Our new location is a little hacienda, three kilometers from the small coastal fishing village of Las Negras on the Cabo de Gata Peninsula (that section of coast is also called the ‘Ruta de los Pirates’). This arid, sparsely populated southeast corner of Spain is the driest place in Europe and feels like the mid southwest (many western movies are filmed here). It is surrounded by range after range of barren mountains with many varieties of blooming cactus, deserted beaches with sapphire Mediterranean water lapping its shores and stunning rock formations. The hiking has been absolutely wonderful!

The 14 kilometer trail (unreachable by road) across the range from Las Negras to Agua Amarga was rated by Lonely Planet as one of the best in Spain, but the 28 kilometer return trip was too grueling for las dos abuelas (the two grandmothers), so Sabrina devised a plan. Jen and I would start from here, she and Ben would drive the 62 kilometers around the range to the other end and start from there. We would meet on the trail, transfer the car keys, then Jen and I would drive home from Agua Amarga. That way we could all do the hike. Sabrina uploaded, downloaded and reloaded navigation apps and maps on my phone, including their zoleo (a satellite system where you can send a pinned location or an SOS) and a crash course in operating all the technology (my brain was sparking and in danger of short circuiting). But since none of us have a Spanish SIM card or internet, it was important to stay on trail so we didn’t risk missing each other.

We passed through San Pedro, an isolated (reachable only by foot) tiny hippie dippie community of cobbled together shelters from reclaimed castle ruins (built in the 1570’s to fend off pirate attacks), tents, and a couple of roughly built structures. It’s been occupied since the 1960’s by people living an alternate lifestyle and while it was interesting, my eyes were mostly glued to the trail app on my phone making sure we didn’t get lost in the maze of trails and end up in some occupied cave with ‘our’ trail lost forever. Jen said, “I could see me living here during my hippie days”. I said, “I could see me living here now”. But I couldn’t, I’d miss my grandkids too much. And who would grow my blueberries.

It was a great success and so we did it again, with Ben and Jen going one way, and me and Sabrina going the other way for another wonderful hike.