28 February Laujar de Andarax

28 February 2012   Laujar de Andarax
When we were planning this walk last year we thought we would be able to make use of the local buses to return us to our starting point. Unfortunately we have only been able to use it once, when we caught the bus back from Busquister to Orgiva. All the other occasions the bus either did not go to the villages we wanted to go to or the times were wrong. This week everything fell into place, planning wise. But, as they say, the best laid plans can go astray.
We had an early 7.45 am start, we had a bus to catch 110 kms away in Padules. The idea was we would catch the 9.50 from Padules to Laujar de Andarax and then walk back to Padules. Arriving in Padules with 25 minutes to spare we decided to go for a quick coffee. We came out of the bar with 10 minutes to go before the bus was due to arrive only to see it disappearing down the road. It was Andalusia day, a local holiday, and this was the only bus, we were devastated, all that planning for nought. What were we going to do? Would the wives accept we had spent the day in the bar?
A new plan was finally conceived. Plan B had us driving back to Laujar de Andarax and setting off on our usual “there and back” type of walk.
We started off where we had finished the previous section, a couple of weeks ago, and followed the road into the village. We stopped off at the tourist information center looking for a guide book  to the walk where a very helpful lady pointed us the right direction, sadly she did not have a guide book for sale.
The route was along quiet back roads and campo tracks, following the Rio Andarax as it made its’ way slowly down the valley. Inevitably there is always a hill to climb and, with a change in the landscape, we started a easy climb out of the valley. We were into mining country now, and the hillsides are littered with old abandoned lead mines. There are buildings and shafts everywhere and notices advising you not to go off the trail. At the top, and after walking 11 km, we stopped for lunch and then started our return journey back.
Now we all consider ourselves pretty fortunate to be able to get out on our rambles twice a week in this beautiful countryside, but today we came across a lone walker, making his way up the hill, who was able to top our charmed life. It transpired he was an American,  from Michigan,  on an extended holiday. He had started walking from Winchester in the UK, crossed over to France, walked down through France, Northern Spain, Portugal and was now headed for Barcelona and onwards into Italy. How he got that past his girlfriend I have no idea.
We wished him good luck with the rest of his holiday and continued our short journey back to Luajar de Andarax, which was where Boabdil came to live after he was expelled from Granada in 1492. We felt it was our duty to stop for a beer in the town before heading home. We got back to the valley around 6 pm.
    
On the walk Mike, Kees, Rene, and myself.

Distance on GR142 10.5 km, ascent 517 metres, total distance 21 km.
Total on GR142  90 km , Total walked 145.3 km. Total ascent  7279 metres.