Sierra de Gredos

Sun 19^th

Sierra De Gredos looked appealing on the map, full of mountains and rivers, which is our kind of countryside. So after a morning stroll around the ramparts we headed SW. once off the plain that surrounds Avila the road rises and twists through some very nice terrain.  Quite a few motorbikes about and I could see why – perfect surface (EU money?) and lovely swooping bends. In the distance the Sierra De Gredos was looming above us. The road to Hoyos Del Espino was also bike heaven and still enjoyable in a 4.5 ton motorhome!

biking heaven

spot for the night - 346 spaces left?

The national park centre was open  so we asked for maps. The very nice lady spoke good English and drew us out a map with walks and suggested things to see. As the nearby campsite was now closed we parked up in the empty centre carpark (347 spaces). The views were great, it felt very alpine as we were at 1400m altitude and had the sound of cowbells  around us. We went for a short cycle along the river up to some amazing rocks and huge boulders. It was warm until 7pm then we enjoyed a great sunset. No streetlights so pitch black at night. The sky was crystal clear and the stars were all out. Brilliant.

it won't move!

Mon 20^th

Cold overnight so the heating came on for a short time to warm the van up in the morning. During the night we had heard the “sound of Spain”  i.e. barking dogs!  This was a phrase a fellow Brit used when we chatted with him in Santiago. He is absolutely correct in that it seems that no matter where you stay there will be at some time in the night the sound of barking dogs!  Absolutely true.

We drove up to Plataforma at 1790m. This is as far as the road goes and has lots of parking slots on the approach so must be very popular in the summer. Once parked up (with chocks on wheels!) we booted up and headed uphill on the Laguna Grande path. It resembled a giant cobbled path that rose up before us. The views were superb all around us. The granite appeared to be green due to the lichen covering it. It was very sunny and hot again so we huffed and puffed up to 2170m and our lunch stop. Wow – what a landscape and views. Spain is definitely not flat and sandy here.  We sat and took it all in as we munched our well deserved sandwiches.

Plataforma - 1790m alt.

path

don't miss it.....

worth the effort - 2170m

green granite

4 ½ hours after we started we returned tired but very happy with the walk. Well worth the effort.

We returned to the centre parking to find 2 other vans there, so company for the night.

Tues 21^st

First thing we did the nearby nature walk, about 3 km and fairly easy. We have never seen so many mushrooms growing wild. There were all sorts of species, some tiny, some huge. Tina was kicking herself for not bringing her book on mushrooms. I of course got the blame as I was concerned about bringing too many books / weight issue. So we looked but didn’t pick any.

After lunch we cycled along the river and up some local back roads. Very quiet and lush green valleys with lots of cows happily munching the grass.  The village school looked quite new as did the deposits a herd of cows had left right outside!

It was till very hot so we moved the van into some shade. Just before dinner we moved back to our slot and leveled it on the ramps as per normal. Later at 9.30 pm when we had finished eating I heard a van arrive outside. I looked outside – the Guardia Civil 4 X 4 was alongside us, engine running. Knock, knock on our door.  I went outside and after an initial exchange of hello, good evening he started talking very fast in Spanish.  No hablos was my reply. In reasonable English he told me “no camping”. I asked what he meant – “no leveling blocks allowed, this is camping. Big fine. No blocks ok.”  So we had to drive the van off them and move to a more level piece of tarmac!  The Dutchman across from us told us next morning that the Spanish consider the use of blocks, steadies, chairs outside and even screen covers as camping.  First 2 nights we had been left alone?