This walk started by walking between the administration area
of the Forest Firefighters Base and Airfield and the heap of gravel that have
been extracted from the bed of the Rio Grande and then onto the banks of the
river. In the past I have walked along the track that is used extensively bu
vehicles visiting the stables which is located a few hundred metres ahead or
the many families that use this area for a picnic at the weekends. This is no
longer possible as the recent monsoon like rains caused the river to swell to
such proportions that the track has been washed away. Our route was along the
top of the now somewhat reduced banks close to the adjoining fields. Amazingly
the amount of water that is now flowing in the river is little more than one
would normally see in early summer.
We reach the Bridge that carries the drovers track over the river,
which thankfully appears to have been unaffected, and head off into the
countryside. In the past I have walked this route in an anticlockwise direction
but today, for a change, to do it clockwise. We leave the Drovers track after
only a few metres and head along a track that runs parallel with the river and
is access to the fincas and fields that are scattered along this route. It is obvious
that the recent rains had done a huge amount of damage to the track as it had
recently been repaired and regarded which is something that had not happened
for the previous 5 years that i have been using the track.
We reach a T junction and normally I would take the track to
the left and head down to the riverside, but this track was still very wet and
muddy and it was obvious that the track alongside the river was impassable.
Fortunately the alternative route to the right is virtually only an S bend on
the current track. Again the evidence of the water damage is obvious with
hastily built new walls and the banks of dried mud on the edges of the track.
At the end of this track we come to another T junction and
turn right and head further out into the countryside and leave the fincas and
weekend properties behind as we head through the arable fields on an
agricultural track. From this track we are offered views of the Sierra de las
Nieves but unfortunately the atmosphere was very misty and the views very
restricted. We reach the top of this
section and drop down and join the Drovers track some one and a half kilometres
from the bridge that we crossed earlier. I know the distance very well as this
was a route that I rode often on my bicycle and timed myself up the measured
incline. The views are now in the nearer distance and across the valley to
Pizzarra and Alora and further to Alhaurin de la Torre and the Sierra de Mijas.
I have ridden and walked this particular stretch many time
over the past few years and know the environment quite well, but I was amazed
at what the deluge of a few weeks previous had dome. Apart from the damage to
the track itself, which is a well used route for access to the many
agricultural enterprises, there was evidence of totally new water courses that
had formed. It was then a n easy walk down this track and back to the bridge
and then retracing our route along the river banks and back to the start.
Although the weather was dull it kept dry, if a little
chilly. We had a very good turnout of 31 walkers, and several dogs, including
the organiser of the U3A Country Walks Mr Vernon Bailey whom I hope
enjoyed the route as the U3A are doing this same route on the following Monday.
This was bad planning on my part when I changed the schedule recently.
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