Leaving Ronda day 1

It’s 12 days into our 2 month sojourn in Spain and the mountains are calling. They always do. I am convinced the best way to travel is by foot or bicycle, at a pace where you breathe in the country and out your woes. We have choosen a section of the Coast to Coast trail in Andalucia which passes through many white villages and other pueblos. We start in the mountain town of Ronda and finish in Tarifa where the Mediterranean Sea and Atlantic Ocean meet. We’ll be hiking 161.5 kilometers (100 miles) in 8 days through “el campo” or the countryside.

The white villages on our walk and the general track.

We set off from Ronda, which sits atop a high mesa, known for the astonishing bridge that crosses the gorge. This city of 34,000 is highly trafficked by spaniards and world travelers. Our time there was marked by pouring rains… which gave way to clouds as a send off!

The trail follows country roads, foot paths and dirt tracks (roads) which would greet us with mud after the rain. The first village stay was Montajaque, tucked into the mountains, with narrow steep cobble stone streets that wind like a maze to a mirador perched above town.

In these covid times it has been quite interesting to pass through small villages. They are quiet, like ghost villages at times. We saw no other tourists for the first 3 towns! We saw no other hikers on the trail the entire time. We ate dinner from the local grocery store more than once because the restraunts were closed. It was holiday time and after the big Christmas and new years celebrations all went quite.

Highlights of hiking the first few days were passing through Karst country. Karst is a landfrom, the topgraphy made when the underlying rock is soluble, like limestone, dolomite or gypsum. It makes for intersting formations, grooved rocks, caves and crevices. The valley on day 2 was amazing….

Looking back after walking through the valley

And the trees! I could fill a post with just trees. They twist and turn, bend and grow… they could tell old tales of the valley full of cows, sheep, wind and rain as they stand sentinels over the years. These are mostly gall oaks, olive and cork trees.

The end of the second day we laid our heads down in Cortez de la Frontera. Another town nestled into the side of the mountain, white walls, cobbled streets, quaint feeling, quiet night. We had the restraunt at the hotel all to ourselves. We mused to ourselves what it would be like to live in one of these towns as our eyes shut, bellies full, legs tired, and spirits high.