The trail rises above the spires and carries on gaining quite a bit of elevation. We weren’t feeling exactly peppy today after our long slog of yesterday but the bizarre scenery before us, had us curious about what lie ahead.
We walked along a ridge with some gaps in the rock that provided terrific views a long way down to the valley below. The guidebook promised some large flat rocks with an airy viewpoint, we found the large flat rocks but continued on a bit further until the path began to drop steeply, this is where we turned around.
We sat on the flat rocks but the views were rather obscured by a haze today, even though the sun had come out a bit earlier. A small shower had come through overnight, which left a low shroud of cloud, we could not make out any of the els Ports massif. Supposedly, from our perch on the flat rocks below Roca Xapada, we should have been able to see the Mediterranean glittering in the distance and majestic mountain views all around; on a clear day, it would have been exceptional.
On the return route we were in for one more geological gem, the Forat de la Vella, a large natural arch in the rock. Then it was just a short walk back along the little aqueduct to the parking area. This was such a wonderful walk through the rock formations, it took us about three hours as we had to keep stopping to take it all in.
It is time for a change, so we are leaving els Ports tomorrow and moving on to Teruel, in Aragon, to look at some Mudejar architecture. Els Ports is an amazing area for hiking, but it largely goes unnoticed by hikers, which is too bad. There is terrific variety here and loads of ancient paths through fascinating mountains.
There are a lot of orange trees here, so many, that a lot of the oranges fall from the trees to rot on the ground. We don’t drink juice, but every day, there is a huge bowl of oranges in the kitchen and they have a very robust looking juicer that gets a lot of use by the guests. This has been a really great place to stay, the owner is one of the nicest people we have encountered in the accommodation business anywhere, and he works hard, as he runs the hotel himself, his wife does the housekeeping and he works as a teacher.
Rocky columns viewed from parking area
Aqueduct running alongside a dry riverbed
These sentinels of rock tower above
Cova d’en Marc
Entire mountainside of columns
There was so much to see, it was a bit overwhelming
Gaining elevation
Narrow ridge at foot of cliffs of Roca Xapada
Castell de l'Airosa
View from cliff edge to a farm below
And another strange rock
Forat de la Vella, a natural rock arch
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