SOUTHERN SPAIN

Summary

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Start in Benalmadena for a one way hike to Alhaurin de la Torre, a town just over the mountains. Pass through a few miradors on the way and take a few extra steps to visit Pico Jabalcuza for an amazing overlook of Malaga. Continue on to Alhaurin de la Torre to complete the day.

Trail Stats

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Trail Details

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While there are numerous trailheads to choose from on the Benalmadena side of this hike, we began from Rocas Blancas. To get here without a vehicle, a bus (most frequently the 103) will drop you off at the bottom of Avenida Rocas Blancas on the A-368. It’s a nice uphill jaunt to the trailhead, which will get your lungs pumping nicely. With a car, simply drive uphill and park in a space prior to the bridge crossing the AP-7. It’s the best place to park as there’s no official trailhead parking further along.

Cross over AP-7 and head up the road. Here you’ll note what we dubbed as “waste bin lane”. This must be where they store thousands of waste containers for later use. While an impressive quantity, I can’t say it adds to the beauty of the hike. In fact, it mars the view for quite a ways. Lovely coastal view with an ugly dumpster smear. Ah well. At least they are all in there neat and tidy rows which does appeal to the orderly side of my brain.

After dumpster storage land, the trail veers off the road to the right. There’s a big sign. Nearly impossible to miss. If you pass it you’ll wind up at an archery range and further still is a cluster of buildings that I don’t understand. A car went down there and all of a sudden you could hear a plethora of dogs barking. Dogs running around everywhere. Not sure if the buildings were residences of serious dog enthusiasts or a kennel. Regardless we were serenaded up the hill to the cacophony of perros in an uproar. Over what who knows. Dogs will be dogs.

No Chill

I would like to point out that, as Doug puts it, Spain has no chill. Trails do not meander uphill. They charge straight ahead and conquer the elevation in an unrelenting scramble. It will get your thighs burning and brings out a delightful wheezing, gasping quality to my breathing. All of which is ironic as Spain has a fairly relaxed and very happy culture. Guess they take their aggression out on the hills. That being said, the vast majority of your total elevation gain will be achieved within the initial mile and a half or so.

Rain, Rain, Go Away…

This has been a remarkably wet winter in southern Spain. Or really, all of Spain. Storm after storm have done their worst. There’s been landslides and flooding all over the place. Being trapped inside, bemoaning endless deluges of rain was not exactly on my agenda. So. We obsessed over the forecast. Look! There’s a day in between storm fronts that only has 40% chance of rain AND it’s supposed to stop by 9am! That’s our shot. To the hills we will go!

For the record, Spanish forecasters lie just as much as they do back home. That 9am got pushed back to 10, then 11, then, well, maybe it’ll stop by noon. Drat. We waited until 10 and donned our rain jackets and off we went anyway. We were a far cry from the only ones. Saw a trail runner, fellow hikers, and a mountain biker. Most were die hard Spanish who, apparently, were also done being cooped up and were more than willing to brave the elements.

Feeling Lucky

As luck would have it, the skies sprinkled off and on a tad on our ascent. Nothing horrific. We made it to the first main intersection. Left heads towards Mijas. Right will take you up to Monte Calamorro. Originally we thought we’d head up to the peak. The Monte Calamorro cable cars weren’t yet in service and the thought of having the mountain top to ourselves was quite enticing. But, the skies were getting darker and the wind picked up. We instead headed down the center path which circumnavigates part of the peak, bypassing the top. The path takes you to the road leading up to the mountaintop observatory, with views of a mining operation on the way.

Once you come to the road, head downhill, paying attention as the road splits. You’ll head uphill and to the left. It was on this road that it began to rain in earnest. The kind of rain that drenches you instantly. It was raining so hard I could feel water running down my shins and into my boots. Thank goodness for wool socks. It was unpleasantly wet. Regardless, we kept on. Passed fellow hikers taking shelter under a tree, though I question how dry they actually were. Exchanged cheery “hola”s and kept on trucking. Not like we could have been more wet than we already were.

Miradors

Our upcoming destination was a set of miradors (viewpoints), made all the better by the skies clearing up a bit and a few rays of sunshine working their magic. First we stopped at Mirador de la Cañada del Lobo. This one has a nice structure built up on the hill with a pergola. Complete with a statue of a wolf, or at least I think it’s a wolf. Decent view. Must be popular with mountain bikers. Every time I’ve been here we’ve been joined by at least one. This time a kindly biker jumped over a puddle to avoid splashing us as he bombed down the trail. Nice guy, I certainly appreciated not being splashed with muck. Thanks buddy!

A short distance away is another pergola covered lookout, Mirador del Madrono. This one has a few picnic benches and a building that is very closed. I think the view is a smidge better. But I love looking back toward Benalmadena Pueblo as we spent so much time there last year. Both are great to sit for a while and enjoy the view. Though this time we avoided sitting as everything was still remarkably damp.

There’s a small observation deck around here as well, called Torre de Observacion. This was the first time we walked to it. Disappointingly, the bottom was taped off in a rather obvious “none shall pass” kind of way. While we were tempted to ignore the tape, in the end we were good little rule followers and stayed on the ground. Ate our rather uninspired sandwiches instead and headed out on the trail. I will say, peanut butter is not the same in Spain. And at home I eat sugar and additive free peanut butter. The stuff here is different. I can’t figure out why as the only ingredient is the same as the type back home. Peanuts. Go figure. A great mystery of life that shall never be resolved. However, the fig jam was divine. I love figs. Yum.

