A £20 inc. tax return to Malaga proed too tempting to ignore :) One half of the Blue Sky Scotland clan descended on the Costa del Sol to vist relations.Mrs.Blue Sky and myself were staying with her sister and my dad and his pal,preferring a more active clubbing style of nightlife headed for the fleshpots further west in Fuengirola :) Mrs. Blue Sky and her sister like to wander from shop to shop with a wee break for a coffee and brandy on the hour each hour so I usually have most of the time to myself. I wander down to the beach for sunrise....
...have a walk and buy a couple of rolls and The Guardian on the way back home and have breakfast in front of the pool and admire the Sierra Nevada in the distance...
Then I have a think about what hill to go up.I had never been up the hills to the east of Benalmadena so decided to take a toddle up there.I couldn`t find any decent maps so imprinted the Google Earth image into my brain and headed off one fine morning quite early.As I suspected the hardest part of the day was to actually reach the bottom of the hill.From the station at El Pinillo I wandered through an industrial estate up to the motorway and traversed alongside that until I found an underpass which took me to the entrance to a quarry and a route up the hills.
Following my nose I went through a gap in a fence which seemed to go in the right direction.After 100 metres there was complete silence thank God.The hole in the fence seemed to serve the local builders with a ready made access point to fly tip their rubbish as after five minutes I came upon all sorts of debris.Never mind though...the hills beckoned...
As the natural approach to the hills I had hoped to find a path and indeed I did...
Further up the glen...
I wandered slowly up enjoying the contrast to the coast below.There were loads of flocks of brightly coloured little birds but try as I did I couldn`t get close to them for an ID.A couple of hours seen me up on the ridge itself where a signpost indicated that Pico Jabalcuza was a mere 2km away to the east.Wanting to extend the day however I first of all went over to Monte Palomas.The weather up to now had been great but the cloud came down on the way to the summit.Nothing as bad as winter in Scotland however :) A mega trig point stood at the high point....
I hung around for half an hour and eventually the sun came back out as I left to go over to Pico Jabalcuza.The terrain underfoot was a mixture of limestone and scrub and very dry which was just as well as I only had a pair of trainers with me.
Pico Jabalcuza with Alhaurin el Grande down below...
The going underfoot along the ridge...
Wonky summit trig on Jabalcuza.....
I spent a few hours up here just enjoying the peace and quiet and had a wee snooze into the bargain :)
The mist was still clinging to the ridge over towards Mount Calamorro...more of a heat haze really.
Self timer on the trig...
A night out on the tiles with my 89 year old dad and his pal Freddie in Fuengirola and a day up in Mijas were the only other things of note in the five days.
A Spanish attempt at bringing a little colour to Mijas is put to shame by Mrs.Blue Sky`s new hair colour .....
Looks great, Alex. - Especially after trudging about in slushy snow on Ochils yesterday morning, with visibility down to about 20 feet. - Most people I passed either grunted a reply to my friendly greeting or, I swear, actually ignored me. - Nothing like the Scottish hills for a bit of camaraderie!
ReplyDeleteYour photo of distant snow-covered Sierra Nevada mountains is great. Sorry to sound like a hill-bore but here goes! Went there last August with 2 pals to go up Mulhacen, highest in mainland Spain. Bus from Malaga to Granada. - Bus from Granada to Capileira village [about 1500 metres]. - 5/6 hour walk into refuge. - Overnight stay. - 6/7 hour walk up mountain one way, back down to refuge another way. About same standard as average Munro in summer.- Second overnight stay when we drank too much with 2 Austrian diplomats, one Irish diplomat, and one Canadian diplomat who had come for weekend from Madrid. - Walk back to Capileira next day. Brilliant trip! I describe it to everyone I meet on hills, which probably explains why so many ignored me yesterday!
Keep the articles coming. Russell
Looks like you had a nice holiday Alex.I like the leprechaun pose on your self timer.
ReplyDeleteI might have told you,but I considered moving down to Spain when I became a widower.After three days of driving up and down the Costa Brava I realised it wasn't for me and I should instead head home to Scotland.I made the right move.
Bit of an adventure there Russell.!
ReplyDeleteI`ve pottered about the foothills to the south of Mulhacen but it`s always winter when I go so never get up that high.Good bag though..! Bob and I were thinking of Mount Tiede sometime soon but only if we can blag a very cheap flight :)
Jim,you made the correct decision.Of all the expats I met over there over the years I reckon 90% are less than happy with life.They`ve got the sunshine but not a lot more. Gimme Newton Stewart anyday :)
Loving Mrs Blue Sky's new do!!! I am off to Turkey in April and have been persuaded by the local walking group to have a go at walking from the deserted ghost town of Kayakoy over the hills to the beach at the blue lagoon in Olu Deniz, a nice 10K should take 2 -3 hours. I will try !
ReplyDeleteMuch preferred the previous purple incarnation myself Auntie :)
ReplyDeleteNever been to Turkey but some of the hills and coastline look superb.!
My dad is going over on Wednesday to somewhere near Antalya for a weeks golfing with his pals.
Best that you aren`t going to be there at that time to witness their behaviour.!