Eras of the Alpujarra

Today when walking along many paths in the Alpujarra and other areas we pass though olive, almond or citrus groves. Whilst these crops have been farmed for many years, in the past there used to also be a huge amount of cereal crops such as wheat , barley and oats grown across this region. Proof of this comes in a couple of ways. Many of the area’s river valleys contain the ruins of buildings which were obviously water-driven corn mills. In the Poqueira Gorge for instance there are about half a dozen ruined water mills down the length of the valley, once used to produce flour. Often these are found at key river crossings and at the junction of mule tracks once used to carry unmilled corn to the site and flour away to the villages of the area. Also evident higher up the hill sides are a large number of threshing circles. Known as ‘’Eras’’ these flat circular structures are often paved in the local stone and can be up to ten metres across. Eras are usually found on ridges or cols where the increased wind speed helped in the process of collecting the husks. They would have been used by local farmers to winnow the cut cereals and separate the wheat from the chaff. Here in Lanjaron there is an annual ’’ Fiesta de Parva’’ when the process of threshing is recreated. The process start when a strange cart like structure with wheels resembling circular saw blades is pulled around and around the era by a mule whilst a driver perches atop the cart. This chops up straw which is strewn across its surface. This cutting begins to break the seed husks off the stems and once tossed into the air, allows the lighter chaff to be blown away and heavier seed to fall back to ground to be collected for milling. Judging by the number of eras you see on some walks the amount of cereal produced in the area must have been huge. Within five minutes of my finca alone, there are three eras. Now apparently a protected structure, in the past they were generally seen as communal spaces which served a number of families. Another sign of this previous use of the land is the planting of olive and fruit trees along the terrace edges. Apparently the reasons for this was to allow a cereal crop to be grown down the middle of the terrace and still maintain viable fruit or olive crops. If. like me, your terrace walls are quite high this only seems to make the collection of olives even harder. Collecting olives from a four meter tree on top of a two meter terrace wall is not an easy process.

Cero de Caballo winter ascent

Last week I had walked up the mountain above us to open up a compuerta (sluice gate) on our acequia when I met the young goat farmer who works the mountain side above He was on his way back from his daily outing with his herd when they graze the hillside. Nothing unusual in that but he had with him his pet pig!!. ( I know it sounds like a story from Driving Over Lemons but its true) he seemed a bit upset when I asked him if it was for eating, which is wasn’t. The pig, a small black pot bellied example seemed friendly enough and trained enough to follow him along with the goats and various dogs. This week I climbed Cero de Caballo ( Hill of the Horseman) 3,011m which lays claim to be Europe’s most westerly 3,000m peak. My finca is on the south ridge of the mountain at 1,000m and in theory I could go straight from my back door to do the peak. I didn’t though, and made the most of the drivable tracks above Lanjaron which take you up to about 2,000m on the mountain side. In the past you could drive to a point below an old mountain refuge, The Ventura, however now a cable has now been strung across the track stopping access along the last 3 km of track. It’s likely to have been done by the Parque Nacional to stop traffic getting into what has to be said is a fantastic and remote high mountain valley and thereby protecting the habitat of the area. Unfortunately it now means that there is an extra 6 or 7 km of walking involved in any routes in the valley. The ‘new’ route up the south ridge of Caballo now follows the line of a steep fire break before hitting the ridge proper where there is an old track along the crest which after about 4km reverts to a footpath traversing the western flank of the ridge. With some snow on the ground covering the path I stuck to the clearer rocky crest and was able to get to within about 2km of the summit before donning snowshoes for the final ascent. Needles to say with blue skies above the views of the main ridges and snow covered summit of the range was magnificent. Leaving the summit I kept my snowshoes on and was able to make quite a quick descent and by linking up snow patches kept them on until I was about half way back to the car.

