14 February Alcolea - Laujar de Andarax

Lunch near Laujar de Andarax

14 February 2012   Alcolea - Laujar de Andarax

Back on the trail again we returned to where we had left off last week. This involved driving to Alcolea, and then going off road and driving up the barranco we had walked up last week.
From a distance the countryside looks devoid of anything interesting, but when you are down in the canyons, things change, and it is fascinating, following the track as it meanders back and forth.
Parking at last weeks terminus we set off walking following the path for about 1 hour as it made its way towards Alcolea, which we could see in the distance looked vibrant, and cared for, a far cry from Jorairátar which was only a few miles away.
When we arrived in the village there was a market in full swing. I was so busy concentrating on dragging Rene away from the stalls as we made our through the village that we lost Kees. When we returned to look for him he was standing in the middle of the village square sampling the locally made vino. Not sipping it out of a glass, but pouring it down his neck straight out of the bottle. A few weeks back I had promised his wife Marjan that we would try and look after him whilst we were out. I would hate to think what she would have said if we had brought him back drunk, especially when it was before 11 in the morning.
Having checked that he was sober enough to continue the walk we re grouped and made our way out of town and into open countryside. We were headed for Láujar which must be the centre of the Alpujarran wine trade because we were surrounded by fields of vines which were undergoing their annual pruning. Mark had stopped to pick up some cuttings to take home to expand his own vineyard, but, we had not gone far when a local farmer told him that the samples he had nicked were of an inferior quality to his and he would be happy to exchange them for his superior cuttings, he wanted Mark to have the best. It seems the competition as to who produces the best wine even extends to who has the best twigs to pinch.
The track eventually arrives at the main road which you have to follow for about 1 km into Láujar de Andarax. Not wanting to walk by the side of a busy road, well, we had seen at least a couple of cars, I suggested we turn around and head back and then next time we can drive into Láujar.
The way back followed our outbound route and fortunately, by the time we got back to Alcolea the market had gone, so with nothing to distract us we continued our journey back to the car.
We were looking forward to our return to J.B bar in Cadiar, so you can imagine our disappointment when we arrived to find it closed. We ended up in a night club opposite, but it was so dark inside you could not see what you were drinking.
    
On the walk Mike, Kees, Rene, Mark and myself.

Distance on GR142 10.0 km, ascent 647 metres, total distance 20.3 km.
Total on GR142  79.51km , Total walked 124.3 km. Total ascent  6762 metres.

7 February 2012 Jorairátar - Alcolea

J.B bar Cadiar

7 February 2012  Jorairátar -  Alcolea

It has been a few weeks since we hit the GR142 trail, first of all the the weather continued to improve, so much so that the snow had gone from the Sulayr trail allowing us to resume doing a bit of that. Then, Kees went absent, well he went off to Houston to visit his daughter and new grandson and, what with Ray doing penance back in the UK,  Plym off touring the trouble spots of Asia, Rene in charge of entertaining her granddaughter, it as just been Mike and myself left holding the fort, just a couple of Billies with no mates.
The weather has now turned cooler and the snow has returned to the higher slopes. Kees is back from the states, but his new grandson did not put in an appearance, and Rene is back in circulation so we thought it was a good opportunity to go back to Jorairátar and resume the GR142.
Things did not get off to a good start, Rene had forgotten where she had parked her car and tramped all over Albunúelas looking for it, only to find it outside her front door. Fortunately she remembered to ring and so we waited for her to turn up.
We then drove up to Jorairátar, the last time we were there we thought it looked a poor village with very few cars. Our thoughts were confirmed when we were driving up the road to the village. We discovered what looked like tumbleweed, blowing in the wind, the road was covered, no one had been this way for years. We expected a stage coach to appear around a corner at any moment.
In the village there was no obvious signs of a path to Los Montoros.  Up until now I have been able to download the route into my GPS but I can’t find any more published waypoints, from now on we are on our own, destined to wander around the badlands forever. We stopped and asked a local hombre if he knew the route. He looked bewildered, first by the fact we were strangers in his Publeo and second that we wanted to walk to the next village, I don’t think he knew that another village existed.
We eventually found a path leading out of the village going in the right direction and, after joining another path, picked up the route markings again. We followed this path down to the river where all signs of the path and markings disappeared. The last 2 inches on the map showed that the path followed the river, criss- crossing it numerous times for the next 8 km. I don’t know who planned the route but there was no path, we tried both banks and the surrounding fields, forded the river, tried to build bridges, but each time we came to an impass.  
Rene won the prize for the most ingenious crossing when she wedged a log in a rock face and scrambled across. For an Aussie used to the outback it was probably nothing. For Kees, a Dutchman, it was a bridge too far.
We decided to turn around, go back to the car, and drive to where the river crossed the road and attack the route in the opposite direction.
Arriving at the a fore mentioned point we found the signs for the path, but that was all there was, signs but no path. We decided to abandon this section of the walk completely and drive to Darrícal and try our luck from there.
The road to Darrícal was closed for Obras, it looked like it had collapsed into the ravine that it runs alongside of. Checking the map showed that the path was on the road for about 5 km, not having any wish to follow a tarmac road all that way we decided to leave that section out as well. Instead we found the path as it continued along its way to Alcolea. This was more like it, proper signs every 100 metres and a clear path to follow in a steep sided, multi coloured, barranco, proper Indian country. We felt like the magnificent seven, except there was only four of us. After an hour black clouds appeared on the horizon and we decided to beat a retreat back to the car and the safety of the J.B bar in Cadiar. I only said we felt like the magnificent seven, I did not say we were.
We have stopped at the bar a number of times whilst walking up in this area and have always had great tapa and a warm welcome from Jo the landlady.
    
On the walk Mike, Kees, Rene and myself.

Distance on GR142 7.0 km, ascent 544 metres, total distance 14 km.
Total on GR142  69.51km , Total walked 104 km. Total ascent  6115 metres.