The story of a walk in the Almijaras Mountains near Nerja that went very wrong
 

Mary, Bas (older brother) Marinda (me) and Figo (my 6yr old rescue husky) went for a big walk on the12th December.

I have walked the Almijaras for 4 years but never done this walk completely.

We were informed the walk would be about 6 hours.

I never checked any maps, nor did we bring one with us, the reason because it seemed that there was only one way that was walkable.

The walk, if walked properly would have been in our pace at least 8 hours, perhaps more (hindsight is a wonderful thing!)

At 6pm it went dark very quickly and we ended up off route for at least 2 hours going north WHY? as Nerja Maro and wherever would be anywhere but north? We were lost!!

After 3 more hours wandering in the dark (9pm now) We decided to try and find somewhere sheltered and where we could make a fire. Thank goodness for the two smokers Mary and Bas!
By now we were all soaking wet, cold, and hungry with only a rotten banana, two mandarin oranges  and a tiny bit of sandwich that Mary had left earlier. A litre of water and a can of Budweiser.
Bas was only wearing shorts, t-shirt and a light jacket and us girls weren't wearing much more. Figo was very good in the night, not nervous at all, unless someone went in the darkness looking for more twigs or to have a pee. There wasn’t any forest where we were but the mudslides in September brought down lots of bushes so we mainly burned roots of rosemary bushes. A smell to remember!

We were okay with the situation but Mary and I felt really bad we couldn’t tell our partners Marc and Jose that we were OK, staying for the night and walking back when it would be light again, that was hard. Mobile phones can't be relied upon to work when you are in the mountains.

Meanwhile back in Nerja our boyfriends were starting to get very worried, Marc felt he had to do something and decided to look for us on his own in the dark with a torch, but was forced to go back after a while.

When Marc got back to Nerja he went with Jose  to the Guardia civil, who immediately organised a huge search team to start at first light. A helicopter was called out, at least 3 cross country motors to drive up the walk and there were four also four wheel drive jeeps.

The fact that the Guardia took it so very serious really worried our men a lot, as people have died after being lost in the Almijaras before.

 

At 8 o’clock AT LAST is was light enough to walk again, we hadn’t slept for a second cause the fire had needed constant feeding and it would have been too cold without it. We decided to go up the horrible river or whatever it was before going down (we still thought it was a route to walk!) After 20 minutes it was a dead end and we had to go back. At this point our mental energy was the lowest and we were a bit anticlimax, we knew there was a 6 hour walk a head of us and we had no food, we felt cold and tired and it would take at least 2 hours before we hit the river with water.
We started to walk down when Figo, who had be very good so far, started to be nervous and running up and down a lot. Also me and Mary and my brother got separated a bit, about 200 meters and then Figo disappeared, that really threw us as and at that moment we met a mountain man who obviously hadn’t lived in the real world for decades as when we asked him if he had seen a dog, he answered he only likes cats. We all thought he might have made him his dinner but not wanting to upset each other we didn’t speak it out loud. We looked and shouted for Figo for over an hour but it was hopeless, we had to get back in our weakened state we weren’t thinking straight.

We also hoped that as we were on the way back now, Figo would find his own way home. So with pain in my heart and totally dis-heartened we started walking again, and it was Bas my brother who kind of kept us together trying to cheer us up and making us drink water. Mary had very painful feet but refused to complain, I was just so upset without Figo

When we hit the aqueduct where the old ruined house, is the Guardia could hear us shouting for Figo, this must have been between 10,30 and 11,00. They shouted to us and asked if we needed medical aid, and I said no, then they said we had to continue to go down the way we were going to get backt. I tried to find out who they where but there was a lot of wind and they were far away on top of the mountain and we down below.

At 2.30 we arrived at the electrical house where an army of Guardia waited for us, they were really nice, and happy we were fine. They put us in a jeep and the put the heating on full blast, the sweat dripped of their faces as we were warming up and Bas and Mary were quiet. I started rambling about Figo that they had to go find him!

When we got back to the cement factory by the Rio Chillar Jose and Marc were waiting very relieved that it was all over, we got a hug from our men but when Jose realised our baby dog wasn’t with us he had to deal with another shock. We thanked the Guardia again and again and got into the car. The atmosphere was cutting as our men were also a bit angry as you do when you realize your love ones are O.K and the worry is gone. We dropped Marc and Mary off and went home. Jose immediately went back to help look for the dog, which bless them again they took really serious and helped us with. Bas heated up two huge plates of food and I took a hot bath. Bas couldn’t eat even halve of his food he was so exhausted, but I had to find my dog, and I thought of adventure Mike (www.lifeadventure.es) who does the Sunday walks and is known for his knowledge of the Almijaras,  and by accident I just met him a few days ago when walking with my brother in Maro. I phoned him, and he said he will meet me in ten minutes at Supersol!

So there we were, not slept, not eaten, just warmed up after my bath and I was telling Bas I have to go into the same mountains again to get Figo. We had to go where we lost him, thank god my brother said he would come. I took a banana and off we went, but I did dress warmly this time. We met Mike who is Dutch like me and my brother and he brought a map and made us explain exactly were we walked, where we stayed the night and where lost the dog.

We climbed into the jeep and we drove up. We went to Maro, past Fuente del Esparto and drove as far as you can drive a car. Then we walked for ten minutes climbed down a 150 meter mountain to end up at the ruined house, We then walked for 45 minutes but to be honest Mike's running speed wasn’t something Bas and me had energy for, so Superman Mike told us to walk back slowly to the car (we had started at 3pm and it would be dark at 6pm again) and he would run for 20 minutes to where we stayed the night, he literally said that!
As my brother and me, without hope, energy and a very heavy feeling in our stomachs were climbing up the mountain at about 5 o’clock, we heard Mike shouting "I have got him!!!", There was Mike, this big sweetheart, all covered in mud and sand and with him a very shaking husky, who irritatingly refused to stay with Mike as soon as he heard my voice. So I walked down the mountain again hugged my dog and kissed Mike I was sooooo happy. He made this incredible adventure a memory which could have been so different.
I put Figo on his leash and we walked back on a cloud. I don’t know how many adrenaline rushes you can get in one day but I had a few during the last twenty four hours.
We got home at 6pm with Figo and we were a happy family again..

Although we can laugh about it now, we all understand how bad it could have been. If we hadn't been able to light a fire, hypothermia could have been a killer.

Our thanks go out to the Guardia who went to great lengths to find us!
And Mike from Life Adventure who helped us find Figo
 

Also just to tell you, we did the walk properly last week, but walking down instead of up and it took us 4 hours, no mishaps!

Marinda

The moral of this story is.....well I guess you can work it out. Be warned.