Apart
from admiring the cherry blossoming we had another reason to go to the Jerte
Valley and that is to do some walking in the surrounding hills. Unfortunately
due to the wet weather we had only one day for it and for this we chose the
best route the valley has to offer, the Los Pilones.
The
Garganta de los Infiernos (which translates to ‘gorge of hell’ or something
equally dramatic) is a gorgeous natural park on the north side of the valley
close to the village of Jerte. As the Los Pilones is the most well-known hiking route it is
usually very busy but we managed to avoid the crowd by getting up early.
The
route is not long, can be done in an hour or so and is very, very pretty. It
leads you through a green forest where the smooth, moss covered rocks look like
green velvet and gives you great views over the valley. There were snow-covered
mountain tops, waterfalls and the sound of the river accompanied us all the
way. Even the sun came out for a few minutes.
Then
we arrived to the river. It is a strange sight as during the process of river
erosion the water carved out holes and pools on its way down out of the rock. These
natural pools are perfect to have a dip in during the hot summer months.
The
route of the Los Pilones finishes here however it is part of a long, 7hour
circuit route so we opted for continuing on the path for a little longer. We
didn’t have time to do the whole route but turned back after about half an hour
and found our way back to the information centre.
There
are many lovely routes and guided walks in the area. If you are interested you
can find more information here (Spanish).
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