Lanjarón

We came to Lanjaron, a small town south of Granada in the Andalusia region of Spain, to do some hiking. As Lanjaron is perched at 750 meters above sea level on the south side of the Sierra Nevada, one can literally start walking up the mountains from anywhere in town.

The mountains are terraced as far as you can see in any direction: up, down, left, or right. The Rio Lanjaron is diverted into irrigation ditches to water the fields below, and to fill bottles of the famous Lanjaron Mineral Water. The upper terraces are populated with gnarly, ancient chestnut trees, domestic goat and wild goats, with a sprinkling of almond and fruit trees.

One day we walked up to Casa Tello, at about 1500 meters, mainly along the east side of the Rio Lanjaron (following the yellow blazes). The next day we followed the green blazes on the west side of the river up to the Huerta de las Monjas (Nuns's Garden) following a series of irrigation canals.

Just above the town center, the tight pattern of stone farmhouses, terraced fields, well-tended footpaths and irrigation ditches reminded us of villages in rural china. We hope to return to Lanjaron one day.

Inspiration: When walking about town we saw a one-legged cyclist ride by in a group with two other cyclists. Inspired. Motivated.

The Yellow Trail and Green Trail, both start right at City Hall. There are also big maps of each trail posted outside City Hall. Let the hiking begin!


Getting going on the Yellow Trail up to Casas Forestales de Tello. Several thousand feet to go.


Chestnut husks litter the trail.


Old chestnut trees.


Sun-Ling sitting on what's left of the flat roof of an old building, halfway up to Tello.


Good signage for the trail.


Passing by several Artisan Workshops, improbably high up the mountain it seemed. Then we noticed an old road coming from the other direction. ;-)


Crossing a small bridge over the nearly dry Rio Lanjaron - almost at the Casa Tello - most of the flow is diverted into irrigation channels. Keep reading.


The terracing kept going up and up.


Finally, the snow-capped Sierra Nevada Mts are spotted.


Along the irrigation channel (Acequia Nueva).


Descending.


Almonds and fruit trees are blooming at lower elevations.




We're down after a long day; so it's happy hour with olives, chips, and vine on the balcony.


The next day it's up to the Huerta de las Monjas following the Green Trail. I liked this fence "cutout" - keeps the view from the picnic table.


Huerta de las Monjas and chestnut trees.




Headed down following several irrigation channels. Great walking as they are almost level...


...and sometimes covered.




Back closer to town, there are many terraced groves of olives and fruit trees along the irrigation channels.