A mountain (El Torcal), a gorge (El Chorro) and caves (Ardales) and a little bit of Rock Porn

Sheryl Dwarfed by Ancient Eroding SeaBed

It has been a few busy weeks since our return from up north, doing some great trips that are iconic in this part of the world.
El Torcal

Similar to Punakaiki

On an earlier trip, Bill and I had seen the turn off to the National Park of El Torcal which is a karst upthrust bursting into a mountain top, but didn't have time to visit. So on a perfect day we drove up there and did the walkway through the rock formations, with amazing views out over the valleys that ran out from the mountain.
El Torcal Park Nature Reserve is known for it's unusual limestone rock formations.  Within El Torcal Park's 17 square km are some of the most beautiful and impressive

There's Injuns in these hills!

limestone landscapes in Europe. The whole area was under sea until one hundred million years ago. Then the violent movements of the Earth's crust forced it upward into hills and mountains up to 1.300 m, the limestone still kept its layered horizontal formation. Because of this, over the millions of years the rain and wind have been able to chisel away at these layers to form incredible shapes.
The site is well worth its status of a national reserve. It has it own peculiar native

Suckling Ibex not on the
menu

fauna and we were lucky to have got close to Iberian Ibex (mountain goats). We didn't get to see any foxes or snakes, but the natural attractions were ample reward.
Over the years the park has been the scene for many movies not surprisingly mostly westerns.
We were happy to find a cafe at the car park, which was perfect after our walk to sit and enjoy the views from the warmth inside

Spot Sheryl. 

El chorro
This is a gorge that we didn't know existed till some time after arriving and bit by bit we became aware of its magnificence and significance.
Dubbed “one of the world’s scariest hikes”, the walkway attached to the steep walls of the El Chorro gorge reopened to the public last  March after a €2.7m refurbishment. Built at the turn of the 20th century to give workers access to two hydroelectric plants, the path – also known’s as the King’s Little Pathway – was closed in 2000, for more than a decade, after a number of people died attempting to cross it.

Not a dull minute

The dangerously worn-out path earned a reputation though as thrill-seekers ignored the closure and dared the crossing, despite a maximum fine of €6,000 for trespassers.
There are two extremely narrow sections at each end of the gorge with a wider bowl in between. In addition to the new walkway a railway line runs through the gorge in a set of several tunnels, bridges and dams cutting through the gorge. The railway and sections of the Caminito were used in the final location shots of the 1965

Bridge to the railway. Not used so much now.

adventure film Von Ryan's Express.
Needless to say Sheryl neither shared my enthusiasm for or desire to complete the walk.
The tickets which are free for this first year were carefully managed so as not to be sold on to 3rd party's and as such were managed by a select few restaurants and other concerned groups which they trade for custom. This proved quite difficult to manage on our part but tickets were eventually obtained for our party of 5, taking us several days to organise (requiring passport number / birth date and full name, which ends up on each

Waiting for a train to come
through.

person's pass) so you can't just turn up and walk the trail or pass them on.
Numbers are also strictly managed and you have a date and time  allocated, if you miss or the track is closed due to bad weather, well bad luck, you will be slotted in when the next vacancy exists which at this time of year may only be a few days, but over the summer months could be many days or weeks!!The ticketing is to be revised this year now that the "powers that be" have a feel for demand and the infrastructure required to make this

New and old Walkways

very popular draw card work for the community.The local papers have been reporting an excellent upturn in the tourist trade for the whole area, so bodes well for keeping this part of Spain on the tourist map, not just for the serious rock climbers.This ticked all the boxes and as extreme as it may look, it was absolutely safe and not difficult in any sense unless you are sensitive to heights. That and the constantly circling vultures(true) did not put the punters of.

Nearly out. 100m above river.

I was accompanied on this trip with our new friends Mel & Bev who were staying at Casa Bliss, and their friends Nolene & Mick who turned up for a few days. Sheryl stayed home and minded Frank the Tibetan. Between us we amassed over 300 photos which after extensive culling have now reduced to a mere 259 to show you all on our return. Know you are all excited!!


Ardales Caves

Stunning Formations
Notice the calcified soot now embedded.

These ancient caves rediscovered in 1821 long after after neolithic man had done his thing and moved on. They were bought by a socialite, a lady who made access, carving steps and levelling floor areas for dances, concerts and parties  etc, quite oblivious to the much earlier neolithic presence. Any way they soon  fell into disuse and were largely forgotten, then in 1921 a scientist did a exploration and realised its significance but again little was done until 1990 when extensive exploration was undertaken and a history is still being established & exploration continues. Again numbers are pegged being limited at 1000 per year and 15 per tour as it is tight, also needing the art to be interpreted to see any thing. There was no English spoken on tour which was a shame as the guide had a lot to say for the 90mins underground and the hour at the interpretation centre.

Animal scratched into rock

Thankfully this did have a fair amount of written English which set Mel and myself up with enough info to make the trip interesting. We did see some of the art, but if it had not been pointed out in some detail you wouldn't see it, also much of it is inaccessible to easily view.
The caves have been extensively lit by fire over many years in prehistory and this soot has slowly washed down over the limestone formations and is now locked in under a layers of limestone making for many black shapes & in some cases obliterating the art.

First ever Porn??

The cave contains paintings and impressions of 56 animals from the Solutrean age (20,000 BC), an important Neolithic site (3,800 BC) and several Copper Age burial sites (2,700 BC).  The photos here are lifted from the web and are images we did see. Incredible really, but as man and neo man has been hanging round the Iberian peninsula for 500,000yrs the record of his occupation is scant, and any sign of this presence is much prized. .
It is not possible to enter the cave unaccompanied, too many people have got lost.  It measures a kilometre and a half in length inside, and there are various sections known as the Salas (or rooms in Spanish).  There are columned tunnels, lakes?? and massive stalactites and stalagmites all round.

This was made as shown
in the following drawing,

Mel and I enjoyed the experience, for me just in having stood in space that man had trodden so long ago and left his mark for what ever reason??
Mel is convinced that the negative hand images are nothing more than Neolithic mans attempt at hand puppertery, something we all do when bored and in possession of a torch or in their case an oil lamp.  He is so convinced of this that he is considering a 10,000 word thesis "Hand Puppetery 101 How Neolithic Man started it all" , against the prevailing experts lined up on this subject, and.... he may well be on to something, indeed I may assist him and let him publish on this very Blog.. Watch

But Why?

this space!!
The language barrier was irksome but one i can live with as I will live with the memory of these caves.