Description:
Today it's the turn of the Barranco Fuerte, it is aggressive and different depending on the time of the year. We leave the car in the Barrio de la Luna, next to the road (A-348) Benahadux - Alhama de Almería. In the place also known as Los Molinicos, about five kilometers from Alhama. We are at 555 m. altitude and once prepared and the consigns given, we begin the adventure. We enter the ravine, slowly through a garden of flowers and plants. It's cool due to the shade given by the large walls that form it at the entrance. It's a good climbing area with routes of all types, the most known being “La Pepa”. What attracts me most about this ravine is how different it is every little time. Rocks as large as trucks have fallen on the bed. There is a lot of undergrowth, broom, brambles that make passage impossible and the best is to look for accessible rocks to jump or climb. Immediately the fun begins, you have to go jumping on the stones, it's a virgin place. Fortunately the climbers who frequent the beginning of the ravine, have it very well cared for. You barely find signs that people pass by there, it gives you the impression that you are hundreds of kilometers from civilization. As you go saving rocks bending down, standing up, dragging, climbing, the cool disappears and turns into drops of sweat. Each curve offers you a different geological vision, the water has left its mark throughout the ravine with incredible formations and of great beauty. You can observe at the same time, the erosion of time. In certain sections, the passage is difficult; Immense rocks and dragged trees, practically block the ravine. This makes us in occasions, exit the bed and go in traverse by the lateral walls. We had an hour and a half of route, about 2.30 km. walked and at 635 m. altitude, the ravine narrows like a funnel and above we begin to see large repopulated pines. We walk three hundred meters more and we find an obstacle of 35 m. of altitude that we border by the right margin, returning again to the bed once past the difficulty. The ravine has no flow, although we find several pools in our way from the last rains. When we have 4.10 Km. of route jumping and climbing, we are on the 795 m. of altitude. From here the ravine widens, but it's all full of undergrowth, mainly brambles that block your way. Upon arriving at a zone called Los Predicadores, the ravine changes name to be called barranco Del Agua. We have almost eight kilometers (950 m. of altitude) we abandon the ravine, to begin to ascend by its right margin. As we ascended, we saw on the other margin of the ravine, some cortijos with tilled lands. We ascended by animal paths until the 1050 m. of altitude where we reach the path or mule track “Vereda del Peñón Rodado” we had 9.10 Km. of route. We stopped to eat, enjoying the views over the sierra de Gador. Once the forces recovered, we resume the march leveling by the path. The path is well defined, has stone walls or paratas that mark it. You notice how old it is, there are sections that are paved, but the scrub makes that you have to go jumping the bushes, following the trace of the path. We were parallel to the ravine, looking down, we saw all the route that we had done hours before, in occasions, even we saw the own bed of the ravine. Looking forward, the vision of the hermitage of the Santa Cruz de Huécija accompanied us. A curve of the path arrives and a world opens up in front of you. It seems that you are in an airplane and the panoramics are immense: Sierra Alhamilla we have it in front, with the cerro Alfaro in front, a little to the right the Cabo de Gata and to the left the Sierra de los Filabres. In between the Río Andarax and all the desert of Tabernas. Closer at our feet, the populations of, Bentarique, Terque, Alhabia, Huécija and Alhama de Almería, etc. From here, the leveling ends and the path begins to descend zigzagging. We pass next to the ruins of a cortijo, a few meters, the path is just below the hermitage of the Santa Cruz and in front of the Pepa. From this moment, the vision of the ravine disappears, to continue descending direction north. After descending a strong drop, the path takes you to a dirt track, here we make a 180 degree turn and turn direction south. We walk about 500 meters by it. When we see the cortijos that are above where we left the vehicles this morning, we abandon the track and by a path we cross the cortijada and arrive at the road where the cars are. An incredible route twenty minutes from the Almerian capital, it makes you feel that you are on another planet.
Keywords:
Video length: 08:07