GR7 in Spain Day 3: Bérchules to Trevélez
11 miles
3000 feet of elevation up and 2200 of elevation down
We woke up early for Day 3 of our walk on the GR7 in Spain.
Because we had our breakfast already prepared in the fridge we could choose the time, a small luxury when you’re at the mercy of B&B hosts and their schedules.
So we had a 7:30am breakfast of hard-boiled eggs, toast, yogurt, granola, fresh fruit and a cheese and cured meats platter. It was a massive amount of breakfast compared to the previous days and we ended up packing up some of it into our equally massive sack lunches.
Then we strapped on our packs and started to climb out of Bérchules into the hills.
I love going uphill in the morning if there is a little chill in the air. The cold pushes you to climb just a little faster so that you warm up.
We were going to cross our highest point of the week so we had a lot of climbing to do.
We weren’t climbing the Mulhacen but we were going to hike up to what would be our best view of it.
High in the Alpujarran hills, I expected that we might even spot snow.
After a good start at climbing we stopped for a midmorning break on the hillside. We broke out the rest of breakfast and even a bit of lunch though it was still before 11.
After our break we walked steadily uphill and came to a forest where we did indeed find some snow that had not yet melted. The shade of the trees protected some little frozen patches.
It certainly wasn’t an amount to have fretted over as I had done just a bit when I had arrived in Granada and glimpsed the snow topped Sierra Nevada, living up to its name.
It was just enough snow to be fun, exciting to glimpse evidence that we were right at the beginning of the proper hiking season.
We had the mountains all to ourselves. We passed no other hikers on this day and very few on any of the other days, which is unusual for me when hiking in Europe.
I don’t know if there is a high season for hiking the GR7, but I wouldn’t imagine it is in summer when the temperatures soar above 90 degrees F, even in the mountains.
We felt like we were hitting the trail at the exact perfect time, even if most of the villages were very quiet.
At the high point of the day (6600 feet), we took lots of photos while the Mulhacen darted in and out of the clouds behind us.
We were all feeling the exhilaration of making it to the highest point of the week.
The mountain vibes were in full effect!
I think we all managed to leave this spot with a new hiking profile pic.
It was a little early for another food stop so we carried on along a dirt road that started to descend.
When our tummies started rumbling, we found an outcropping of rocks just off the trail for our picnic.
We were all super excited for our packed lunches as our host in Berchules had gone all out.
Besides the usual sandwiches and crisps, she included many small treasures: little foil packs of sliced cucumbers, dried figs, hard boiled eggs and little juice boxes.
After our feast, we had some naps, or at least resting our eyes.
We had used a lot of energy on the climb.
After naps, it was time to descend.
And descend and descend.
Oh how my knees miss climbing when it’s time to go down.
Grateful for the trekking poles that save our joints, we kept descending until soon we could spot Trevélez in the valley below.
The mountains seemed even bigger, while the town seemed to stay far in the distance.
Trevélez is the highest village in Spain.
The village is famous for hams. Jamon de Trevelez is famous all over Spain and especially all over Andalucia. The hams cure in the mountain air in warehouses.
And I believe the pigs are corn-fed to make the taste of the ham even better.
Eventually the village got close enough that we knew we were almost there.
We came up over one more hill and then wow, we were so close!
Finally, beautiful Treveléz.
To get into town we crossed over a river, and so true to our trip theme, we had to make a stop to make love to the water.
After the long descent, it felt so good to soak our feet in the freezing cold mountain water.
I got all the way in up to my knees to help with inflammation.
After we checked into our rooms, we found a cafe with a table in the sun and immediately ordered up some drinks and of course, some Trevélez jamon.
The gals said it was delish, and I took their word for it since I don’t eat meat.
Once we’d rested for a long while, we wandered about the village.
I took so many photos of these handmade pot covers.
The whole village was decorated in these brightly colored crocheted pot covers and banners.
And of course, with hams.
You could purchase both in just about every shop.
In fact, this village had more shops than any of our previous stops so my fellow hikers found some treasures to fill the very little space left in their backpacks.
There were large warehouses where the hams were hanging to cure.
But we never saw any live pigs, which confused us until we realized that the hams are sent to the mountain village to cure, but the pigs aren’t actually raised there. Zoë discovered this by asking the locals questions in Spanish. Since she couldn’t remember the word in Spanish for “pig”, she asked (to the immediate amusement of everyone around us) “Where are the hams that are not dead?”
You can buy anything in the shape of a ham in Trevélez: earrings, key chains, magnets. You can even press the shape of a ham onto a penny as a souvenir.
It was a good thing we ate such a lovely snack and drinks in the square when we arrived because our hostess wasn’t quite open for the season yet. We realized this when everything we had for dinner was brought out from her freezer. It was not our best meal of the week, but we ate it gratefully and went to bed, super tired and dreaming of hams.
This is the third in a series of posts about a week of hiking the GR7 in Spain in the Alpujarras in early Spring (March/April). Many of the photos come from my fellow hikers: Kristie, Eve, Zoe, Alexis and Kelsy! I’m super thankful to them for trusting me to lead them on this adventure.
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