9.8km. 136m (421ft.) descent to lowest point. Dirt tracks, narrow paths and 4x4 roads.
Boots would be a good idea if wet, but trainers will do. Part of the final stretch of the walk is up a steep ravine, where there is no real path except the ones the goats made.
This walk starts on Calle Vereda Ancha (The wide path.) on the south side of Olvera
Just before the the Bocanegra Bar is a cutting to allow farm traffic onto the land below. The dirt road starting here goes down the hillside and joins another at a T junction. (See photograph taken from Vereda Ancha.) Take the road to the left and pass under the A382 which is just over the top of the hill in the photograph.
The road turns left just before the bridge, but you go straight on, taking a path which descends into the valley below. The path gets quite narrow and the grass is usually deep, but it is still easy to find. You should end up crossing the El Gastor road, where the path continues on the other side a little lower down as a farm track. Shortly after you leave the road you are faced with a fork in the track. Take the RH fork. The LH one goes to a farm.
Follow the track into the valley where you will come to the river. You will be walking alongside the river, but not close to it. After passing several farms all with big noisy dogs you will come to a to a T junction. To finish the walk you must take the RH track.
(If you are a little more curious, there is an interesting geological feature a short way up the LH track. I think there was a quarry here on the RH side of the track at some time. The rock has been cut away and the topsoil has been eroded, leaving the near vertical strata exposed.
The most interesting thing to me are the colours of the layers. The soil all around is a rich red ochre, but this little outcrop is like a rainbow. This tiny slice into our worlds history takes you back to the Triassic period, when the huge island of Pangea , which straddled the equator 250 million years ago, was beginning to split up into the continents we now know. This is a time when the very first mammals were begining to emerge in a landscape predominated by reptiles.The strata exposed shows an ancient riverbed of clays, sands and mud.
In the layers are deposits of copper, giving the green cast as the copper oxidizes. Other colours are the result of chemical changes in the deposits over the millions of years since they were at the bottom of a river.)
To continue with the walk. The RH track will take you across the river where it will be on your LH side until you reach a second T junction. Go left this time and follow the road down into Torre. By this time Torre will be dominating the skyline above you like the watchtower it once was.
I have included two photographs showing this part of the walk by the river. One is now (2012) and the other is from 2010 just after the floods. The river at the foot of Torre changed its course in one night after torrential rain and a mini tornado. The picnic tables are now a hundred metres from the new river.
After the floods 2010
If you need refreshment at this point you must climb up to the top of Torre where there is a bar in the plaza. If not, walk around the south side of Torre, past the football ground, and climb the steep hill to the point where you are about to leave Torre on the Olvera road. Here there is a track running parallel to the road on the left hand side. This is the path you want. It leads to a farm, then up a rough ravine, or arroyo, which is used only by the goats. This is the most difficult part of the walk.
When you get to the top you will be at the Los Remedios Area recreativo. If you are not too tired, and provided it is open, have a look in the chapel. Without going too much into the story of the refuge I think it is worth explaining its history. It is a centre for the villagers to pray. On the walls in the upper room you will see clothes, hats, photos, and belongings left by loved ones, along with prayers for their well-being.
The prayers are the most touching messages you will ever see. Ordinary people asking for ordinary things. That their son will come home from military service safe, that their child will recover from illness, a wife asking that her husband will stop drinking. A smashed crash helmet with a letter of thanks that the owner survived. These people don't always ask their God for somehing they want. They thank Him for giving them what they already have.
The Chapel's real claim to fame was in the form of a near miracle in 1715 when the whole area was suffering from a drought and all the villagers met to there to prey for rain. They got their rain and every year since they have celebrated in style with the Lunes De Quasimodo on the hills around the Hermitage. This is a fiesta of open air picnics and barbeques with a copious supply of goodwill, wine and beer.
Back to the walk!
From the Chapel you can go across the road to the bar and take refreshment there. If not, look for the paved walkway to the left of the road. This was made for the pilgrims who come in their hundreds to pray, and is the shortest way into town from here. You will arrive at the Industrial Estate and the road ahead leads you past several good bars and restraunts before bringing you back to the starting point.
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