An excellent drive and a most excellent walk

We are staying in an area of Aragon where there seems to be an outdoor activity for everyone. Walking, rafting, canoeing, mountain biking, road cycling, via ferrata, climbing, off road driving. Also scenery, history, castles, old churches. What’s not to like?

We arrived yesterday evening for a two night stay in a small village called Villalangua in an area of forests, mountain trails, dams, fast flowing rivers, and cliffs.

On our way to Villalangua , we detoured via another village called Riglos, where climbers come to conquer the huge Los Mallos de Riglos, up to 300 m high, which dominate the village below. We decided to return the next day, to walk here and to admire the views.

 

After a substantial breakfast the next morning, we headed off to our first stop, the Castle of Loarre, one of the prime attractions of this area.

The castle, which was part of the defences against the Moors, is sited on an outcropping of rock above the plains of Huesca. It dates from the 1000s and has been added to and modified by various kings of Aragon, who added a monastery to the original fortress, then the outer walls. We spent an enjoyable, if freezing, morning here imagining how the castle might have originally looked.

Next up, I had read some vague information about a mirador (a lookout). We had seen a sign to this, so had a rough idea where to go, but the signs then seemed to vanish as we headed off a minor road onto a more minor road, then through a village, where the road became even narrower, then gravel, then more gravel as we headed up, and up, and up, M muttering, are you sure this is the way, have we missed a sign, we’re in the middle of nowhere, etc.

We finally ended up at the remains of a castle from the 12th century – in the absolute middle of nowhere, but up high, with only forest and mountain biking tracks around.

This lookout was meant to be accessible to handicapped and sight impaired people, and prams. M muttered, are you sure those symbols weren’t crossed thru with a big red line … Onward and upward, and the gravel road became quite rocky and rough. Perhaps this was a lookout accessible only by 4WD, and us in our little Polo. Finally, a sign (from God??) No, really, a road sign, 2 km to the Mirador. Phew.

More bad road, but we pass a car coming down which is NOT a 4WD, so we know that we can take our car up there, very carefully, M muttering all the while.  Eventually, yes, a car park, with ramp for prams and wheelchairs, and signs in Braille. And all the other cars (all two), are SUVs. Perhaps that was what our ever-helpful host at the hotel was saying in his Spanish/French English about driving up to this lookout – “Yes, it is possible, but what sort of car do you have..?”. The view is spectacular over Los Mallos de Riglos. The added bonus is that this cliff is part of a via ferrata, so suddenly, a head popped up from below us, then several more. Quite surreal when you know that below is only a vertical cliff, with vultures soaring up from below and overhead (this mirador is named for the vultures). Truly, a spectacular viewpoint.

By now, the wind was really strong and it is lunch time so we head back to civilization for some food. We almost create chaos in the kitchen at the restaurant when we only order soup and bread, not the full Spanish lunch of entree, mains, dessert and wine. How do these English survive, we could see the waiter thinking?  Especially when he had taken the trouble to bring out from the kitchen the various meals on offer, as he couldn’t translate them into English for us!!!

Then to Riglos for a circuit walk around Los Mallos. Only 5.4 km, but it takes 3 hours because it is all up – and then it is all down, on a rough track. The views are wonderful, and every little while, there are more climbers hanging off the cliffs, which are really, really, really high. It is now certain that I couldn’t climb or do a via ferrata and that I don’t really feel safe on even a little track with a big, big drop. I blame it on the high winds, which blow me around, but actually I don’t think that I could do precipitous walk, period. Even M is a bit hesitant. A great walk though.

Our final stop on the way home is Aguero, to see a church from the Romanesque period, noted for its carved capitals and portal. Aguero is off our main road home, and we see the church as we are driving into the town. When we get to the crossroads, M misreads the signs and ends up driving through the village. No probs, big wide road, well paved, into the outskirts of the village (pop. 170), the road narrows, then narrows, then goes round a corner, and … do you think you could pull your side mirror in? … we all breathe in (it makes us feel better), round another corner, going down, hmm, I wonder if we could pull the side mirror in, breathe in … Such a relaxing drive. Going down, down, more corners. We can see where the downpipes on houses on each side of the street are bashed in at car height … can we pull the mirrors in any further, and breathe in a bit more. M drove very well. We still have our sump and we still have our mirrors, and we don’t have any scratches on the car.

A successful day all round. Great castle, wonderful walk, fantastic views. And we did find the church, and it did have some fancy carving on its doorway. And M drove really well, and didn’t even swear … much.

Home for another lovely meal and to watch the village fox waiting for scraps from the table.