Day 4 of Hiking in the Alpujurra in Spain

3rd November

A lazy day today. There were 3 options. An 18 km walk with ascent / descent of 1400m. 14 kms with 500m ascent / descent or 12 kms with 550m ascent / descent.
The feet told us to choose the latter and even then, they protested and the 12kms became 10.

Our east facing room, allowed us to witness the muted, but beautiful sunrise over the Alpujurra.

Setting off we took time to admire the features of the hotel's entrance.........

and the beam over the base of the 60 step entry, from the cobbled road.

Pots of geraniums, herbs and other plants were regularly spotted on the patios of these white homes without gardens, as were large bunches of chillies hanging to dry.

Our comprehension of the hiking notes went astray very quickly. An incorrect left turn here, took us down a steep alleyway. Not long after our quads received a rapid warm up, as we hiked back up. For the locals, this is just daily exercise.

Climbing back up.

Eventually we found the path out of town and again we passed many fields of end of season vegetables, waiting to be harvested.

The trail wound its way up and over the base of the ridges, bordering the River Trevelez. 

Today was the only day of the hike, where autumn colours dominated the vistas. I was captivated, as the following photos will testify too.

Beyond the peak on the right, is Spain's highest, mainland mountain - Mulhacen, 3,482m. It was to become snow capped 2 nights later.

The further up the valley we went the trail became damp and muddy.

I managed to find beauty in this very large puddle.

Our lunch and turning round point. Wonderful to relax to the sounds of the gurgling Trevelez.

Some will know of my love for lady birds. My fantastic zoom, on my point and shoot Sony HX50V, confirmed that there was a ladybird crawling on the leaves of a bush about a metre away. On downloading my photos, I discovered that I had also captured a preying mantis.

After a very pleasant break sitting beside the stream, we retraced our steps back to the base of Trevelez.

The lower part of town had several shops selling local weaving, cheeses, hams and other assorted crafts. This was a nice spot to people watch as we drank the local beer with tapas.

As we climbed back up the 'hill' to the top of town, we passed more than half a dozen ham smokehouses. Obviously the life blood of the village, but where are all the pigs? We  were informed that the pigs are mass produced down on the plains, but each village / smokehouse has its own secret recipe for the perfect ham. Looking at the prices, [96 eu is approx $140 Aus]  it is no wonder the ham is served so thinly, using the 'stand' below and an extremely sharp knife. We were also told that a ham under 80eu, wouldn't be of the best quality.

Right throughout Spain, we admired their imposing wooden doors. This is another industry for the locals, along with the production of floor tiles.

A delightful water fountain for weary travellers.

How beautiful is Trevelez clothed in white?[postcard]

Taking the route of the least incline, we made it back to our hotel to enjoy a hot 'cuppa' on our patio.

I hope you have enjoyed the relaxed pace and autumn colours of the day. The weather forecast for the following day was not good.  We tentatively made alternative plans if the day dawned as gloomy as predicted.

I would love to read your comment.