Caminito del Rey Hike near Malaga (Granada), Spain

As we wake this morning, we have a very pretty sunrise with a ship anchored off shore.

Then we notice an unusual cruise ship.  It is a four mast sailing ship.

I think Shawna is thinking about another adventure.

Today, Shawna and I are going on a land adventure.  We will be hiking a dangerous trail.  The bus will take us inland to a canyon.

Our ride to the start of the trail was interesting.  We are in the south of Spain and the weather is a bit warmer than the last few ports.

We stopped along the way for a bathroom and possible snack at a small restaurant. For some reason I found the menus interesting.  Behind the restaurant was a hostel.

On our bus ride our guide explained that our hike was described as the most dangerous hike in Europe.  Not so much now but our guide was one of those who used to hike this before renovations made it much safer.  Still this is something that most people would feel very uncomfortable doing as the platforms are attached directly to the side of a canyon wall.  Having a fear of heights or vertigo would make this hike nearly impossible. Nothing but straight up above the platform and straight down below. Most places you can look down through the slats and see the bottom and the river usually over 150 feet or more below.

The hike is now listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  This is a relatively new construction by UNESCO standards. 

​The hike starts in a 650 foot long tunnel that only gets you close to the beginning of the canyon.  After that there was about a ¼ mile walk to reach the beginning of the State park and hike.  We got our last opportunity to use a bathroom.  Then we got our helmets which we were required to wear the entire hike.

Just the walk to the start of the hike was interesting.   Several tunnels.  Views of the animals and valleys.​

We had great weather.  Not perfect but this hike is known for being very hot.  Well not today.  We had wind and cloudy skies that kept the sun at bay.  We reached the entrance of the State park/hike for an introduction by the rangers plus some warnings.  We were to be very careful of the wind which is known to blow items out of peoples hands.  That we must obey instructions of any rangers on the trail.

The hike is in a canyon.  Originally the work in this canyon was for two purposes.  A railway and hydro electric system.  The walkway was built for workers to maintain those projects.  ​

Over the years the need for the walkway reduced to the point it was no longer maintained.  Of course, that did not stop risk takers to sneak in to make the hike.  Over several years people died falling from the unstable and sometimes broken original platforms.  The government decided that rather than destroy the platform system they built a replacement and safer system.  ​

Well, this looks interesting.  This is the canyon we will hike along. If you look above the concrete platform, you can see the edge of the railing and the trail.

The new platform system was opened in 2015. Today you can see the old platforms and often walk over them on the new system.  The hike is still highly regulated to LIMIT the risk of death. Yes, Limit!
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Cameras at points along the trail allow State rangers to monitor hikers and several are posted at points along the way to manage the hikers.  ​

The trail quickly became interesting.  It is a bit unnerving at times.  You can see down through the slats all the way to the bottom 100 feet or more below.

Yes, most of the trail is platforms mounted to the side of the canyon.

On the far side of the canyon, the train tracks made their way in and out of tunnels.

At times, the old platforms are directly below the new ones.

At a turn in the canyon, we were diverted to a tunnel.  That curve was the most dangerous of the trail because winds funneling through there have been known to knock people over on the platforms.  We could see out at points to the old and new trails.

The trail is impressive.

Though a bit scary looking in some areas.

For a short part of the hike, we had a regular trail.  Along with that was the original channel that for many years carried water to near by communities.

It was a really fun hike but at 5 miles more tiring than expected.  Exciting, that's for sure.  Near the end of the canyon, we crossed to the other side.

The walk out of the canyon was pretty strenuous.

Looking back as we came out of the canyon was very impressive.

The most tiring was the last mile which is a wide gravel trail but is a pretty steep walk.​

A portion of the 1965 film Von Ryan's Express was filmed using the railroad tracks.  The trains run through the canyon several times per day on the opposite side of the canyon from the platforms.

Our bus driver needed to hurry us back but the ride back was a bit unnerving especially as the road through the mountains was barely 2 lanes and on any curve we took up both lanes.

We got back right at all aboard and found out that the rest of the cruise changed.  All our remaining ports were removed and we are being diverted to the Canary Islands.  The reasons were two fold.  One, the weather was going to be bad 30 foot seas and force 5 winds.  Two, all of Portugal's port pilots have gone on strike.  This means we can not visit ANY port in Portugal.  The ships insurance will not allow ships to go in without a pilot (I.E. someone to blame if something gets damaged). The ports won’t allow ships un-piloted for both money paid and to avoid damage in the port.  It amazes me on how much insurance companies influence what we can do.

Off to Warmer and much better weather in the Canary Islands. Yea!