late at Malaga airport – Brian was not there to meet us. However, we managed to ring him and were told that he couldn’t find the airport.

Friday

On Friday morning we all squeezed into the van and went into the centre of Malaga although once again Brian got lost, this time in Torremolinos.  We parked the car and wandered round looking for somewhere to buy some hiking maps. We had little success but after lunch in the central square managed to get some brochures from an information kiosk.

We drove north to Parque Natural Monte de Malaga (Malaga Mountains Natural Park). The road climbed up all the way and there was a section where the road was so steep that twice it went round on itself crossing the lower sections on bridges. We eventually found a car park at the end of a side road a few kilometres south of Viento  (the highest point in the park).

Although it was now fairly late afternoon we were still determined to do some walking. By the time we were ready to go it looked as if we had made no allowance for the warmer climate in Spain.

We set off into the woods and decided that it would be necessary to try and remember our route as, without a more detailed map, there was an outside chance that we would get lost.

Fortunately all went well and we managed about an hours gentle walking. At one point it started to rain and Malcolm produced an umbrella that he had so sensibly packed.

We returned to the apartment and before setting off for our evening meal decided to have a stroll along the beach. This was reached via a tunnel, with lockable gates at both ends, under the road near the hotel where the taxis had dropped us off. On the way back from the beach Graham, our resident ‘twitcher’, was pleased to see a Sardinian Warbler on some bushes.

For our meal we drove to an Argentinian restaurant off the coast road towards Torremolinos.

Saturday

We had a very good local tourist map of the area and decided to use it to explore and climb the Sierra de Mijas – part of the coastal mountain range. John also has a GPS that we thought might prove useful.

We drove to Banalmadena old Town and parked the van. We were even dressed more appropriately from the warmer climate.

We crossed under a new major road and followed a track; surrounded by some wonderfully smelling thyme that was growing wild, up to an old mine (Mina Trinidada). We stopped for a while and even went in a little way by torchlight to explore. The mine was used to extract ochre, an oxide of iron, used as a pigment in paints, so some of us ended up with a mustard colour on our trousers.

After this diversion we continued the steady climb by following the ridge and the local boundary (with red and white markers) up until we reached a track.

It was very warm and after a while we stopped for a break. During this period John played with his GPS, Howard and Drew had ‘forty winks’, checked our position on the map and enjoyed the excellent views over the coast – Brian was sure he could see his apartment.

The summit of Cerno del Moro was in sight and the masts of the transmitter station gave us something to aim for. We all went at our own pace – Malcolm was at the front and Howard at the rear – about 10 minutes behind.

At the top there was a photo session whilst we ate our lunch. There then followed a discussion as to whether we should climb any further, but decided 960 meters was enough for one day and opted for a gentle descent to the east.

We followed paths down the slope but the guide map was very rough and we couldn’t match the signposts with the routes and places on the map. There were some problems with John’s GPS and it was of little use without a better map, but the height information was useful.

Geoff’s good sense of direction ensured that we did not get lost and we eventually came down beside the Quejiga stream. From here we took the path parallel to the major road along which Malcolm found some interesting caterpillars. As he explains: ‘I had to look up the Pine Moth Processionary Caterpillar on the Internet after this one – it was so strange to see thirty or more caterpillars nose to tail on the path. Apparently each caterpillar leaves a silk trail and the caterpillar behind follows this with its legs on either side of the silk, adding its own filament.’

We went under the road using a storm culvert, and walked into the town. Here we stopped for a very well deserved drink in a local bar with views out over the coast. There were a number of starlings behind the café, so Graham took the opportunity of educating us on the difference between the Spanish variety (spotless) and those found in the UK.

It was then back to the van and Brian’s apartment. In the evening Brian drove us into the centre of the new part of Benalmadena. We walked around and settled on a Spanish café / restaurant, where Geoff recalls having a large plate of really good Serrano ham.

Sunday

The day started with a trip to a British bar / cafe that Brian knew, located between new Benalmadena and the coast, where we enjoyed breakfast. After our fry-up we drove about 50km north-west of Malaga, where the day’s events would be split into three distinct sections.

Our first stop was mainly to stretch our legs, which was necessary following the long journey in cramped conditions – this was in the reservoir area of Guadalhorce-Guadalteba. Here we simply parked by the side of the first reservoir we came to (emalse tajo de la encantada) and walked down to the shoreline that was fairly low.

Having got the blood flowing in our legs again we drove on to the small village of Pantano del Chorro and parked close to the dam between the two reservoirs.

We walked over the dam and down a track and path that led through a wooded area to a viewpoint overlooking the reservoirs. There were a lot of Red Admiral butterflies to be seen that prompted a conversation about which butterflies migrate and which hibernate.

Further along the track we found a tunnel through to the road. We all went through the tunnel apart from Geoff who carried on round the side of the hill. We all met up again at a café near the dam that had been reached by walking along the road at the other end of the tunnel. By the time Geoff arrived from the other direction drinks and a snack had been ordered.

The third part of our expedition was to El Chorro, where the Rio Guadalhorce carves its way through the awesome Garganta del Chorro (El Chorro Gorge). The gorge is about 4km long, as much as 400m deep and sometimes just 10m wide. It’s often sheer walls and other rock faces are the biggest magnets for rock climbers in Andalucia.

Along the gorge runs the main railway (with the aid of twelve tunnels and six bridges) and a path called Camino del Rey (King’s Path) that for long stretches becomes a concrete catwalk clinging to the gorge walls up to 100m above the river.

Note: The path is named after Alfonso XIII who reputedly walked it in 1921 when he opened the reservoirs above the gorge. It was officially closed in 1992 and is now in a dangerously decaying state with gaping holes in the concrete floor. It is impossible to use apart from by mountaineers.

We parked near the railway bridge and walked across it, following the railway through the tunnels. Although these are very wide and of no real danger from the very rare passing trains, it is hard to believe that this would be allowed in Britain.

At the end of the tunnels we had an excellent view of the path that hugged the cliff face on the other side of the gorge. We stopped for a while and watched three climbers as they made their way along the walkway and crossed high over the river.

We returned along the railway and waited at the bridge watching the group complete the path, having to climb down at the end where the walkway had been removed. They came across to us and introduced themselves (two Norwegians and a Brit), then asked if we were English. Apparently they had seen us watching and noticed John’s red socks, which they thought only an English man would wear. That was quite amusing as John is, to be pedantic, American. Geoff took their email address and later sent some pictures he had taken of them.

Later that evening Brian drove us down the coast to Fuengirola to find somewhere to eat. We walked along the beach and found a suitable Spanish restaurant that specialised in seafood – here Malcolm and Howard shared paella.

Monday

The morning was fairly relaxed as we had breakfast and prepared ourselves for the journey home.

Because of the space available in the van Brian made two trips to the airport, which he was able to find without getting lost.
The final point of note was that whilst waiting for our flight, a bird managed to get into the terminal building. Graham soon had his binoculars out and was trying to identify it.

The remainder of the journey home passed without incident. We had had a most enjoyable time – it was unlike any previous Winter Hike. Apart from Saturday, it was debatable as to whether or not any other real hiking had been done!