A week of glorious sunny weather for Janet & Ian's visit so we spent most of the daylight hours walking. The highlight was achieving our ambition of getting to the summit of 'El Cielo' (1503 metres). This was thanks to Ros H. & Mike T., who made sure we did not get lost, & Sue & Graham E., who also risked the undercarriage of their car to get us to the start on the very un-made up track. The views were incredible, including snow on the Sierra Nevada, & only a slight haze on the horizon which meant we couldn't quite claim to have seen the north coast of Africa. We had the mountain virtually to ourselves, apart from some young ibex & eagles. As we brushed passed pine trees, clouds of orange pollen floated off.
It was difficult to beat this high, but we also greatly enjoyed 'Pinto' the following day, & the walk led by Jean of the Walking Group, up the Miel (Honey) Valley. We passed little farms with incredibly steep terraces of vines, olives & avocados on our way to snow-capped Sierra views. Strings of Processionary Caterpillars crossed the tarmac in front of us, & we came across beautiful cerise orchids. This valley had not escaped the damaging September 07 rainstorm, with road edges washed away in many places, & a riverside house almost totally destroyed.
Up early on Thursday for Janet & Ian to catch the 6.30am bus to Malaga & their flight home. We think we'll spend the remainder of the day resting our feet!
It was difficult to beat this high, but we also greatly enjoyed 'Pinto' the following day, & the walk led by Jean of the Walking Group, up the Miel (Honey) Valley. We passed little farms with incredibly steep terraces of vines, olives & avocados on our way to snow-capped Sierra views. Strings of Processionary Caterpillars crossed the tarmac in front of us, & we came across beautiful cerise orchids. This valley had not escaped the damaging September 07 rainstorm, with road edges washed away in many places, & a riverside house almost totally destroyed.
Up early on Thursday for Janet & Ian to catch the 6.30am bus to Malaga & their flight home. We think we'll spend the remainder of the day resting our feet!