Autumn walking

I was back in England recently doing the usual family visits during the October half term. I did manage to get some walking in in the White Peak area of Derbyshire though which is an area I didn’t know too well before. I was there redoing my First Aid certificate needed to maintain my qualification to work as a guide. This was great hands on course but very different for the fist one I ever went on when the doctor running the course showed us how to do a tracheotomy using a biro and a pen knife!!!. The recent course was for wilderness first aid aimed at use way from the nearest phone or medic. I must admit I’ve been lucky enough never having to do much more than stick a plaster on (checking for allergies first though) and that has tended to be at home rather than out on the hill. Having got back from reasonable weather in the UK we had two weeks of fairly constant rain here which didn’t allow for much walking and surprisingly put little if any snow down on the mountain directly above us. The peak, Cero de Caballo is 3,011m and as such is the most westerly 3,000m+ summit in Europe. Seeing snow on its summit is a great indication of conditions further into the range. As I write the unusually mild weather isn’t allowing the low temperatures needed to allow snow fall or if it does fall to thaw out on the ground. Hopefully early days yet though and I‘m sure we will soon be out playing in snowy mountains. Once the rain eased however I did manage to get out and did a short walk in the sierra north of Granada. I had seen a walk near the village of Moclin which includes quite a spectacular gorge section. I headed out and having done an early drop off at Granada bus station was walking by nine on a very misty morning. I must admit once I was out in the cool it was very nice to walk and not be concerned about over heating and avoiding the sun as I have been for most of the summer. The route is a delight and was made better by cloud coming a going thoughout the walk which made for very atmospheric views of the gorge and surrounding cliffs and castles. The river which runs through the gorge was in spate which made the crossing of a very bouncy suspension bridge even more dramatic than it would normally have been . The route is well marked and easy enough to follow though perhaps at its best in summer when I dare say you could get into the river to cool off. for more information about walking holidays in the Sierra Nevada, Walking in the Alpujarra contact The Life of Riley at

Tajos de la Virgen

In order to avoid the worst of the blistering heat that most of us experienced over early August I recently used the cable car and chair lift on the western flank of Veleta (3396m) above Granada’s ski village. The lift carries you from about 2,000m up to 3,000m and is a great way to access the high mountains. I had planned to avoid the summit of Veleta and just head for the Tajos de la Virgen ridge which runs south from the main peak. Once off the lift however the route to the top looked inviting and I headed off and within about an hour was sat at the top chatting to a fellow walker who was in training for a trip up Kilimanjaro. Apparently I had met up with him on his third ascent that week. He was based in Granada and using the mountain for some altitude training. Having summited I headed back to the planned route along the rugged ridge which runs from the Carihuela refuge below Veleta south to the Elioreta refuge. After the initial section of rocky walking the way up to the ridge proper is a short but fairly exposed scramble. Since I had last done this section small white arrows have been painted on the route to assist route finding. It was clear though as I watched a fellow walker descend away from the correct line that the arrows only work in ascent. What was also clear was that he was quite poorly equipped with a bottle of water in one hand and a carrier bag and wooden staff in the other. I know that some of us, myself included, tend to take a bit to much gear particularly in summer but the amount he was carrying did seem a bit extreme. Once on the ridge proper the route becomes clearer for some way before passing below a distinctive pinnacle of rock on the very crest of the ridge. This is El Fraile (The Friar) and can often be seen from miles away as it stands in profile on the ridge. Beyond El Fraille the ridge has a section of large boulders which are quite difficult to navigate before the ridge finally opens out at the Elioreta. Formally used by TB patients to aid recovery the refuge still has tiles on some of its rock floors and two rooms which are reasonably weather proof. From here the return to the cable car is an easy descent on an old mule track to some small lagoons from where a small path leads back up (a bit to steeply at that point in the day) to the chair lift and a very relaxing descent without any chance of damage to my knees.

Cerro de Caballo

On a recent trip up Cero de Caballo above Lanjaron I finally managed to locate a small bivvy refuge that I had been told about during last winter. At the time there was to much snow to find it and the recent trip was my first chance to go and have a look.

The shelter is a small stone arch over a pit and could have been constructed as a store for the now ruined Refugio de Lanjaron which lies near by.

The refuge is 100m north of the ruin which is found at the bottom of the south eastern spur of Caballo. From the ruin head approx 50m west along a descending path through an open bowl, at the lowest point of the path follow the shallow gully North to the bivi which is at the base of the cliffs.