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We set off for El Colmenar on a sunny October day. We were going there as a result of a wager which I'd won.
My prize?
I got to choose the destination of our latest drive around Andalucía and avoided a shopping trip.

Time to ...fess up. While I really like the pretty little station village in the beautiful Guadiaro valley. My choice was to drive through and walk in Los Alcornocales. A huge expanse of cork oak woodland that has a (pista forestal) forest road beginning just behind El Colmenar.

We drove to Gaucín and took the road to El Colmenar. It's my favourite drive. In the dry summer months it is beautiful and the forest gives shade for some great walks.
At other times of the year it is breathtakingly tranquil and more alive some how.

We stopped near El Hacho the mountain above Gaucín built on along a rocky ridge below.
The view south is stunning on a clear day, from the steep mountains over the flat lands of the campo de Gibraltar.

Here's Jane posing with San Pablo and Jimena in the distance.
There are a number of riding schools in the area if you enjoy horses.
We passed some riders out for a morning hack.

This is El Colmenar from the above before we made our winding descent down the narrow high hedged lane.

The hedgerows fill with small birds, winter migrants from northern europe. We were too late today. Most had fed and were keeping cool in the shady undergrowth.
We crossed the Río Guadiaro and drove into El Colmenar.

We parked along the tree lined road and had a café con leche in the Mesón de las Flores, a bar/restaurante we often call in when traveling to or through the village.
We went for a stroll around the village. Here are some shots of the streets, houses, trees and flowers.

Finally the station.

In the car we crossed the tracks and entered the forest behind and above the village. We drove for ten minutes before stopping in a favourite place for a picnic. The forest opens to look south towards the coast (near Sotogrande). We sit in the forest and can see distant boats on the Mediterranean. Brilliant.
Cork oak trees can be stripped of their outer 'cork' layer once every nine years or so. So areas of forest are visited in cycles. This year an area of trees near the road had been stripped and the cork piled up to dry. Awaiting lorries to transport it to processing plants.

There are a few animals kept in the forest. Usually more but we've had so little rain that the forest streams are still dry.
This cow watched us as we passed by.

We'd seen a fairly decent road branching off to the west of our usual drive. Feeling adventurous we went exploring.
We climbed quite high and had some great views of the surrounding mountains.
I have a good internal compass and guessed we were heading north west towards Ubrique. After a lovely drive we hit the A373 Ubrique - Cortes road near a limestone outcrop we'd stopped at in 2004. Then we'd seen a road into the forest and wondered where it went ... so now we've connected the dots and found the answer.
We stopped for some photos. A few with us in to give scale and a dolphin shaped piece of eroded limestone which Jane spotted.

We drove towards Cortes de la Frontera and turned back into the forest and took another road back to El Colmenar.
Good fun and a great day out.