Peak of the day

Next on the day’s hiking route is Pico Jabalcuza. I think this park is part of a nature preserve of Alhaurin de la Torre, though I could easily be mistaken. To get here you’ll pass a split or two in the trail. Make sure you know which direction you plan on going. The hillside prior to Pico Jabalcuza has the remnants of a few rock walls and what appears to be the foundation of a stone building. No idea what these structures were for but they add to the intrigue along the way. On a clear day the views are spectacular.

There are numerous trails to get up here. Each time, we’ve gone a different way, lost the trail somehow and wound up in the correct spot anyhow. So don’t worry, it all seems to work out beautifully. We headed to the south first. I believe this side houses the actual monument, complete with a mailbox housing a notebook one can sign. Kind of fun. We did it the first time. Last time the mailbox was unfortunately left open and the pages looked to be growing a smattering of mold. Eww. Mold is a real deal here. And I thought it grew everywhere in Seattle. Wrong. It gets into everything here. Even the paint will mold if you aren’t careful.

Regardless, this peak makes a great photo op. You must, apparently, touch the pillar to have officially claimed the summit. At least that’s what I’ve observed everyone else do. So naturally we gave it a good smack too. From here the views of Malaga are fantastic. You can see everything, ships coming and going and all the outskirts and overall minimal sprawl of Malaga itself. If you like airplanes, it’s a perfect spot to watch the comings and goings of planes from the airport.

After soaking in the view for a few minutes it was off to the northern side of the hill. There’s a fairly clear path to follow through the limestone rock and patchy vegetation. A downed sign marks your destination.

We met up with a lovely athletic couple from England here. Joked about needing to hike to make up for all the bread and wine in Spain. Which is so true. Bread is one of my many downfalls. My “evil” doctor (not really, he’s fabulous) has so kindly pointed out that I have high cholesterol. I’m fairly certain it’s genetic. However, with a modified diet and exercise, I have managed my numbers remarkably well. I refuse to go on meds so a lifestyle change it was. Meaning bread is out, among other things like red meat, sugar and alcohol. At home I rarely, if ever, eat bread. So…when I’m surrounded by loaves of beautiful, fragrant and ever so delicious bread…we shall just say I toss my willpower away and pray for the best. So yeah, better rely on that exercise. At least they don’t put weird things in bread here. Ahem… USA. Quit putting garbage and chemicals in my food please. But that’s a whole other topic.

And We’re Off

When you’re done with the views, or the clouds have frightened you off the hill, simply head back down the path you came in on (or whatever random path down you find) and turn north toward Alhaurin de la Torre. Here, you will go down a remarkably steep section as you descend. It somehow feels significantly more tropical back here. The vegetation is thicker and you’re surrounded by tree’s once again. The air also seems thicker. Almost drinkable.

Once you’ve descended quite a ways there are splits in the trail. Both take you to the same town, just different sections. On our first trip we headed right, which will take you behind a bunch of houses before getting into town. This current time, we headed left which supposedly takes you more toward the downtown area. This path lead straight up a rather steep hillside. Once again I was gasping for breath. At the top we headed left (wrong decision).

As we neared the ridge I looked over and squeaked. There was a single horned Ibex looking off into the valley, completely unaware of our presence. I can’t make logical conversation in times like these. Doug was ahead of me and all he heard was me repeatedly and rather urgently telling him to stop. He’s not that good at listening, though I think I might have given him a heart attack. Why he should stop would have been helpful. Before he saw it, the Ibex figured out I was there. In a flash, that little guy thundered across the rocks and disappeared. Ibex, it turns out, are not dainty movers. They are efficient for sure, but I’ll never think of them as lightly springing from rock to rock. More like a thundering, crashing rather violent escape. Ironically, he headed across the rocks and cliffside to another vista where he (or she) laid down and judged us for the remainder of our time up there. And remember, I did say we chose the wrong way, so it got to judge for a while.

The view up here looks out on Alhaurin de la Torre with a steep limestone cliffside to one side (where our Ibex friend was hanging out). In the distance are more peaks. Everything looks lush and green, thanks to that unceasing rain. The view from this point was probably my favorite on the entirety of the hike.

After wandering on what I suspect were goat paths, we turned back around and found the real trail. AKA, when our steep trail met up with what looked like a main trail we should have turned right instead of continuing uphill. But then I wouldn’t have seen that view or my Ibex friend. Totally worth it.

The rest of the trail goes down hill. Not much more to say there. Eventually it spits you out at the end of a dead end road. This road has gorgeous properties and homes on it. Drool worthy views. Each property seemed to come with a very aggressive dog lunging at the gates and racing up and down the wall, barking its head off. Good guard dogs. Very effective, only a whack job would cross into those yards uninvited. I do not need another dog bite experience. And no, I never got bit while doing something I shouldn’t have. But I have been bit multiple times. No bueno. Do not recommend.

For us, the trail ended at a bus stop. The bus (it was either the 132 or 133, though either would have worked) was now responsible for taking us to Plaza Major where we could catch a train back home. Perfect! So very glad we didn’t let the weather hold us back.

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