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A bike ride around the European Appalachians

25/07/201904/08/2019Posted in SitesTagged apalaches, appalachian, bike, biking, extremadura, geopark, villuercas, villuercas-ibores-jara

At last I had time to dust off my mountain bike and took a ride around the Global Unesco Geopark Villuercas Ibores Jara. I was looking forward to trying one stage of the “Ruta de Los Apalaches” -the Appalachian trail” in English.

That is the name of the annual Mountain Bike Race that takes place in Alía in september, organized by Alía Extrema Cycling Group. This sporting event goes through some of the Geopoark’s highest summits from where to admire the so called appalachian relief.

Crossing a river in Geopark Villuercas
Los Apalaches Race poster
Fermin and me

Although the Appalachian mountain range is in America, there is a link with this area of Spain.

It turns out that the Geopark mountains are aking to the Appalachian of America; that is the reason why the Geopark Villuercas belongs to the well-known International Appalachian Trail organization-IAT

To my view, what makes this cycling route appealing is that you can get to stunning sites hidden from the tourists eyes.

On this occasion, one of Alía Extrema members, Fermín, joined me in this adventure.

My friend Fermin cycling around the european Appalachian in geopark villuercas

We started the route from Alía early in the morning. Immediately, we went up -better said “climbing” – a two kilometres steeped hill which trail ended in the picturesque Peña Amarilla geosite – Yellow rock in English-. After a brief momment to take a breath and some photos, we took a well marked trail that drove us to the Guadarranque River. Once crossed, I saw myself “climbing” again a tough slope that drove us to Puerto de San Vicente, just in the Castilla La Mancha’s border.

Right there is located, without a doubt, one of the best Geopark’s sights: the Altamira viewpoint, from which to admire the outstanding appalachian relief I mentioned at the begining of this post. After taking some photos, we rode down through out a rugged path to get to the Guadarranque River again and get back to Alía.

Finally, we had completed 45 km! Superb morning! Though, it was too much for me. I was exhausted, but at the same time, eager to do another route around the Geopark and tell you all about it.

Roman vestiges, historic routes and more from Alía

10/04/201719/04/2018Posted in ArticlesTagged alía, biking, Cáceres, extremadura, geopark, hiking, spain, villuercas-ibores-jara, withkidsLeave a comment

The explorer team: four boys and girls, from 3 to 7 years old, and 5 adults. Destiny: Guadalupejo River, nearby Alía. We had to take two 4×4 because the rural road was not suitable for my berlina. However, the path is perfect for hiking and biking. After 10 minutes driving we got to the rest area called “Molino del Guadalupejo” (Guadalupejo´s mill).

KODAK Digital Still Camera — Rest area “Molino del Guadalupejo”

This rest area is part of the Natural path of Las Villuercas, 60 km from Logrosán to the regional border with Toledo province. That route is the reminiscence of an abandoned and never opened railway from Villanueva de la Serena (Badajoz) to Talavera de la Reina (Toledo).

After hanging out at the rest area and playing with the kids by the river, we took an old and nearly vanished path downstream that led us to a roman bridge. The bridge is partly destroyed due to its disuse; however, it is easy to cross carefully. Undoubtedly, I could catalogue this place as one of the ten must-see sites in the Villuercas-Ibores-Jara Geopark.

The roman bridge is one of the principal attractions of this place along with the old mills in ruins we came across during the route. All of them tell about of the ancient story of Alía

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My Geopark, photos and Rock and Roll

03/03/201719/04/2018Posted in ArticlesTagged biking, Cáceres, extremadura, geopark, hiking, ibores, phothography, spain, tourism, travel with kids, villuercasLeave a comment

At last I had the opportunity of testing my brand new Kodak Pixpro AZ525 around the Villuercas-Ibores- Jara Geopark. As I am a newcomer in photography, this kind of camera “bridge” – halfway between compact and reflex- fits perfectly with my needs because enables me to practise easily with a wide range of functions (manual, automatic and Wi-Fi connection). The best of all is its price, significantly lower than the same category you can find of Canon and Nikon.

First stop, The Ibor River. I lost count the number of photos I took by focusing and defocusing. I really loved it. Focusing allow you to obtain powerful and meaningful photos, big deal better than pics with just good composition (Pic 1). Getting good results is easier with the 52x optical zoom of my camera. However, it was disappointing when I attempted the “silk effect”, which means getting the water to look misty and smooth. (Pic 2) It was impossible. A tripod is needed among others settings. I´ll keep on trying!

The following photos were taken with the automatic functions “Black and White” (pic3), the “Image color option” which emphasizes one color of the scene (Pic 4), the “Landscape mode” (pic 5) and the function “water reflections” (Pic 6)

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Finally, drinking a refreshing beer at one of the bars in Castañar, in which the time seems to stand still – both for its pieces of furniture and the regulars – was the best way to finish our photography trip. Good drink, company and the Rolling Stones sounding in the radio was a good end before falling back into monotony of our day to day in the city.

Photography route:

This newcomer wants to remain forever

25/07/201627/04/2017Posted in ArticlesTagged biking, cañamero, Cáceres, Desfiladero, extremadura, fausto maldonado colegio, geopark, global, hiking, ibores, jara, landscape, ruecas, rural, spain, tourism, treking, unesco, villuercasLeave a comment

Nature did a great job in the Spanish region where I live by leaving us ancestral rocks, high mountains, the deepest valleys and a wide range of minerals and fossils. The problem was that nobody had been brave enough to boost and make attractive the outstanding Villuercas-Ibores-Jara landscapes that we have always had before our eyes for thousands of years. Until now.

2011 marked a point of no return. It was when this vast area located in the province of Cáceres was declared “Geopark”. My dreams then came true because I had always been convinced that this zone needed some kind of environmental protection to have a brighter future. The Villuercas county had endured a harmful emigration by the late ´80s. Since then the increasing lack of jobs, due to many factors, has made a deep dent in the local economy. In the aftermath, my family (including myself) and all my friends had to move from Alía whose population plummeted from 5.000 inhabitants to barely 1.000 inhabitants in just one decade.

Nowadays the Villuercas Geopark is both a challenge and a chance. Tourism is predicted to become bread and butter for this area in the coming years overtaking the traditional farming sector. But at the same time, I do believe that those who will guarantee a better future for this often neglected zone in Spain are still at school. The Geopark is playing a central role at the schools of this area. I was fascinated when I visited the Cañamero local school “Fausto Maldonado” where the teachers familiarize the students with terms like “Trilobite“, “cloudina” and “cruziana“. Both students and teachers are crucial to enable this area to remain alive forever.

Without a doubt, having landscapes like “The gorge of the Ruecas river” at just a 10- minutes-walk from the school of Cañamero help the teachers succeed in their educational programs and, on the other hand, discourage the students from leaving their villages.

This place is well worth a visit, so I suggest the following route:

http://www.wikiloc.com/wikiloc/spatialArtifacts.do?event=view&id=7506410&measures=off&title=off&near=off&images=off&maptype=S

Where the giants live

28/06/201630/04/2017Posted in ArticlesTagged biking, calabazas, castañar de ibor, chestnut trees, extremadura, geopark, giants, hiking, ibores, jara, lord of the rings, new zealand, spain, tolkien, tourism, treking, unesco, villuercasLeave a comment

Today´s post is not about New Zealand where The Lord of the Rings movie trilogy was entirely filmed. It is about a Spanish site that could also have inspired J.R.R. Tolkien to write some of the chapters of his famous novel: the “Calabazas´ pass”, located in my geopark Villuercas-Ibores Jara.

Continue reading “Where the giants live” →