After sitting enjoying the view for a while I got up and headed uphill alongthe side of the large water shutes with the Pine woods on my left until i reached the top of the Guadalteba dam.
It was a windy day and the surface of the lake was quite choppy and, due to the choppyness, the water was cloudyer than usual . I looked down in to the lake but it was too cloudy to see any fish . Now it was October the temperature of the lake would be slightly cooler and the fish would be spending more time deeper down. Having said that there were still plenty of Big carp showing by the Conde del Guadalhorce dam . Although the nights are a lot colder there are many sunny days in october and the sun is still very warm and raises the surface temperature of the lakes quite quickley. Next time i visit I must remember to head up to the Conde Dam at about ten pm and see if the big shouls of bleak are still coming up to the surface like they did back in spring and summer. I've got a funny feeling that they do still come to the surface , particularly after a funny winters day, as I might vaguely remember seeing them last winter, but I want to see for sure this winter and record it for future reference .
Above: Dark green area with red outline marks the area of forest I explored where I stumbled upon the prehistoric dolmens.
As you can see from the map the three reservoirs form the shape of a three leafed clover , all meeting near the start of the "Caminito del Rey" and Guadalteba reservoir is the central leaf of the three .
Above : The area of forest I explored as seen across the water from the opposite bank of the Guadalteba Reservoir .
Anyway this area of forest I decided to explore more fully covers quite a high hill or small mountain, located between the two western most reservoirs. I'm not sure what the height of the highest point is but it's a good climb. I set out from the road near the dam . It was quite warm the sun was shining with some cloud cover.
Above: this is the track going up through the pine forest where it starts at the road.
I left the track and headed left into a shallow valley . I noticed there quite a few fallen pine trees some has probably fallen more recently and the heart wood was still very hard under the bark, which was flaking off. I thought to myself that perhaps one day I might cut a grew of these up and perhaps try making a Hogan .. round Log-houses built by the Navaho indigenous people of North America. See
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hogan
Above: Inside one of the Dolmens prehistoric burial chambers I stumbled across as i got to the highest point of the pine woodland the area is known as Necrópolis de las Aguilillas.
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I continued up through the pine woods . I was feeling a little peckish and decided to start looking for food i could forage. My thoughts first went onto the pine cones as inside them are numerous pine seeds . As mentioned before the pines here are Aleppo Pines a tree native to this western part of the Mediterranean .
Its important to collect pine cones that are not yet open but fully grown, and best to pick them directly off the branhes rather than off the ground. .
I had a penknife with me and this is the easiest way to open the cones . Each scale must be prized open one scale at a time starting at the base of the cone . At the base of each scale inside is a winged seed . The black seed at the base of the wing is only small , half the size of a grain of wheat or less and you need to eat a lot of them to make a meal quite time consuming too. Annyway I ate about twenty or thirty seeds , if you were starving doing this would help keep you alive in the woods, though best combined with other wild foods .
I also noticed the wild asparagus grwing here and there on the woodland floor was starting to produce new shoots off the old tough branches and i picked a few of the youngest tips of these shoots and ate them raw . To me theyre almost pea like in taste, mildly bitter but not bad , they would be better boiled and more of them .
As i walked into the sunny glades i noticed there were lots of grasshoppers about sunbathing even though it was November... insects are seen in Andalusia pretty much all year , including butterflies. It is now Decebember that i am updating this blog although im writing about back in November (Im back in spain again after threee weeks in uk) .I was watching yesterday quite a few Monarch butterflies on the wing near Plaza Mayor , I was looking down from the railway bridge coming back from IKEA and this is in December!
Anyway going back to the grasshoppers , I have read that grasshoppers make good eating although i have yet to try one myself. I did eat crickets once when younger i found the legs were a bit off putting but i think next time i see lots of grasshoppers i am going to try eating them cooked . I didn't try eating them whilst going through these woods but it's useful to know they are there for next time.
I came to a high point in the woods where it opened up into a fantastic view over Conde del Guadalhorce and Ardales I could see the Mountains Torrecilla and Alcaparain but Prieta was hidden behind Alcaparain . below me was a small cliff and beyond that was the start of the lare olive plantations .
I looked to my right and saw the summit of this wooded hill i was on and was a little surprised to see a group of people standing on top.
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