In the Easter holidays of 1998, I took a trip along the infamous Caminito del Ray through the enormous cliffs of the gorge at El Chorro, while on a climbing trip in the area. It took me days to build up the courage to commit to going on it and I can still vividly remember the nightmare that woke me with a start one night after first setting eyes on it once the idea of going on it had been proposed. The walkway was build in 1905 for the king of Spain to access the hydro scheme higher up the valley but had since fallen into disrepair. Recently, it has been rebuilt into a tourist attraction, so I was keen to have a return trip. The short drive over to El Chorro was on a perfect, still, Andalusian morning; we stopped to appreciate the views.
The decision to walk the gorge was pretty spur of the moment as according to the web, the limited day tickets were sold out. We spoke to someone in the village, who seemed to think there were a few spares available at the North entrance and took a gamble to drive around to find out. Having parked the car, we were ushered through a 100m long (unlit - only in Spain!) tunnel through a cliff that brought us out near the upper gorge, where a 1.5km walk then took us to the gate and ticket station. As we queued up for a (very reasonable 10 euro) ticket, I recognised the distinctive cliffs on the other side of the valley. Amazing how a view from 21 years ago can suddenly seem familiar.
Back in 1998, the walk was used (unofficially) by climbers, to access some of the huge climbing cliffs within the gorge from the South. Even getting to this point was a full blown adventure, involving walking through two active train tunnels. (I have a photo somewhere of me gripped to the tunnel wall, hair on end from the rush of air, half way though the tunnel, as the Malaga express is charging past!). Once on the walkway, we used our climbing kit and steady nerves to traverse the remains of the early nineteenth century engineering. Given that there had been no maintenance in the preceding eighty years, the Caminito was in a terrible state, with several parts involving balancing along the steel framework, (think balancing along a railway girder 150m above a narrow gorge), where the concrete path had been destroyed by falling rocks. It was a heady affair, boarding on downright reckless.
These days, the gorge is just as dramatic, but the walkway has been rebuilt. With a ticket procured, hair nets and helmets were issued at the gate.
Straight away we followed the all new boardwalk, into the upper gorge, which is super narrow.
And just as spectacular....
After squeezing through the narrows, the valley opens out into a wide area, with river in the valley bottom and rail track on the far side.
Before gaining the lower gorge, I was delighted to see that the 'exit bridge' was still intact. On my previous visit, we had the choice of crossing this bridge and returning to El Chorro via the 'safety' of the railway track, or returning along the dilapidated walkway. I was gripped about crossing it, but far less inclined to return though the gorge, so in the end had to pluck up the courage.
One of the nice things about the new walkway, was that the old one has been left underneath it, allowing people like me to re-live the grip!
After a relaxing walk through the open valley and viewing some of the old climbing area, the trail lead back into the lower gorge.
It's a real fly on the wall feeling as the steep cliffs close in around you.
Lower down, before crossing the bridge, you could really see how bad the old walkway was. We counted four steel supports for every old one on the path below - (where it was still hanging on that is!).
And there were some 'significant' gaps in the old path.
This section held a real memory. It's only a short crossing and you'd never fall off it, if it were a metre off the ground, but at 80 metres up, your mind starts playing tricks on you...
Thankfully, a new bridge had been constructed at the gorge entrance.
After crossing the front walls, we were finally back on terra-firma and feeling well pleased. It's a brilliant journey and now, incredibly accessible. Some might say it's been watered down, but the scenery and position are still worth the trip. The only difference, is the fact that the odds of a safe return are much less in the balance.
Given that we might not due to be back in El Chorro any time soon, we decided that we had time for a few rock climbs before we left for Ronda.
It felt great to be on warm rock, climbing steep pocket limestone. A fine finish indeed.
Leaving El Chorro and the gorge behind, we drove west into the sunset to the next phase of this winter's explorations and the town of Ronda. We arrived at dusk, which was lucky, as finding our apartment involved negotiating some steep, narrow, cobbled streets. Exhausted from adrenaline and energy, we were soon asleep after a rapid feed.
No comments:
Post a Comment