Road to Guillena blocked?

[eamann]

Hello!

When I walked the Via in the spring of 2006, the road leading from Santiponce to Guillena was cut at a certain point by a stream, the Arroyo de los Molinos. I waded through the 30m of stagnant water, which was not a pleasant experience! I have read on the Godesalco site (see below) that it is possible to find a way around this, but this too is not without its problems.

As I am preparing to walk the Via again this spring, I was wondering if more recent pilgrims have continued to encounter this problem.

Thanks in advance to those who reply!

Eamann

"Salvo en el verano, el largo camino que lleva desde Santiponce a Guillena puede estar cortado por el Arroyo de los Molinos. Hay peregrinos que optan por descalzarse y cruzarlo de frente (el suelo es de cemento), pero hay quien ha encontrado un paso fácil tras buscar entre los arbustos que quedan en el lado izquierdo (y también hay quien se ha hundido en el fango en esta misma zona). El rodeo, saliendo hacia la N-630 (tomar dirección Mérida y girar a la derecha al llegar a la gasolinera), te cuesta unos 5 km de más. (Abril de 2006)"

 

[JohnnieWalker]

Eamann

In January 2007 when I walked there wasn't a problem - no wading!

Buen Camino

John

 

[eamann]

Thanks!

 

[Peter Robins]

according to the CSJ guide you should keep "on LH side of river to avoid crossing ford in wet season". Afraid it's one of the perils of walking in spring that you get the spring melt, and river beds that are bone dry most of the year are knee-deep in water. Like all weather events, it's hard (well, probably impossible) to predict exactly when it's going to occur or how deep the water will be.

 

[Gerald]

I had the same problem in May 2004, so it is clearly a continuous problem. There is a little wood on the left hand side of this stream, and we ploughed through it, and eventually crossed the stream, but it was muddy and hazardous and I would not try it again. If you do not fancy wading through it (which would be preferable to our option) then follow the road as suggested on the Spanish site.

 

[Kevin F. O*brien]

Arrived there in Ocotber 2005 and found the stream in full flood. Too dangerous. Walked about 1500 metres to our left and found a bridge on the main road.

 

[madrid12]

This was my experience on this section in February 2004, I looked either side to see if I could cross then went back to the track deciding whether to walk through the water when a 4wd car appeared and gave me a lift through the water.