Today's nature trip, or should we call it hiking, was just half-planned. We wanted to go for a walk somewhere, after saying goodbye to our son at the bus station (it was a short stay for this student with his parents because he has classes tomorrow morning, but he happily took food with him for two or three days). I called my friend to see if she was in the mood for a walk and if she had any ideas about where to go, but since she didn't pick up the phone, we planned our route by ourselves at that moment. We opened the map on our phone and chose a starting point.
We had hiked here before with our friend, but our starting point was always closer to the village. Now we went by car to one restaurant ( on the local road CV-837, which connects the towns of Petrer and Castalla) actually to its parking lot. From there we went down a small path and found ourselves in a world surrounded by rocks and high cliffs, listening to the babbling of the water and the birds. Oh, and my water bottle, which kept making noise in my pocket as I walked.
I made some video footage too but it is too... dangerous to watch 😂 so in the end, I will not upload it lol. sorry You would need to take a motion sickness pill, because... well, first I am standing on the edge of a high cliff, and then my walking is quite wobbly. And yes, I slipped a little at one point on the rocks, so there was an extra jolt... and the sun was too strong so it didn't turn out very nice.
In this path we are hiking today we follow the course of the ravine that carries some water, coming from the spring of the Mina de la Puça. In some years, when there is a lot of rain during the spring, this is a perfect place for finding freshness and escape from the summer heat. Several natural pools are formed under the waterfalls and people like to come here to bathe in the cold, fresh water. Other years, in the lack of rain, this ravine is dry.
Right there, at the beginning of our hike, there was a sign on one tree. Take care of nature.
Taking care also means being gentle to flowers and the little details you find on your way.
The path is quite uneven. Proper hiking shoes would come in handy, but as we didn't plan... well, next time I will come more prepared and do a longer route. I am sorry that many photos (and the video too) face directly the sun, but then you see indeed how we hiked. No filters or corrections haha. I had sunglasses though that I was intermittently putting on and taking off (note to the reader - please, put on your sunglasses if the sun is too strong. 😎)
As this is a ravine, we see that the landscape was formed and moulded by the water. The erosion made these high rock walls, we are surrounded by them while walking our path. In some parts, there is more greenery, also reed. Narrow paths follow the wide ones, and sometimes we had to cross the riverbed on little bridges formed by stones or wood.
During our hike, we stumbled upon a few ruins of flour mills. Back in time, they used the water from the ravine.
In some parts, we walked on paths and stairs with wooden fences. I assume these were made where it would be impossible to cross.
How interesting are these formations on the high walls of the ravine... I found out that this hole has a name. It is known as the Magic Window.
Below this formation, there is a water spring, named Font de la Mina del Molí del Turco.
Here I am standing on the edge of a tall cliff... and under my feet, there is a waterfall. There are a few actually, but as they are hidden in vegetation I got no good photos of those. I hope there will be water this summer in these natural pools, and even if they are quite shallow (no real swimming) I can maybe soak my feet in the cold water. Time will tell.
