Maro to Frigiliana April 24

 7:20 and on the way! 

It may seem that just a little over nine miles is not much of a hike, but this stretch, classified as "medium difficult," which it definitely was, has a time  estimate of five plus hours.  First part, although steadily uphill was not too difficult although part was paved or hard stone.  But wait, what is this?  

Max, could this footprint have belonged to one of our prehistoric ancestors?  What do you think?

All of a sudden the trail became narrow, twisty and very steep:   

There were four sequences of steep ups and downs, a fair amount of scrambling, many narrow twists and turns, and loose soil making every step—OK, every step for someone my age and with a knee to coddle, to be taken with care.  At one point, there is a big stream to cross. Here, being unable to find the crossing point, I lost almost an hour.  A cunning little bridge, partly broken and partly submerged, seemed the perfect place:

But IT WAS NOT! Because a sign like this:

said so!  So I hunted and hunted, never finding the purported stepping stones, so just crossed!  Amount of water in boots not too terrible.

Finally, after six hours, and after shlepping up a huge hill into Frigiliana, an adorable town, made way to lodgings.  Sign at the door instructed guest to consult e-mail, just sent, in order to get instructions on how to enter building.  "Tap the key pad, you may have to do this more than once (how right they were), then, when it lights up, type in this code..... and hit padlock."  OK. Next: "Your room is number 5.  There is a black box left of the door with the code....and in this box is the key."  (Also another set of instructions for the wi-fi.) Well, I couldn't figure out how to access the code needed to get into the room, so I phoned the guy, whom I could not really understand, and who had no intention of coming to help!  But I INSISTED.  And he came.  Anyway, despite the futuristic set-up of this place, it took said guy about 20 minutes to produce the bill, as papers flew willy-nilly out of his printer; also he is overcharging for having the suitcase delivered tomorrow.  Pero bien, people have to make a living.  At least after all that, the room is gorgeous, and I am thoroughly enjoying the ambiance and some relaxation after a beautiful first day.