Today we have a stage through the hills of southern Spain ahead of us. We wake up in a surprisingly nice hotel in El Cuartón. It's located along the main road, but it's charmingly decorated with old wooden items and a fireplace burning in the lobby. Mesón de Sancho, a nice place. We have to backtrack a bit along the busy main road, and it's quite crowded this morning. Fortunately, we find a small path just next to the road. Although it can be a bit of a climb at times to follow it, it's nicer to walk here than alongside the passing cars. After one and a half kilometers, we can turn left off the road and into the hills. We walk up an unpaved road that gently slopes upward. At the beginning, the road runs past a few houses and a field with picnic tables and barbecues. Not much further, it enters the woods. At the beginning of this path, there was a sign prohibiting the illegal construction of buildings in this area, lol. Allright, we won't be doing that then... ;-) Several times before we noticed that the map indicated a parking lot or forest somewhere, but we were actually walking between buildings. Apparently here it's really not allowed.
The forests we walk through consist almost entirely of cork oaks. Beautiful low, but old trees form a slope forest where the sun shines richly through the fairly bare branches. The ground is covered with fresh green spring plants, with many purple but also yellow and white flowers, and young ferns beginning to grow through the foliage. It truely feels like spring! The oaks have already been stripped for floors, coasters or wine bottles. Every tree has a bare lower two meters, so they are still used for production.
We follow this road for most of the stage. We encounter a few cars, some hikers, and more often cyclists. At the beginning, the route goes uphill, and in the second half, it descends again. In this last part, the forests become more open, and we have a number of splendid views over the hills, valleys, and the sea. And clearly in the middle, recognizable by the large rock, is Gibraltar. As we look at the peninsula, dozens of vultures circle around us. Above us, at eye level, and occasionally we can even see them below us because we're quite high up here. What impressive and large birds!
It's wonderful to be back in the forests and hills, it gives so much energy. But the ascending and descending also takes quite a bit of energy, so the last 6 kilometers that run through villages, meadows, and a lake are a bit tough on the feet. It was a beautiful stage, but we're glad we can rest our feet tonight. We're curious about tomorrow again...
