New route into Guillena

[Bradypus]

A post from a Spanish-language Facebook group about the route from Sevilla to Guillena being rerouted to avoid that dodgy ford and the scary iron rail "bridge". One of the photos shows the rail partly submerged. I can remember carefully walking over it with a couple of feet of air between myself and the water below. The flooding must be very impressive.

https://www.facebook.com/laviadelaplataelcamino/posts/pfbid029YuBMUBMD9MLDXJs4ZpX7WhwtRBZ2akNtFhgd6E3bqFzhivucFHMKNnfXLuD3WkHl

 

[AntonM]

Are those current pictures? Thats crazy. 10 days ago there was very little water there and I've seen some rain the last days but nothing too crazy (maybe it rained harder at night).

I remember the split, but the reroute wasnt clear at all for me there. I think I thought there might just have been an albergue somewhere if you went to the right so I just continued straight/left.

 

[camino07]

Hope I don't miss the turn off in early April.

 

[Peregrinopaul]

Hope I don't miss the turn off in early April.

Go to the Facebook page in @Bradipus's post and there is an annotated Google satellite map. It looks as if it is a more direct route, AND with bridges.

 

[peregrina2000]

I have moved this out of another thread. This is big news for Vdlp pilgrims. From shimmy-ing across a log, to walking across a steel beam, to a route that avoids those challenges and takes you into Guillena without so much “adventure.”

Looks like the trade-off is that there is now more road walking, because the google maps link in that facebook page announcement has a lot of “warning” signs.

 

[Bradypus]

Looks like the trade-off is that there is now more road walking, because the google maps link in that facebook page announcement has a lot of “warning” signs.

Worth the extra road walking in my opinion. Creeping over that rail was not a very pleasant experience. Falling into deep water full of weeds and branches and tree roots while carrying a pack could easily spoil your whole day. I've never understood why some very simple footbridge has not been built to replace the iron rail. Shouldn't be an especially expensive or difficult task.

 

[peregrina2000]

Worth the extra road walking in my opinion. Creeping over that rail was not a very pleasant experience.

Totally agree. @Bradypus, did you ever experience the log that pre-dated the iron rail? Some people walked on it, but I just sat down and slowly shimmied across. Ripped my pants in the process, but at least I didn’t fall in!

I just did some “google walking” over the new route. There is a total of 4 bridges! With pictures of two of them (see screen shots below — ignore the blue line, that’s googlemaps, the yellow line is the new route).

 

[Bradypus]

Totally agree. @Bradypus, did you ever experience the log that pre-dated the iron rail?

Fortunately not. Been that way twice. The first was in October and there was just a trickle of water in damp patches in the ford. Crossed dry-shod. The second time was in January when water levels were fairly high but there was still a couple of feet of clearance below the iron rail.

 

[geraldkelly]

I walked the new route last week. The new right route it's 9.7km to Guillena, 200m longer than the old one.

The route is well waymarked the whole way. There are bridges or pedestrian stepping stones across any streams. This is the best route after rain or if you're cycling.

The image of a map attached is the GPS trace I made myself. It's a screenshot from my Android app which has been updated with this new info. I'm working on updating the iPhone app at the moment. https://viadelaplataapp.com/

The route is quite pleasant, nicer than the old one.

Gerald

 

[Peregrinopaul]

Fortunately not. Been that way twice. The first was in October and there was just a trickle of water in damp patches in the ford. Crossed dry-shod. The second time was in January when water levels were fairly high but there was still a couple of feet of clearance below the iron rail.

I had to get across the log in 2012 with a loaded bike. But I had help from another peregrino!

 

[camino07]

I seem to remember in 2012 just crossing the dry river bed. I would have been terrified to cross the log.
I felt quite proud of myself in 2022 shuffling across the girder.

 

[Ferga]

Hope I don't miss the turn off in early April.

My fingers crossed, too!