Safe Return Doubtful

Day 20 – to Puerto de las Crucetillas PART TWO Day 20 – to Puerto de las Crucetillas Moving day today. I’ve had a couple of weeks in the Montanas Vacias and it’s been very pleasant; some real wilderness. The small roads continued for the first hour or so, down…

Day 19 – to a track above El Collado (close to the ruin of Castillo del Poyo) A morning view of Castielfabib, shortly after leaving El Cuervo.. Just for ten kilometres on a two way road, then off onto the windy ones again, and through the village of Riodeva. And…

Day 18 – to El Cuerva From Zafrilla I drove the magnificently rough and narrow road to Salvacañete, where I picked up some fuel, and had another supermarket failure; failure in that there was little or no fresh food, not even bread. I have plenty, but must stock up more…

Day 17 – to Zafrilla There are more than 138,000 bars in Spain, as many as the rest of Europe put together. So says Giles Tremlett in the book of his I finished today, Ghosts of Spain, which concerns the country’s modern history, post-Franco. Indeed, I was to end up…

Day 16 – to Uña I had my eye on a hike in the Cuenca Natural Park, just above the village of Las Majadas. Out of the Natural Parks I have so far been in, this is the most picturesque, with a heavy coating of forest giving way to occasional…

Day 15 – to the pass above El Tobar (& Beteta) I spent a very pleasant hour or so in Beteta’s Plaza de Iglesia with coffee as most of the village kept sleeping. I was just about to leave when a bikepacker arrived, and as ever I need to know…

Day 14 – to Poveda de la Sierra A really good hike in the cool of the morning, and once the cool had warmed I was 1600 metres up, and there was a good breeze. I put together a mix of routes. Partly I was on the Camino El Cid,…

Day 13 – to the Monoliths of Chequilla Friday 17th September This was a day with a rare early start, at 7 am. It’s still dark here until 7.15 am. A quick getaway and a backtrack of 60 km to Teruel to get the part fitted for the van, to…

Day 13 – at Las Corralizas (Bronchales) These days start out cloudless and cool, above freezing, but only just. The cloud rolls in mid-morning and stormy rain showers then hang around throughout the day. After a lazy start on my part, finishing a book (The Liquid Land) before heading out.…