The aroma of Maroma

26-06-2013

The aroma of Maroma is a pot-pourri of camomile, thyme, angelica and sage - the national park is like a giant herb garden.

Camomile

Esparto

Which way do I go, now?

I afford these long trips by being quite frugal – the biggest expenditure is the diesel/gasoleo – this means only using paid-for campsites occasionally and mainly self-catering. However, occasionally I like to treat myself.

I had found a quiet carpark at N36.87472 W4.08255, right in the centre of Canillas de Aceituno, an upmarket tourist (mainly English in my experience) town – very pretty, of Moorish/Mudejar origins and a population of 2242 but very few palm trees, if any. 

There are loads of signboards in the carpark  but nothing about Maroma.

Next to the carpark was a restaurant, La Maroma. When I told the barman I was a ‘vegetarien’ the chef came out to ask me what I wanted. He shook my hand with delight when I said ‘surprise me’. The large plate contained a wealth of diverse taste sensations and the cost was relatively reasonable. You have to drizzle to sizzle. 

Yeah, if you could go in a straight line

Duane Eddy

The secret to finding the way to Maroma is the guitar man next to the town hall at N36.87342 W4.08188. The nearby signpost is misleading as it gives the distance in a straight line – and the route is anything but straight. I walked 23.59km with a total ascent of 2121m.

Off you go then

That yellow line is definitely not straight

Enter the Parque Natural Sierras de Tejeda Almijara y Alhamas at N36.87477 W4.08045 on the Casa de la Nieve path. 

La Rabita

The path is generally quite obvious – at first any any signs are for La Rabita, which turns out to be a limestone spring at N36.88114 W4.06648 (1071m). Nearby there is frog sanctuary – I kid you not. It looks as if there has been a very large forest fire in the last year or so and the vegetation is only just beginning to recover. This may explain why the path gets a bit less defined too for a while as there is so much bare earth. 

Burnt out trees

There is an obvious change of direction northwards at N36.88687 W4.05658 (1293m) and then north-west at a collado at N36.89046 W4.05619 (1338m). It was also around this point that the days clouds started to disappear and I got my first glimpses of the summit ridge – the cloud then rolled back quite quickly and by early afternoon there was just a patch of cloud trapped in the valleys below to the north.

A first glimpse

The path traverses and zigzags up to a significant right turn north-eastwards at N36.89905 W4.06627 (1684m)and then traverses with less zigzagging to a fence corner at N36.90240 W4.05692 (1809m). Not long after this there is a junction N36.90331 W4.05399 (1879m) that I did not spot on the way up – the ‘official’ waymarked path forks to the left, I took the right fork which was now marked by spots of green paint rather than posts to a left turn at N36.90166 W4.04931 (1980m) and then it was a slope of loose stones up to the summit ridge/plateau. 

Trig point for baggers into via ferrata

There are several tops on the plateau – to be sure I visited them all. The first one is marked by a trig point on top of tall tower with rungs up the side – naturally as I ‘had’ to touch the trig I went up the rungs. N36.90270 W4.04555 (2058m at the base of the tower). 

The twin cairns

The next top has twin cairns with a rock to the side at N36.90327 W4.04366 (2064m). What I called the centre top at N36.90408 W4.03832 (2062m) and the east top at N36.90507 W4.03625 (2061m) measured lower – but it would have been a tough call to decide without a GPS. 

The eastern cairn

What was definite is that through the haze I could see the snow capped Sierra Nevada in the distance. And it is the 11^th most prominent mountain in mainland Spain with a prominence of P1230.

For the descent, almost in error, I found the ‘official’ path that started going down northwards, initially I thought I was on the wrong path and would end up in El Robledal if I continued with it. However, I stayed on it, thinking I could traverse around the hill at a lower point and then spotting that the posts were on the traverse line I had chosen. Hence, the path makes a 90% turn left at N36.90609 W4.04801 (1984m) and drops down to the ruins of the Casa de la Nieve (snow-house) at N36.90557 W4.05119 (1962m). From there it was down to the junction I had missed on the way up and reversing the ascent route in the heat of the sun.

Casa de la Nieve

Overnight in Canillos de Aceituno and the following day a pleasant drive around the back of the Sierra de Tejeda, over the border into Granada province and bypassing Granada city to have a look at the Hoya de la Mora carpark 2506m high up in the Sierra Nevada and then dropping back down to a mere 1405m high El Purche **rated and empty campsite for an afternoon swim in the piscina. 

