The parking area below the small town of Coripe was so idyllic, with the option or riding the Via Verde, that we decided to stay until today.
The English couple we’d met on Friday evening left on Saturday morning so we moved back into their slightly less sloping pitch. We made a short recce up to the restored Coripe Station, now a restaurant, hotel and bar to ride a short way along the Via Verde de la Sierra towards Puerto Serrano, including the 990m. Castillo Tunnel (illuminated) and 237m. long Viaducto de la Perdiz. Bev spent Saturday afternoon sketching while Steve went exploring the local area, carrying his bike up the steep footpath to Coripe, 500’ above us, returning by road. It seems this Via Verde is like the Monsal Trail in Derbyshire but on a massive scale. The idea of building a railway linking Jerez de la Frontera with Almargen dates back to 1926. Despite so much work having been undertaken, the project was paralysed by the Civil War and abandoned during the regime of General Franco.The railway never saw any trains run and lay unused until the 1990s when it was developed as a Via Verde (the green cycleways of Spain). The tunnels are a fantastic feat of engineering along with the immense viaducts carving a 36km. route through the Sierra de Grazalema.
On Sunday we rode from the camping area to Olvera, passing through many tunnels and crossing more viaducts. We stopped for a while at Peñón de Zaframagón where there’s an orthinological observatory. The huge rock houses the largest colony of griffon vultures of Western Andalusia and one of the largest in Europe. The trail was quite busy, a popular Sunday afternoon for many locals both on foot or bicycle. This was quite disconcerting in some of the unlit tunnels when people didn’t use lights! After a disappointing bar meal at Olvera, we returned to make a salad with what odds and ends of food we had in the van. The ride was just under 15 miles each way but a slight incline made the return leg much quicker! Strava recorded a 1,000’ elevation gain over the 15 miles to Olvera.
Today, Bev walked up to Coripe for some essential food items (since we hadn’t really planned to stay in such a remote place for the whole weekend) and had a less successful afternoon sketching. Steve went back with his camera to photograph vultures and explore more of the area by bike. After a very good chicken supper, with fresh meat bought in Coripe, we decided to drag ourselves away from this idyllic place tomorrow.
