As I look out of our front door across the rolling hills, it is easy to forget that we live 3,000ft up a mountain and that these hills are seperated by very steep ravines, and that the hills themselves are very steep.
Yesterday Janet & I decided we would take our dogs for a long walk across the hills to a ruin that we can see from the roadside. The ruin is about the same height as our house and Maria, who has the goats, oftens walks that way so how hard could it be?
The first hill we climbed should have given us some indication of the task at hand. Halfway up, gasping for breath I did managed to remind Janet that I am asthmatic, and that I didn't have an inhaler with me. After all, at 3,000ft, the air is a lot thinner than at sea level!
We eventualy got to the top only to find we had to walk down a hill equally steep on the other side. In the bottom of the rambla were heavy trees and bushes and so we would have to walk around them, and the same on the next hill and the next. Walking this way would actually take us further away from the ruin, not closer to it.
So, we decided we would be better to walk along the road until we got the the track that led upto the ruin rather than trying to go across country. We had two possible routes to get down to the road, retrace our steps or head down hill and hope we could find a way through the trees at the bottom that would come out by tarmac.
Having the dogs on a lead helps when you are going up hill, as they give a little bit of added effort - but the same cannot be said when going down a steep hill. In the end we decided to take a zig-zag route down the hill to take out some of the steepness and eventually we met up with tarmac.
10 minutes later we were once more climbing up a steep track, but this time we knew the ruin would be at the top. Distance is incredibly deceptive up here, what looks like a 5 minute walk can easily take 15 minutes and we needed a rest-break halfway up the hill. But, a little more effort and we finally made it to the top and the view was well worth it. The ruin was built on a plateau at the top of the hill and almost had a 360 view across to Velez, Puerto Lumbreras and down towards Santa Maria - stunning.
The ruin itself was a little scary, but we ventured in. Just inside the door was a broomstick so should we come across any wildlife we would both be grabbing for it. As with a lot of the old cortijos that have been allowed to fall beyond a state of dis-repair, this had a maze of little room and a very rickety looking staircase. We decided not to venture upstairs. The ceilings were really low and I couldn't imagine anyone above 5ft 6ins living there without having to permanently wear a crash helmet. The main part of the house still had a roof, although it was definitely in need of repair, and there were other 'rooms' where the roof had long since gone.
As we wandered around outside we saw the path that was the proper access route to the ruin, the track we had climed up looked only suitable for goats and cross-country bikes and we both had concerns about trying to walk back that way. We decided we would walk back along the path even though it seemed to be leading us further away from the route home, but we thought it should eventually meet up with the little tarmac road that runs past Janet's house. There were a couple of pine trees with caterpillar nests in them along theway so the dogs were put on their leads so that I could make sure they gave the trees a wide birth, and before long we were at the gates, well, 2 metal posts with a chain across them to prevent any vehicles from going down to the ruin.
From there it was a relatively easy walk back home, mostly level and a lot better underfoot than walking across the hills. We'd been out for about an hour but felt like more than 3. The dogs got home and hardly moved for the rest of the day.
Next time we'll head out down our Rambla and see what we can find. We cannt venture over our hill at the moment as the far side of the hill becomes a pine forest, beautiful to look at but out of bounds for us for at least 4 months while the caterpillars leave their nests and bury underground. No view is worth risking our dogs health(or ours, for that matter) for.
Never again will I under- estimate the effort needed to take a walk acrossthe rolling hills that we live amongst!
4 comments:
Imagine the exercise you got and the feel good factor afterwards.
Hope you had a choc. bar or treat to recognise your hard work when you arrived home.
Views are lovely by the way.
No chance to sit down with a chocolate bar, I'm afraid. As soon as I got home I was carrying 4 meter plastic drainpipes about. I knew if I sat down for a minute, I wouldn't move for the rest of the day so had to get all the jobs for the day done first.
There was definitely chocolate that evening though! And looking back on the walk later, it definitely felt good to have done it.
Well done on your trek! I'm always a bit cautious taking a walk in the campo just in case I get lost - wimp I know! When my son visits he just puts on his ipod and jogs through the campo - Oh to be young again! Views look great, reminds me of the views from our 'place in the sun' April is going to be our next visit to Puerto Lumbreras - can't wait!
Hi John & Karen, Puerto Lumbreras is still somewhere for us to explore - we've only visited once to go for a Pizza!
The Campo is less scary for me now we live here, walking and exploring with the dogs is great although I do take care to watch out for any animals that may not be so friendly.
Post a Comment