Cortijada Los Gazquez - Vida en 1000m. Parque Natural Sierra Maria Los Velez. Andalucia.

…came our way with high winds and a little rain, nothing to speak about. Still not enough rain.

The forecast is for sunshine again and 20˚C which suits us fine.

Friend of Los Gázquez, Faisal, has just returned to the States after a weeks mountain biking in the Sierra Maria around the cortijada. Kindly he has made a contribution to our blog to give a little review for all you mountain bikers out there…

Mountain Biking around Los Gázquez

Cerro El Gabar is possibly the highest point one can cycle to near Los Gázquez. A double-track trail heads north west from the road circumnavigating El Gabar.  The double-track averages 9% and is 2.7 miles from base to peak.  A few spots at 15% with loose stones present a technical challenge on the ascent and potential excitement on the descent.  The descent easily reaches 35-40mph between switchbacks depending on nerves and willingness to apply power.  The top of El Gabar presents an opportunity for a complete panoramic view of area….

Sierra de la Muela can be cycled at least two ways.  The steepest trail on La Muela is the unmaintained double-track heading southeast along Barranco del Salar.  The trail grade frequently reaches 16% on loose stones, resulting in a challenging ascent requiring low gearing.  The descent can be performed in excess of 40mph depending on nerves and line selection.  A spot of deep loose gravel can raise ones heart rate a bit on the descent if hit a bit sideways at speed.
The main road climbing and then descending La Muela along the Taibena presents an opportunity to take the challenge either on the ascent or the descent depending on the direction taken.  If ridden from west to east, one frequently climbs at 10% and descends the other side at around 5%.  Taken in the opposite direction, the 10% descent on relatively smooth double-track can easily result in 40+mph.
The best way to reach La Muela from Los Gázquez is the rough double-track descending from Larga to the main road between Cerro Gordo and Cerro Moto.  The double-track averages a rough 10% with spots at 15+%.  Itís a semi-technical high speed descent given the track conditions.

Taibena is the valley you can see left of Chica Muela and La Muela in this photo. The mountain biking fraternity is very welcome at Los Gázquez.

To the left El Gabar, to the right Las Almohallas, in the distance La Sagra and in the middle in the Hoya de Carrascal, Cortijada Los Gázquez.

This is the view WNW to Cortijada Los Gázquez (on the left) from the Sierra Larga. You can see Las Almohallas, El Gabar, Sierra del Oso and the mighty Sagra in Granada province.

There was a wriggle of excitement at Los Gázquez today whilst using Google Earth for the first time in months. I was looking for our co-ordinates for a clients ’sat nav’ so he could find his way here, only to see that they have posted up my photographs of the area.

So, should you be interested, open Google Earth and search for Los Gazquez (accent not necessary), Velez Blanco. Their pin for the house isn’t very accurately placed so move a little north west and you will see us (or at least the way we were before we moved in). The photos, as you can see above, are mine, click to enlarge.

…of the alto plano brings us to the foot of the mighty ‘Sagra’. My poetic vanity chooses me to deduce ’sagra’ as being a corruption of ’sagrado’ or sacred. After all these Andalucians do drop the ends of most words, or maybe I have spent too much time in India.

Anyway for those who know my blog the name will be familiar as every evening, at Los Gazquez, we sit and watch the sun set behind this mighty mountain. At about 2360m above sea level and normally covered in snow I think this should be my autumn challenge.

Anyone want to join me?

P.S. Apologies to Cormac McCarthy for corrupting the titles of his trilogy in the last three of my blogs.