Maroma

Maroma

Maroma from the north

Sierra Mistas

Sierra Mijas from my Toyota - just a small cloud

25-07-2013

Sierra Midges.Yes, I know it is pronounced Meeoss. Actually it was more Sierra d’ants. There were hundreds of ant nests on the path. Mijas town is a pretty little town of white buildings on the slopes of the sierra above the ugly resort of Fuengirola. However, the day after I was in the tourist crowded town of Mijas a British man murdered his wife and daughter, then committed suicide, so maybe it is not as serene and untroubled as it seems.

The signboard shows a choice of routes to the summit. I decided to use the yellow, blue green and then orange routes up and the alternative orange and red routes down. However, I could not find the start of the alternative orange path and as it was misty I did not want to end up getting lost so came down the ascent route. Later, I called in the tourist information office to pick up a leaflet, ‘Hiking in Mijas’, however this does not show any orange paths at all. The leaflet informs the reader that the town was founded by the unfortunately named Turdetanos.

There is a small car park on the A-387 and stop for the M221 bus (Fuengirola-Coin) at N36.59560 W4.64082 (453m). The path starts at N36.59653 W4.63978. The paths are quite obvious, signed and waymarked lower down. Except, it is easy to miss the junction on the blue path at N36.60361 W4.64336 and I ended up having to backtrack to it. Nearer the summit the signs disappear and the waymarks less obvious. And, for me, the views less good because what had started as just a small patch of cloud just above the summit turned into a generally cloudy day with a cloud base at around 800m. In a sense, this improved things at the top because most of the time the various masts were obscured.

Pico de Mijas 1149m P850 Major N36.61334 W4.65931 – 14.5km 1170m total ascent

Overnight in Canillas de Aceituno

A junction

Lentisk - Pistacia lentiscus

Somewhere around here the orange path splits into two 

When the mist cleared momentarily

Opuntia face

Blind date with Torrecilla

23-13-2013

Road cones

Spanish fir 

If you have ever spent any time slowly cooking yourself on a beach near Marbella you have probably looked along the coast to Gibraltar and maybe even spotted Jebel Moussa in Morocco. If you bothered to turn round you would possibly have spotted, in the haze, a range of mountains inland. This is the Sierra de la Nieves – the snowy mountains – a UNESCO designated Biosphere reserve.

The highest point in the sierra is Torrecilla (small tower) with a prominence of P1472, meaning that, in my mind anyway, it could be classified as a sub-Ultra, but anyway it is definitely a Major with an absolute height of 1919m at N36.67596 W4.99623. It is the fifth most prominent mountain in mainland Spain.

If you were on a package holiday and went on the coach trip to the Pueblo Blanco town of Ronda built round a hundred metre deep gorge, then chances are your coach crossed high over the sierra on the winding road, that is obviously a favourite with bikers and cyclists. I doubt that your coach turned off the A397 to the right at N36.66074 W5.09932 on to an intermittently paved and unpaved road heading for the heart of the mountains. Curiously, the road is closed at N36.67508 W5.05278 despite there being a large car park and recreation facilities further on at Quejigales.

For once I had a map, however it wasn't really necessary as there are plentiful signs and the tracks are quite obvious. There were half a dozen cars parked near the roadblock which indicated there were a number of other parties on the hill ahead of me.

I continued on the still intermittently paved and unpaved road to Quejigales, passing an unsigned road at N36.68547 W5.04865 that branched to the right. I later realised that this also cyclable but steeper unpaved road would be an alternative route to the Puerto de los Pilones. After about three km I reached the Quejigales car park. Just beyond there at N36.69202 W5.04350 there is a signboard and small bridge crossing a dry arroyo. From the bridge the path meanders steeply through a forest of pine and deciduous trees. 

Abies Pinsapo Boiss

Apparently, the pines – Abies Pinsapo Boiss – are almost uniquely to be found in this area. The only other place in the world being one valley in the Moroccan Rif mountains. I am not sure which valley that is and wasn’t probably the hashish trail I had walked a few days previously, however, I love it when I can link walks together. Later on in the walk there were hazy views down and across to Gibraltar and Jebel Moussa, adding to that sense of circularity.

