Day 37 - Reservoirs and Mountains


I had a really bad night but no fault of the location which was excellent! Woke to little more than birdsong, had a cuppa and decided to do the ‘faces’ trail before day trippers started to arrive. As we were leaving the guardia civil arrived and knocked on the ‘nomad’ van which was parked fully on the forest and had furniture out, not sure if there was a fine but there was definitely an insistence on moving which made us glad we’d stuck to the tarmac last night.

The trail wasn’t very long but was a lovely wind through the trees down towards the edge of the reservoir. Before we’d even left the carpark we’d spent ten minutes watching a pair of very cute red squirrels. There were numerous bird species and sunshine too! The stone faces themselves were quite variable in quality but added interest and structure the route. Grouped in three sets there were 5-7 in each carved into the natural boulders though it appeared to have encouraged some less skilled unofficial marks in between too!  





The views of the reservoir were lovely, it’s huge with an irregular shape so the part we could see was well under a quarter of it. There were a few small fishing boats out but otherwise mirror smooth. 

Back to the van for brunch and had a long chat with an expat from Birmingham who’s been working in Madrid for a while and was amazed to see a UK number plate in the area so had to say hi, we really are in the minority here, in fact the only non-Spanish car in what is now a full carpark with still more arriving - definitely did the right thing walking first thing, obviously a prime Sunday location. 

On the road we retrace our steps to Sacedon, this time stopping at the dam to walk out over it. It’s more obvious in this direction how closely the road follows the shore and there are some lovely views. 

From Sacedon we head across to Guadalajara - a huge sprawling and not very attractive looking city. Then get ourselves back on minor roads heading towards the mountains. 

The mountain road is stunning, despite a heavy mist which hasn’t shifted today the sun is shining and we can see snow on the peaks.


Finishing when signal is better!


Miles so far : 2165

Steps today: 12,192 

Overnight: Pinilla de Valle Autocamping, free (fresh water tap and rubbish disposal)

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