An association in my town organises monthly hiking outings. I decided to give it a try – if it worked out, I could go out every month at least once for a cool day trip, and I would not have to be alone for a bunch of difficult trails. And if I got to make some friends, even better. I signed up for the first hike: Sierra de Caldereros, Pico Lituero y Castillo de Zafra. It was described as a moderate route of roughly 17.5 km and an altitude gradient of 916 metres. The main reference points were: Cubillejo del Sitio (drop-off) → Pico del Águila → Pico Lituero → Castillo de Zafra (highlight) → Hombrados (pick-up).

The group met on Sunday the 24th at 8:00, and we got on the coach. It took two hours to get to the drop-off point. I quickly realised that the group was already established and not too open to first-time newcomers. That did not deter me though, and I found my pace between the faster and the slower walkers. What I did not like was that a good deal of the route was not through a track. The description mentioned a path, which I did not see. It was a bit riskier than what I enjoy on a hike, for more experienced adventurers.

I found the hike too energy-demanding to be able to enjoy the landscape, except when the walking stopped so we could regroup. I was able to spot a few animal tracks and some cool karst and sandstone structures. Underneath our route, the never-ending Castilian plains got lost in the distance. There were a lot of insects, especially horseflies, trying to suck us dry. We reached Pico del Águila in a bit over an hour.

The climb to Pico Lituero was hard because it was done off track, but once on top the first part of the group could catch a breather. There was a bird of prey circling over head, so I might have sneered a little about it hoping for lunch. I sat down at the summit for a little while and snacked on a cereal bar while waiting for the second part of the group.

The highlight of the hike was the castle Castillo de Zafra. It is believed that the original fortress was erected by the Visigoths in the 8th century. It was built upon by the Moors, and eventually taken by the Kingdom of Aragón. The castle itself was built in the late 12th or the early 13th century and today it is part of the municipality of Campillo de Dueñas. The castle was built and integrated on a sandstone outcrop in the ridge Sierra de Caldereros. It was a key defensive outpost which was never conquered, neither by the Moors nor the Castilians. However, it lost importance when the marriage between the Catholic Monarchs joined both the Castile and Aragón Kingdoms, and eventually it became derelict. It was bought and restored in the 20th century by a descendant of the last castellan on duty before the castle was given to the Catholic Monarchs. It was used as the Tower of Joy in the sixth season of Game of Thrones. We stopped there for a while to have lunch, but we could not visit the fortress as it is private property.

After the break, we continued off to the village of Hombrados. We were back on a track, flat enough even for cars. There was not a shadow, and it was very hot – I got a sunburn, and most of the walkers ran out of water – which made find a small fountain joyful. On both of our sides, barley and wheat had been harvested. Around 16:00 we reached the village bar, which opened for us. We had a drink and a toilet break and left around 17:00. While in the coach, my nose started dripping and I realised that between the little straw in Puy du Fou a few days before, and the freshly-reaped fields, my allergies were playing up. It was a miserable couple of hours, to be honest.

In the end, I decided that these day-trips are too demanding for me, and that I had not enjoyed myself as much as I hoped. Glad I went, though, so I could judge instead of wondering.