Leaving the Mediterranean coast of Almería behind, the track cuts inland into Europe’s single true desert. The scenery shifts rapidly from sea level into a labyrinth of sun-bleached canyons and dry gravel riverbeds, known as ramblas. Dry terrain dictates the early miles as the route skirts the western edge of the barren Tabernas badlands, passing weathered sandstone cliffs. The flat desert floor slowly gives way to a steady, continuous ascent. Following the natural corridor carved by the Nacimiento River, the trail begins to climb into the rugged foothills between the Sierra de los Filabres and the Sierra Nevada. Stark, arid scrubland transitions into scattered olive groves before the day ends in Abla, a whitewashed hillside village overlooking the valley.
