Day 31 – to Rio Castril

The campervan area just outside Cazorla town is maintained by the community; something in England we could learn from. Everything is extremely tidy with no litter at all, despite there being no bins. There is a water tap, and a drain, and some shade from the trees, but that’s all. It’s a pleasantly sociable arrangement. Some of the Belgian cyclists were staying there, and we chatted, mutually moaning about the Spanish beer.

The photo above taken from the new Mercadona supermarket car park as I stocked up for the next week or so. Cazorla town on an autumn morning.

I headed to the south end of the Cazorla Natural Park, opting to drop out of the park into Quesada, then climb back into it, rather than take a rough track over.

We stopped for a walk into the Cuevas del Agua, the location of a shrine to the Virgen de Tíscar, where — according to a fairy tale / ghost story — the Virgin appeared over the ruins of what was probably a small church built after the Christian reconquest. Certainly enough to terrify the kids.

I decided not to stay here, though at first it was an attractive proposition, with its supernatural stories. It’s much warmer today, the afternoon would be 26C, and the flies were annoying. A lot of people visit here, and though there were few today, there was still overflowing bins and general untidiness.

That meant reluctantly leaving the Natural Park, it had been wonderful, and onto the Sierra de Castril National Park, which at first seemed far less appealing. However I recalled seeing a small campsite ten kilometres up a rough track alongside the Rio Castrill and decided on that. The site is pretty much closed for the season, just open to the odd wanderer like myself. Also to two mountain bikers in tents from Almeria. We chatted for a while. They shared some of their barbecued lamb, and I, my salmon. They showed me the best areas to visit in the Sierra de Baza, my next mountains.

Autumn has come earlier to this area than further west, as is evident from the trees. The temperature drops to 6C despite the warm days. With the site to ourselves this is a really great place; just the noise of the birds and the river, and shaded almost completely by the steep sided valley and the trees shedding their leaves.