El Camino del Rey

[skirtyscot]

Couyalair's thread "skirts do get noticed even if not commented upon aloud" http://www.skirtcafe.org/forums/viewtop ... =2&t=15860 prompted me to let you all see how spectacular El Chorro is. But this video is not for the faint-hearted. This is El Camino del Rey. Built to give hydroelectric power station workers better access, and used by the King in 1921, hence its name, it is now in such a dangerous state of disrepair that not only is it closed, there is a fine of 6000 Euros for being on it. Of course that does not stop everybody; maybe it even entices some thrill seekers. Makes me dizzy just watching it. Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmDhRvvs5Xw

[crfriend]

Oh, my word! That gave me vertigo just watching it.

I can see why there's a big fine for being on it today, and I don't know if I'd trust that safety-line much less the concrete!

[Milfmog]

I've watched that video a number of times over the last year or two and it still leaves me stunned.

If I ever find myself in the area I will be keen to walk the route, though common sense may cause me to pause if the planned restoration has not been completed by then.

Have fun,


Ian.

[couyalair]

I had not seen this version on film -- there are several on youtube. The cameraman seems to have been in such a hurry that it does indeed make you giddy. Don't know how he did it! I would not have attempted it, even if I had found access to the pathway. It seems to have been carefully blocked off, but I'd love to walk it if ever they do repair it all, though with Spain's finances being what they are, I can't see it being completed in the next few years unfortunately.
What we need is a fine path such as the glass walkway built high in some Chinese mountains, also visible on the tube.
At the other end of the gorges are the dams, which also have fine lakeside scenery, but to get there on foot around, instead of through, that wall of rock would have taken me all day.

Martin

[skirtyscot]

He does take it pretty fast, hardly hesitating before walking along the steel rails where the concrete has disappeared completely. And he steps right on the edge of some of the smaller holes. Obviously not his first time along the path.

I will wait for the repairs to be made.

[couyalair]

Apparently, repairs have been announced many tilmes over the years, but nothing ever happens.
As it happens, however, I have just read in the news that the local government has allocated funds for the work to start, using wood to replace the old concrete.

Whether I will still be alive and walking when the pathway is reopened, I have no idea -- still a few years to wait, I believe -- but let's make a date anyway, Skirtyscot, and prove whoever said "no skirts in such a place" was quite wrong!

Martin

[couyalair]

Just realized it was you, Ss, that said "Now that is a place where I doubt you would see anyone in a skirt."
Shame on you! There are skirts everywhere these days -- even Grenoble, Malaga and Ayrshire.

Martin

[skirtyscot]

Well SC has at least two members in Ayrshire but only one in Malaga and Grenoble combined. So indeed there are men in skirts to be seen hereabouts. But it is a rare occasion indeed to see two skirted men in Grenoble! As for El Camino, I will be going to Calahonda next year so a trip to El Chorro might be possible. But I doubt the scary path will have been fixed so quickly.