Sierra Nevada - Day 1 Berchules

Distance: 7.5 miles
Ascent: 650m
Weather: hot, sunny, pleasantly breezy

We set off at 10am towards Berchules village, stopping at the fountain for water.
The path out of the village became dusty and quite rocky, with scrubby plants that were mostly familiar,  broom, brambles,  thyme, thistles.

We passed bean and tomato plantations, and old threshing areas, which are now disused, would make nice seating areas if they were tidied up a little.

The birds that we'd seen yesterday were identified as bee-eaters and seemed to be quite common. We saw a couple of birds of prey that were too far away to see properly and some swallows.

Going higher up the hillside, there were  acequias, water ditches, by the sides of the path, some with water but most were dry, thanks to the plastic pipes that the farmers use to get their water nowadays. Probably a more efficient use of water, but not so good for the wild plants and trees.

We stopped for lunch in the shade of some poplar trees and then walked up onto the edge of a drainage system around the hillside,  looking towards the sea, with views of masses of plastic polytunnels way off in the distance,  and even farther away, over the sea, North Africa.

The path down to the was quite steep and dusty,  we passed a big old chestnut tree, and then back into the village,  calling in at a bar "The Cowboy" for a beer.