To Jimena de la Frontera

March 28, 2023

It was a wild windy and wonderful day along a winding road that hugged the hillsides and took me up, down and through the Serranía de Ronda to Gaucin and beyond to Jimena de Frontera. If Gaucin is called the "Balcony of the Serranía”, the road I was traveling was the “Balcony Highway.” And the weather was near perfect - brilliant sunshine, temperatures in the low 70s – the only concern was forecast for southeasterly winds of 10-15 mph.

I headed south from Ronda, steadily climbing into an annoying headwind that slowed but did not impede my progress. Soon after I’d started, I passed a man with a truck who was stopped at a pullout – he offered me a lift but I quickly declined, out of pride perhaps, or and maybe a sense of caution/self-preservation. The road snaked through dry rocky hillsides that rose on my right and, as I gained elevation, layers of tree-covered ridges and peaks stretched east on my left. I was traveling one of the Red de Miradores de la Serrania de Ronda that snake through this region and I stopped at nearly each mirador I passed, marveling at the small white villages that dotted the mountain range.