To Villanueva de Algaidas. 24 k

Antequera to Villanueva de Algaidas. 24 k. About 7 hours. Dang, I am slow! Wow!   

 

Waymark so we're obvious. 

 

 

 

 

Thistles were blooming and farmers were harvesting fava beans. 

 

 

Soon, I saw the sign to Cartaojal. 

 

 

  This 24 k stretch took me from 7:15 this morning until now, 2:45 pm. I took about 1/2 hour rest midway in Cartaojal, where there was both a lovely little plaza by the church as well as a bar.   

  The path today varied between paved road and dirt road and for me, it was really hard on my feet. The climbing wasn't bad,,but there was a very short steep descent toward the end that was pretty hard on my knees. The first half was through pretty farmland The second half through more olives than I knew existed.     

 

 

I loved this field of wild mustard. 

 

 

In Cartaujal, the lady at the bar filled my water bottle. I only saw one fountain in that village at the very end, but wasn't sure if the water was potable. This next photo is of the fountain you reach a few kilometers before Vilkanueva. The water here was good and cold. 

 

A pleasant walk.    A few notes. Coming down off the hill it's impossible to see Villanueva until you pass the cement plant or whatever the big plant is on the right. You are going to go all the way around to the right side of that hill, so don't panic. Also, as far as way taking it was pretty darned good. There were two questionable places. One was a stupid rock with a yellow arrow pointing to a stream or creek bed. After checking to see where it went, I ignored it and continued on the main track and soon saw a regular waymark. I did pass that stream bed again, so I suppose if a person wanted to they could follow it, but it wouldn't be much of a shortcut. 

Second. Toward the end of the second half you are walking on a regular track and suddenly there are tree trunks painted yellow like pillars off to the right.    Ooooooookay. Turn right. Soon, you see more way marking and soon are on a diet track following yellow gas line signs.    Then, out of the blue, off to the right, it looks like a bunch of drunks went nuts with a can of yellow paint. They seemed to be indicating a path to the right again. However, it just didn't feel right, because I had seen the village straight ahead and these yellow try keep trees were heading back toward the mountain side.    Luckily, there was a farmer in the field who told me to stay on the path straight ahead to Villanueva. So I did. I wish my Spanish was good enough to ask what in the heck those yellow trucked trees were about, but I was just happy to be headed to the village.    For me this was a difficult 24 k but I realize I am not in great shape. Tomorrow I think I will go as far as Cuevas only. Otherwise the next day will not be manageable for me. But. Need to sit down and study the notes.