One mountain – two castles
IT seems a little greedy for one mountain range to be endowed with two castles but that is the honour awarded to the long raking ridge of mountains that runs from the south west corner of Pedreguer all the way through to Alcalali. Given the large conurbation that makes up Pedreguer, this is surprisingly lonely territory and a full walk along the ridge is a demanding outing especially if you want to take in both castles.
Ocaive castle is perched on a rocky outcrop above the Llosa valley with the town of the same name at its head. Ocaive comes from the Arabic ‘Al-Uqayba’ which means height or eagle and its position guarding the route from the Vall de Pop down to the coast at Denia is unrivalled. It’s been around since the 12th century and looking up at its lofty position soon gives you the notion that it might have been difficult to safely pass it by.
There are moderate walks that will lead you to this but at present your access may be limited. Work is underway on the castle to carry out an archaeological dig and – in theory –this has now been finished and the results presented to the town elders. After this there is intended to be some re-instatement work to restore it to its former glory, or at least to give a good idea of what it looked like in prior centuries.
At the other end of the ridge lies Castell d’Aixa situated on the highest point on the ridge at a mere 607 metres of elevation. This might seem low, but if you take the long walk in from Pedreguer to reach it then it is plenty high enough to convince you that you’ve had a good walk. The views from here are wide ranging both into the interior and also out to the coast. The best views of Montgó are seen when you return back down any one of several routes and are looking straight at the southern face (or Javea side) with the eye – or cave – clearly visible.
If you start at the Alcalali end you’ll encounter the more difficult slopes of the hill named ‘Solana’ and while reaching the top at Castell d’Aixa is not too much of a struggle, getting to the other end of the ridge – nearest to Pedreguer – so that you can also see Ocaive would be a demanding walk, unless you arranged some kind of car shuffle.
It’s easier to start at the Pedreguer end near to the Ermita de San Blas which is at the extreme southern end of the town just before the mountain starts to climb up and away from the settlement. This is signed from the main road between Pedreguer and Llosa and takes you along minor streets that eventually open up into a slightly bigger plaza with plenty of parking although it can often be nearly full. The hermitage itself dates from the mid-18th century and is a rebuilt replica of an original that was badly damaged by fire.
Because of the relative low height of the mountain it is generously endowed with tree cover and certainly on the lower slopes there is plenty of shade. Walking away from the hermitage in any of several directions will lead you either around to the northern side of the mountain, up its principal ravine (barranco) or up and over one of several of its radiating ridges. The terrace walls (bancales) are well preserved here and initially there are many paths to choose from in your exploration. A signed set of paths with yellow and white waymarks radiate from this point and you can follow these for easy or much harder walks, or any standard in between.
By crossing a small ridge near this start point to the east you can reach a recreation area and this will lead you up hill to cross towards a magnificent covered natural spring (surprisingly named Fuente Coberta!) and then on towards the more famous Font d’Aixa (or on some maps Dacha) with its large – but now empty – water deposit. Above this a footpath strides up towards the soon visible summit of Castell d’Aixa and the opportunity of approaching it out of the ‘barranco’ either left and through a narrow and slightly exposed ‘squeeze’ or right and more steeply up an eroding engineered path that leads to a col below the summit.
From this vantage point you can look down into the Llosa valley and almost directly at the village of Llosa de Camacho or along into the Val de Pop and the sweep of mountains that extend before you. Alcalali – at the foot of the Solana tops – this year held an almond blossom festival with customised walks designed to show off the blossom to best advantage. Maybe they will repeat it next year? Almost directly to the south lie the villages of Lliber – quaintly cobbled streets here – and Jalon with its weekly expansive market on a Saturday where you can buy anything from an electric motor to a sideboard!
Back in Pedreguer there are bars a plenty although from your starting point you will have to hunt them out. Lots of walks in this area are described in the website www.walksinspain.org but an example of one that takes in both castles is Castell d’Aixa circuit from Llosa de Comacho – see http://tinyurl.com/ jwrv4ge - with 630m of ascent and 15km long.
From Lliber a route that visits challenging and fascinating terrain without reaching either of the castles or the summit is Lliber circuit, including the Hidden Valley and Font d’Aixa. See http://tinyurl.com/ m2q8xto, with 450m of ascent and 14km long. Finally a walk from Pedreguer that gives you a taste of the terrain is Pedreguer 5 Fonts, see http://tinyurl.com/mh8joot, with 530m of ascent and 11.5km long.