Pedro la Torre, Alora - Saturday 27th may 2017

Back in November last year this particular route was 'tested' by the Thursday group and they came back with very good reports, so it was placed onto the Saturday schedule and was finally walked this weekend. A large part of the route is along river beds which normally are dry, as was the case when the Thursday group did it. However a week after they walked the route heavy rains came and the river became a torrent, and quite surprisingly the final stretch of the route still had water flowing, albeit quite shallow, but still required careful crossing to avoid wet feet.

The walk starts in the shadow of the huge viaduct that carriers the AVE train line a very modern feature that is in stark contrast to the millennium years old landscape. The river bed winds at a noticeable incline through the valley that it has forged over the millennium and is now a main access route for the many fincas that are dotted around the hillsides. The banks of the riverbed are lined with Oleander which are currently in flower and form a colourful avenue. After a while of walking along the river we leave it and start the walk across the hills on the access tracks to the many properties that are scattered, the first of which is the finca that the route is named after, Pedro la Torre.

The track takes a steady incline out of the valley and into the hills, passing through Olive ans Almond plantations and several plantations of grape vines are visible on the southern facing slopes. From these track the views are magnificent across the Guadalhorce valley to the mountains around El Chorro and El Torcal beyond.

A welcome break is taken in the shade of the Almond trees at the highest point of the walk, where we were able to take in refreshments and the incredible all-round views.
Our route then starts our steady downward route back the the river, but first we cross two important man-made features, the first of which is the AVE train line which was completed only a few years ago and carries the high speed train from Malaga to Madrid. The second feature is the Acequia or Irrigation canal that carries water from the area know as 'the Lakes' to be distributed into the smaller canals and then pipes, feeding the many fields and plantations with the water so much needed.

We then cross the main road and follow a dry stream bed that feeds into the main river and when we reach the river we find that there is still a stream of water flowing. Some large stones were dropped into the water to form stepping stones and everyone was able to cross with dry feet. This river bed was followed to the end of the route and we had to cross the water stream some 15 or so times. During the final stages of the route we came to an ancient stone built bridge that we had to pass under and a little further on we passed under the massive modern concrete structure of the viaduct that carries the railway. A poignant contrast of the past and the future.



Our journeys end was only a few more metres along the riverbed, now totally dry, and in the welcome shade of the Eucalyptus trees.

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