Day 2 CA-9210 to somewhere next to CA-9207 (updated)

05.02.2016 13:21

Most surprisingly I only woke up at 9:30am. That must mean that I chose my spot very well I suppose. I wouldn't say I slept well, but I basically never do, so I'm satisfied with the experience. Most importantly I didn't get cold, to the contrary I even had to take off my long sleeve because I was sweating. God choice of sleeping bag as it seems, lucky me. 

After a short time I got to the gate mentioned in the guide, which was blocked as expected. I was fed up with walking on the road though, so I climbed through said gate. But then I absolutely couldn't find my way through the maze of small paths running through the area, and the thorny bushes didn't help either. 

(The trees all look like this here, pretty surreal.)

(Those signs are ALL over the place and each time I see one - so five times a minute - I wonder what the hell Gibraltar has to do with all this.)

(Looks like a great boulder to me..)

Luckily I found a way out of the valley again, following the traces of a tractor, and got back onto the good old CA-9210. There I even found another no tocable-fountain and refilled my drinking bladder (a very much improvable process). After more walking the National Park I was apparently in ended, and I had to walk another 3 km on a real tarmac road, which is really deadly to my feet. But at the end of it waited the Venta el Frenazo, where I'm sitting at right now, waiting for my battery to be full again.

This is also the start of the official second section, which is another 33km long and ends in Castillo de Castillar. I definite won't make 33km today, but hope to cover a distance of maybe 20km and then find a place to camp before it gets dark. This way I'll be able to have lunch in Castillo de Castillar tomorrow - a great prospect. 

Update: 05.02.2016 19:51

The good news is: I found a place to set camp! Pretty much everything else went wrong though, haha. 

After leaving the venta I followed the signs to yet another national park. I almost went the wrong way, but a man in a jeep told me to turn around and take a left, so that's what I did. The guidebook promised "stunning views", but either I'm used to views like that from home or I went the wrong way. Must've been the first option, because at the end of the NP another GR7 sign waited for me. A car drove by and the guy inside honked and waved at me, smiling happily. This again made me happy for the next ten minutes. 

Yesterday I had seen lots of different animals, today I was only stunned by the grace of the eagles circling around my head

But some cows were around as well of course.

Before I could see it, I could already smell the huge rubbish dump John Hayes already warned about. I held my breath and passed it, then stopped in confusion.

Both guide and waypost said I should take a left, so I did. But after about 300m the road was blocked by a gate to the right, and led into the rubbish dump area to the left. I started waking inside, but a guy just driving the other way stopped his truck and told me I couldn't go through. In my best Spanish I explained that I had to go to Castillo de Castillar. He nodded in understanding, but said I couldn't pass anyway and should follow the road I came from until there was another junction.

Without a choice I did continue walking on the damn tarmac road, sometimes even clenching my teeth because my feet didn't like the feeling at all. The difference between a dirt road and tarmac really is incredible until you have to walk on it for more than 5km with a backpack on your back.

Now this is a sight I would be happy about when hitchhiking, but this time I wasn't. I took a left here and continued walking on, yes, damn tarmac. On the other side I'm actually glad I didn't come here to hitchhike - there's literally no cars around, so that would make some long waits, haha.

Looking at my map was the cherry on top at this point: Instead of walking this huge U I might as well have taken the way more direct way in the south, considering that I would've walked on tarmac in both cases. 

Probably still frustrated about that I walked in the wrong direction for about one kilometer until I realized it. By then I was obviously finished with my nerves for this day, and as I wanted to set up camp early today anyway, I started looking for a good spot. 

I'm on private land now I suppose, because I climbed through a fence when I saw the opportunity, but it should be alright. I'm a bit up the hill and the sight from the street is blocked by some trees, so it's alright.

Because I was ready so early I had enough time to wash myself and then have a niiice cup of instant noodles :D 

I will now probably listen to one of the audiobooks I downloaded, until my feet calm down enough so I can sleep. The goal for tomorrow is to make it to Castillo de Castillar and maybe halfway to Jimena de la Frontera, which is the end of the official third section. 

For your better understanding: I started in the lower left corner, the dog next to A-381 is where I had my tapas. Then follows the big U, which I could've cut off in the south. The dot which is a bit away from the white line is where I couldn't get through the rubbish dump. At the last visible intersection I walked into the wrong direction for one km. Blue arrow marks where I am now. Telling from the map I estimate that I walked about 22km today.