River Walking the Río Bacal - Escaping the Andalusian Summer Heat
When southern Spain hits 40°C+, you either go high or go low. We chose low — an unmaintained river walk through the Sierra de Almijara that turned into a five-hour, 8km battle through brambles, fallen trees, and deep pools. We planned 14km but we eventually bottled it in favour of some ice cold beers.
Ok, so you want to go for a hike in southern Spain in the intense heat of summer? There are really only two options: head for the cooler air above 3,000 metres, or try low-level river walking. Yesterday we chose "river walking."
But first, a fallacy — these aren't really rivers. They're likely marked as "ríos" on the maps, but in reality they're just watercourses, usually small streams in valleys coming down from the hills.
The good news is that they usually pass through wonderfully wooded valley bottoms which provide much-needed shade from the intense sun. That, together with the cold running water, means a cool and shaded hike for much of its length.
The bad news is that not many of these watercourses are developed as hiking routes by local authorities. This means the hiking is perhaps more arduous than you might first think. Those that are maintained tend to be crowded, especially at weekends or during July and August.
Yesterday we visited the Río Bacal, just south of Jayena in the Sierra de Almijara — a quiet and relatively unknown river walk. We had passed alongside this stream a few years before during a circular hike of the Sendero de los Arrieros. It was April, and consequently a lot of water was gushing down the mountain and the river was in full flow. Yesterday there was less water, but the trails running alongside the river were overgrown with brambles and all sorts of spiky things ready and waiting to snatch and tear at expensive mountain clothing.
So we had the Río Bacal itself as the trail. We planned a 14 km return trip up and back the same way. The reality was that we managed a mere 8 km in five hours of hiking. Why? An adventurous aspect of an unmaintained trail like this is that you never quite know what to expect. Winter and spring storms and flash floods will down trees, so ahead of you, lying in wait, will be unseen obstacles.
Trees and bushes will hinder progress. Rock steps will need to be surmounted or arduously bypassed. Deep pools either swum or delicately avoided. It's a fascinating way to enjoy nature, but also tiring — by the time you finish there will be aches and pains in parts of the body you didn't know existed. It's a full-on workout.
We turned back after managing only half of our planned route. We bottled it! We had all realised the folly of our ambitions, and a return to the car still had to be made before an hour's drive to some very welcome ice-cold beers. Having said that ... if you've never done this type of hiking you should. It's a wild ride into the untamed regions that help you escape the heat.
