A Blue-Sky Morning on Embalse de Negratin.

   Friday May 19th.  A beautiful morning, not a cloud inn the sky and hardly a breath of wind.  Launched from Playa de Freila at about 10:15 am with the intention of being back ashore before the day got too hot to be messing around on the water. The target this time was to reach the dam, paddling straight to it and then delving into any inlets, not delved into on previous visits, on my way back.

   I nearly got sidetracked when I spotted a tower on a headland.  The presence of a noticeboard indicated that it could be something of historical interest and worth a closer look - but I passed on, for now.

Looks interesting.

     Nearly got sidetracked again when passing a nice clean looking, gently shelving, little bit of a beach.  Was thinking about a stretch legs stop - then wondered what sort of big critters might live in those holes!  So, gave it a miss and passed on again.

Holes for big critters?

As I rounded another headland the dam came into view in the distance :-

Still a long way to go - the clarity of the air makes distances deceiving.

Getting closer.

   The little white building to the right of the dam is a pleasant bar/restaurant.  Some years back Susan and I stopped there for a drink and tapas.

And close enough.

   If that slipway to the right of the bar/restaurant is for public use, then I might just have found another good launching place.

Those badlands again.

   Delving deep into one of the larger inlets on my way back, I could see a humble looking little property.  In that location, and with some imagination, it has the potential to become a des res :-

Nice spot for a des res.

That potential des res again.

Parked up for a run ashore.

   I parked here to scramble and push my way through brush and undergrowth up to that tower I had seen on a headland earlier.  Emerging near the tower I saw numerous spent shotgun cartridges scattered around on the ground.  This is obviously a popular spot for hunters.  Note to self:  In future, in such wild areas, make a lot of noise (whistle or sing, maybe) and wear some high viz. clothing when pushing through scrubland.  Could be a hunter in a hide somewhere, just waiting for something to move!  Wouldn't like to be mistaken for a wild boar!

Torre del Maruq.

Torre del Maruq

   According to the nearby noticeboard, the tower is known as Torre de Maruq and it is a watchtower of Arab origin.  Little else seems to be known about it.  Anyone on the tower, back in the days of the occupation by the Moors, would have been able to keep a watch on much of the river valley which became the reservoir after the building of the dam in 1984.  These are the present views from alongside the tower :-

View to the left.

View further round to the left.

View to the right,.

   The adjacent headland, seen in this last photograph, is the one where I landed on my last trip to have lunch in the shade.  I have since discovered that it is called Playa de Majuelos.  However, I can't imagine that this beach gets much use by the public, as access, via a dirt track from the main road, is tricky - as I discovered when I tried it that afternoon.  The track was fine for our trusty little Citroën C15 van, but anything with less ground clearance might just get into trouble.

   It was just getting uncomfortably warm on the water when I got back to the beach at Playa de Freila around 1:45 pm (and still not a cloud in the sky) after an enjoyable morning of quiet paddling.

 

Another Quiet Paddle in the Sun.

   Yesterday I went for another exploratory paddle on Embalse de Negratin.  I launched again at Playa de Friela and did a direct line open water crossing from the concrete slipway, turned left at the other side of the reservoir and headed towards the dam, paddling between islands that aren't obvious when looking across from the Friela side.

Playa de Friela (a picture from a previous visit).

  The smaller islands probably wouldn't exist if the reservoir was full (it's now at about 50% capacity) but the two big islands will always be there.

   Both islands have been colonised by seagulls, which seems a bit odd when the nearest coast is about 90 kilometres away, as the crow (or in this case seagull) flies.

   Looking back to Playa de Friela, with the Sierra de Baza in the background:-

That's one of the islands on the right hand side.

   Until I crossed Negratin I didn't know that the Sierra Nevada is visible from the water.  And there is still snow on the tops:-

Snow on the distant Sierra Nevada.

     One of Granada's claims to fame is that it's possible, at certain times of the year. to ski on the mountains in the morning and swim in the sea in the afternoon - or vice versa.

   The shoreline on this side of Negratin is extremely desolate, very rugged and steep sided - and there are very few places where it is easy to land.  It's an area to be treated with respect, especially if solo paddling.  I did make the mistake of going ashore once, only to step out into sticky mud and shingle which was impossible to shake out of my sandals when I re-boarded.  I didn't land again until I was back on the other side of the reservoir!

Any sort of civilization is way up over that ridge.

   Wind and rain has eroded and sculptured cliff faces into dramatic shapes:-

   By lunchtime it was getting uncomfortably warm on the water, so I re-crossed Negratin to look for a shady spot to go ashore:-

Looked a promising place ...........

............  with a shady lunch spot ..........

............  with a nice view while eating a pack-up.

   Note to self:  try and keep pack-up in the shade while paddling, or use an insulated container.  The slices of cold pizza just weren't cold anymore, and the muesli bars were droopy!

   From there it was an easy straight line paddle, past inlets I've previously explored, back to Playa de Friela.  I hadn't expected to get as far as the dam on this trip. I thought there would be too many distractions on the far side, but I did see it in the distance and I should get to it next time.  I need another day of very light winds - I've never been on Negratin on a windy day but I can well imagine that it could be tricky with gusts funneling down canyons and valleys around the sides.

So ended another enjoyable day of quiet paddling.