Camino Mozarabe Day 2: Pinos Puente to Moclin

Day 2: Pinos Puente to Moclin 14km.

March 12. 2014.

We were both awake at 6am and I made a cup of tea. We stayed in bed for an hour drinking our tea, with Moira reading while I worked on my blog. This morning we had a banana with our muesli, with bread and jam to follow. We got away at just after 8am. The big German shepherd that seemed to have got used to us yesterday afternoon and allowed us to pat it was now in a bad mood again, he would have attacked as we passed if he hadn't been chained up. It was a bit cloudy this morning with a cold wind blowing. We both wore our leggings under our shorts to keep our legs warm. Midway through the morning it warmed up as the clouds cleared and the sun got through then we were able to take them off.

The gate to the albergue

We made our way down to the bridge and once over the river made our way up C. Real. At the church It was a right turn onto C.Ancha. I had checked our Cicerone guide last night and this was the way it also suggested. We now followed the map that Manuel had marked, turned left at the mini roundabout, straight past the football field, then by the cemetery to a road junction. I thought he said that there was a roundabout there and we turned right to a track to Moclin. Instead it was a tarred road, similar to the route that some bloggers we are reading took. I remembered that the guide book said the route went through olive groves all the way to the first village of the day Los Olivares. I fished out the guide book and it said to take the right fork at the mini roundabout just out of town. We headed back and at that junction there was an arrow pointing to the right. That was the way we headed but there was a concern that it was no longer in use and that was why Manual and the blog suggested the road. Our fears disappeared when we turned after a short distance into the olive groves and all the direction indicators, arrows, plaques and signposts, appeared to be brand new, and there were plenty of them.

Camino La Mozarabe Signs

The guide book said it was a wide gravel track and to ignore any left or right turnings just keep straight. We didn't have to worry all junctions were clearly marked and you couldn't go wrong. From the start of the track it was a steady uphill, quite steep in places through olive groves as far as the eye could see in all directions. This wasn't quite accurate as we could see very high mountains in the distance. They were all of Munro ( Scottish peaks over 900m/3000ft.) stature. Our final destination today was Moclin and it was perched in a col near the top of one of these monsters at 1300m, the height of Ben Nevis, Scotland's highest.

Olive Groves and more Olive Groves

Distant mountains to climb. Munros?

 Soon we stopped climbing and after some flat walking gradually began to descend. We could see a village in front of us on the side of a hill which I assumed to be Los Olivares. We came out of the olive groves and met a tarred road, the arrow pointed up to this village. I was still confident that it was the first village on our route but soon found it was just a few cottages and called Bea Alte. We were going to stop and make some coffee but decided to just have an apple and move on. The markers sent us further up the hill from the village then suddenly turned to the left, there was no mistaking the two big yellow arrows, onto a contour path round the hill side. It was time to check the guide book again. At the road before the village it said to turn left along the road for 2km to Los Olivares, this contour path seemed to run parallel with the road and must be a new route away from the traffic.

It's now almond trees.

The olive trees had now changed to almond trees and they were in blossom, spring must be here. Soon we could see Los Olivares ahead down in a valley, a much bigger place than the village I mistook for it. Behind was a large mountain and we could see the houses of Moclin in a col near the top with castle ramparts and a wall high above it. A number of paths cross-crossed the mountain side and we could make out the route we would have to climb later, on our way to the top. 

As we dropped steeply down to the town we came to an old communal laundry. It was a number of washing sinks with mountain water running through them. It was walled and sheltered from the cold wind so we took advantage for a break and I made some coffee. Moira decided it was lunch time and made bread and cheese to go with the coffee. On our way again it was still a long drop before we crossed a river and began to  climb.
 

River crossing at La Olivares

Shortly after the start of the ascent the guide book said to keep to the right of the huge rock that was in front of us. At a junction of tracks there were lots of signs, for the Camino and a local hiking route that said to go left of the big rock, and a signpost pointing left said 'Moclin 2.7km'. To its right was a narrow mountain track and this may have been a shorter steeper climb to the top, the guide book indicated 2km, but we kept to the 'official' maybe new route. It was a winding zig-zag gravel track all the way to the top. It was very steep in places; after dropping down to the river and immediately climbing it reminded us of some of the trails in Napal and the Himalayas.

Ermita de San Anton

We stopped at the Ermita de San Anton, a religious shrine, for a rest and to admire the views of the magnificent mountains that surrounded us. In the distance we we could make out the rounded tops of the hills behind Pinos Puente and the olive groves we had walked through this morning. It was still a climb to the top and we passed the point where the track going round to the right of the big rock joined onto the gravel track. Soon houses began to appear but it was still a climb to the plaza in the centre of Moclin.

Moclin on the hilltop

The Castle above the streets of Moclin.

The blog we had been reading said to call at the Bar Calefato opposite the town buildings and they arrange accomodation at the Casa Rural Briza. We found the bar but the woman seemed clueless, fortunately a customer knew what we wanted and arrange a room for us. It was a bit expensive, E50, but it was quite luxury for us and it had a kitchen so we could cook our dinner and save some money; we wouldn't eat so much as well. It had become quite cold, probably the altitude we were at, so Moira got all the heaters going to warm the place up. We had a cup of coffee before showering, the water was piping hot.

Moclin was an important town in the 14th and 15th centuries. The castle above the town was no doubt a fortress guarding the pass through the mountains to Granada. On two high adjoining peaks we could see watch towers to give warning of any approaching armies. It was still a stiff climb up to the castle and we had enough for one day, also it was quite cold outside.

There was a small supermarket in the square but Moira had to wait until 6:30pm for it to open and stock up with something for dinner. We had a pasta with stewing steak and tomato purée. It was very nice with the bottle of red wine to go with it. After getting the washing up done we read for a while then got to bed, it was warmer there and more comfortable. Moira continued reading but I was very tired and soon dropped off. The beds were very comfortable and we both slept very well.