I was away at first light (7:35a, lol). Today’s a big, beautiful day of walking, canyoning, and photography. The guide suggests breaking it into 2 days as transversing the canyon could be considered arduous but that didn’t fit my schedule! The gorge itself is a narrow section of the Guadiaro river that flows along this route and is named the Cañon de las Buitreras, or Gorge of the Vultures, for the colony of griffin vultures that live here.

A few kms in I met my first fellow hikers at this small suspension bridge. Just day hikers from the size of their packs but I’ve been alone on the Camino every day so far. I didn’t speak beyond a “Hola” but I could hear them in stereo as their voices bounced off the canyon walls as we got deeper into the gorge.

I chanced to look up and saw the vultures soaring overhead. I stopped a bit to watch and let the voluble Spanish guys pass on ahead of me. The updrafts kept the birds right up at the top of the canyon, lazily circling round and round.

It was a gentle descent into the canyon, but a very, very steep climb up to where the vultures soared. I had to stop many times to catch my breath, er, enjoy the view.

And once to the top? Over and down into the next canyon of course! Steep again but on slightly sticky mud switchbacks, the suction excellent for keeping one from sliding down the hill!

This was at the bottom, a tunnel so tiny even I had to crouch, then a small, concrete bridge over another wee gorge, and then vertical steps cut into a boulder that required use of steel ropes to ascend!

Then…climb up a steep hill, of course! The sun hadn’t yet peeked over the ridge below which I’m walking so it’s still pleasantly cool as it was a workout. I climbed up past a flock of sheep which fled from my incursion, past a once impressive farmhouse now left to ruin, then down a nice wide track which made for easy walking. Open views of the dry riverbed below and the parallel railway. There’s a train 3x a day so staying at one hotel and commuting for this portion of the Camino is possible if not necessarily convenient.

One last hill before a gentle down for miles and miles past ancient gnarly trees and cows grazing amongst the thick brush, over some barely flowing creeks, and through a couple of farms:

At 14k I entered the only intermediate town on the route today hoping for a coffee but as it was Sunday everything was closed up tight to I had to console myself with a couple of chocolate biscuits on a bench at the far side of town.

12:40p and I’m back on a gravel road after a few clicks of pavement in town. It’s about 11k more to Jimera and it’s starting to cloud over. The temperature is dropping but still fine for walking (uphill). With the graying sky and unchallenging terrain I chose to listen to an audiobook to get me through the next 3 hours. I don’t normally listen to anything while walking but there are a few times when I need a break from my own charming company 🙂

20k and my road has come back down level with the railway; and as it was well-used and flat it was pockmarked with pockets of puddles and thick mud which slowed my progress for the next kilometer. The track veered off and my route turned into a trail, narrow but quicker walking.

25k and I arrived at the train station for Jimera, but the town itself (and my hotel) is still another 1.2 miles up the hill. I was dying but fortunately the station cafe was open and still serving food! Water, my long-awaited cafe con leche and a Rockabilly Hamburger will suffice to power me up the hill.

What a hill, it was so steep I turned around and walked up backwards so I wouldn’t pop an Achilles. These mountain villages are all over Andalusia and are pretty to look at from below but are not made for pedestrians! 27.4k total and 1128m of ascent today.