Out of the pine forest

The path leaves the forest at and soon joins the unpaved road that came up from the aforementioned junction. Turning left on the road I soon reached the collado at the Puerto de los Pilones at N36.68917 W5.02209. The path then does a long semi-circular traverse around the head of a large ‘corrie’, occasionally losing a bit of height but mainly gradually ascending.

Marbella the right distance away

Snow well, snow well...

At N36.69410 W5.01379 there is a restored snow-well (presumably shepherds would have collected as much snow as possible to provide a water source after the spring melt) the Pozo de Nieve de Tolox. 

Torrecilla black tree

Eventually after much twisting and turning the path reaches a rocky pass, turns left, gives the first proper view of the summit and then loses height down to a some caves and a spring at 36.68210 W4.99708. The sign besides the spring says something about not using detergents in the water, I think.

Torrecilla

After the spring comes the final ascent and explains why the route has been classed as ‘media’ rather than ‘facile’. It was on this part of the walk that I overtook all the other parties, that had set off before me, as they struggled with the loose rocks, scree and prickly vegetation on the steep slopes. There was evidence of waymarks but there were a number of options – all as good/bad as each other.

Handy sign for anyone who is not sure where they are

The top is marked by a cairn, a sign and a nearby cross. There is a logbook to complete inside a metal box fixed in the side of the cairn – the logbook shows that Torrecilla is a popular destination. 

Pico Torrecilla

I had the summit to myself for quite a while and then the other parties started to arrive looking sweaty and frazzled. I was the first to leave and I did not see anyone else the rest of the day. I reversed my ascent route – except when I reached the Puerto de la Pilones I remained on the unpaved road. Although it was slightly longer that way it had the advantage of being able to march without having to concentrate on where to put my feet and it also meant that I stayed within a gentle and welcome breeze for a lot longer than the way down through the trees.

Overnight in the Camping Le Sur, Ronda

Torrecilla from the north

The hashish trail

21-06-2013 - 22-06-2013

Cannabis sativa

The Ultra, Jebel Tidirhine N34.84044 W4.51654 2428m P1901 rises in the Rif mountains above the outlaw town of Ketama. On one side of the main road out of the town is the Gendarmarie Royale office, on the other several hectares of young hashish plants.
I had known about the cannabis growing before I went there, but I assumed it would be hidden in remote valleys. At first, I just thought it was bracken. The whole area is given over to the cash crop with complex and sophisticated irrigation systems.

Bodyguard

Azmorou had insisted that I park my motorhome next to his home, so that his family could guard it and he insisted that he accompany me up the hill 'for the pleasure'. I think he was more of a bodyguard than a guide as we walked through the terraces of marijuana plants that filled the valley at the back of his home at N34.86938 W4.53806 (1587m).

Hectares of hashish

Each patch was guarded by one or two young men - who did not seem any more sinister than any other Moroccans, but who knows. Obviously not women's work - but I bet when it comes to harvest time it is.
We followed the track to the edge of the forests that line the mountain - at this point the track became undrivable as the bridge at N34.86433 W4.50408 had been washed away.

Jebel Tidirhine

In the forest  we followed the track as it contoured around the mountain - occasionally there were small clearances given over to more young cannabis plants. At a fairly arbitrary point, we left the track and struck uphill steeply through the trees.

Summit from south

I began to doubt about whether my bodyguard had ever been to the mountaintop before. He was too interested in the misshapen trees and he seemed surprised as I was to join a well-maintained and well-engineered path - that did not seem to have any connection with the local harvest - and lead to the tree clear summit tops. Although it is not obvious which is the higher top when up there, it is very clear from below.

Lower top

Summit from lower top

True summit

Summit from the east

For the descent I tried to persuade my guide that there was an easier way off going down more easterly. He followed me for a while but then insisted we follow a line that looked and felt more difficult than the one I had chosen.
We hit the forest road and then it was reversal of the ascent route. Back to Azmorou's house for the inevitable mint tea with olives and bread dipped in olive oil and apricot jam.
Overnight in the grounds of Azmorou's house.

At first light I set off through Ketama, which mercifully at that early hour was free of the numerous dope-dealers and made my way back to the border of the Spanish enclave of Ceuta to catch the ferry back to Europe.

Nice hats - note these are women working, not tourists

Renault 12 - I had a white one in the 70s - I thought it was sleek and stylish, then.

Overnight in Lidl carpark, Algeciraz.