Elevation gain 735 m

Elevation loss 554 m

Total distance 110 km

We find a different path to exit the village which has a ridiculously steep descent.

After passing by a herd of sheep on their way to graze the hillsides we find ourselves on a nice narrow dirt track on the edge of the gorge and climb above the river and train line below. Mountains rise to both sides.

It’s a nice cold morning with a bit of a breeze, but it promises to be another clear blue sky hot sunny day . Fortunately we have a short distance today into Ronda – around 19 km, but there is even more elevation gain than yesterday.

This track runs alongside an irrigation channel – completely dry at the moment but nevertheless this walk and several stretches in previous days have really reminded me of my hikes around and above the village where I used to live in Spain.

Lots of ups and downs. The path runs above the  Rio Guardiaro. Sometimes it flows silently and at others it passes over rocks and there’s a fierce rushing sound – put together with the bird song it’s a lovely morning chorus.

We’ve walked about 9 km and are down at river level when we take a turn away to a change of scene and some really serious climbing. It’s mostly scrubland but the fields are full of wild irises – startling purple against the green of the grass – absolutely stunning, just incredible.

Gone is any shade and the heat of the sun is unrelenting as we climb and climb and climb some more. Well, we are walking to Ronda and we all know how high up that is. 

I stopped making notes at this point as all my focus was needed to put one foot in front of the other. 

We were sharing the track with another organised hike and cycle ride, although not so many this time.  

We were very glad to reach the outskirts of the town where we were on level ground at last. 

Ronda is teeming with tourists and it’s very slow progress weaving amongst them to find our accommodation which is very central and a very nice large two bed apartment for only €42.30 – Apartmentos Alameda

I’ve been to Ronda before albeit 25 years ago and I don’t feel the need to sightsee. We do a bit of shopping to replenish our stores and grab a glass of wine and some tapas. 

It was another spectacularly beautiful and very hard day. It felt a great deal longer than 19.5 km. Tomorrow is nearer 30 km, also with lots of elevation. This camino is really testing our stamina.