A hill too far

I woke this morning with the notion of trekking up the Algarín Cliff, the impressive peak that dominates the pueblo of El Gastor, a small village about 15kms south of Olvera. So reasonably early, to avoid the heat of the sun, we headed off.

These pictures of the cliff in the foreground taken from the hang gliding landing site on the A-384 Olvera-Algodonales road.

After a short drive of about 30 minutes, we parked in the pleasantly shaded recreation area of La Ladera just above the village.

Lots of butterflies around here and plenty of birdsong. Pictured here is a Red Admiral.

Leaving the recreation area we walked for a short while until we came to this sign indicating the route to the ancient Dolmen (burial chamber) so we set off uphill on the concreted road.

However, after about 500 metres or so, the road became a dirt track, not really passable for anything other than a four wheel drive vehicle. We continued upwards through the campo but decided after an hour or so, with no dolmen in site and a stiff climb ahead, that it was indeed a hill too far so we turned back towards the rest area.

The misty view of Olvera from the track.

Just outside El Gastor is a mirador offering spectacular views across to Zahara de la Sierra and the reservoir below the village.

And Calcetines came too.

The peaks of the Sierra de Grazalema.
Although we didn't achieve our ultimate goal, it was still a pleasant trip out to an area that we hadn't been too before so not wholly unsuccessful.