Ok, it’s not urban, but, whooo! this is awesome!

As posted by Orbitbrown on YouTube.

El Caminito del Rey (English: The King’s pathway) is a walkway, now fallen into disrepair, pinned along the steep walls of a narrow gorge in El Chorro, near Álora in Málaga, Spain. The name is often shortened to El Camino del Rey.

HISTORY:
In 1901 it was obvious that the workers of the Chorro Falls and Gaitanejo Falls needed a walkway to cross between the falls, to provide transport of materials, vigilance and maintenance of the channel. Construction of the walkway lasted four years. It was finished in 1905.

In 1921 the king Alfonso XIII had to cross the walkway for the inauguration of the dam Conde del Guadalhorce, and it became known by its present name.
The walkway has now gone many years without maintenance, and is in a highly deteriorated and dangerous state. It is one meter (3 ft) in width, and is over 700 feet (200 m) tall. Nearly all of the path has no handrail. Some parts of the walkway have completely collapsed and have been replaced by a beam and a metallic wire on the wall. Many people have lost their lives on the walkway in recent years. After four people died in two accidents in 1999 and 2000, the local government closed the entrances. However, adventurous tourists still find their way into the walkway.

The regional government of Andalusia budgeted for 2006 a restoration plan estimated at € 7 million.

The ‘trail’ shown in today’s video is in Spain. If nothing else, it makes me think twice before complaining about the maintenance of the National Parks in the U.S.A.

When I first viewed the video, I thought it was created by an inventive computer geek. As I did with the video about Christian, the Lion, I went searching for the truth. I was shocked to learn that this is an actual trail. I won’t call it a hiking trail because the Spanish government would prefer that people not use it. In fact, they’ve erected barricades to discourage hikers. Obviously, the barriers don’t work. I’ve found more than one video made by people following the trail.

According to the facts, the trail was originally created to allow workers to get to the job site. They were building a dam (which you’ll see in the video) and had no other way for the workers to get there with the supplies they needed. I don’t think I would’ve lasted very long on that job!

You must admit that the scenery is, in fact, “breath taking”! My thoughts, when I was watching it for the first time, boiled down to one point: “I’m glad it’s a video. I’d be scared out of my wits if I was on the trail for real.”

With no further ado, here’s the video. I suggest you find something or someone to hang on to!

Did you notice that the ‘path’ was basically built by driving pipes into the side of the rock and putting concrete walkways on top of the steel frames? Much of the concrete has eroded, leaving large holes. I’m not sure I would’ve trusted the concrete. I know I wouldn’t have performed the balancing act of our ‘tour guide’.

Between you and me, I’ll stick to the Appalachian Trail.

See y’all tomorrow!

As our creative director Matt Rose said, El Camino del Rey loosely translates as “Trail of Soiled Shorts.” Best viewed full-screen and on incredibly solid ground.

El Camino Del Rey
Originally built in 1901, this walkway now serves as an approach to Makinodromo, the famous climbing sector of El Chorro.

Not a walk I’d recommend to the faint of heart.

(Link via Andrew Sullivan)

Fielmken van iênen mee een camera op stap.Nie veur broekschijters zenne. As we mee dezels op stap gaun est hopelek iets minder as tees maur toch …..

from www.brightcove.tv posted with vodpod

My sister just sent me this amazing video of someone hiking through this gorge.  While I’m not scared of heights and love a good thrill, this definitely falls under the category of things i love life way too much to ever try!  

A few times during the video i actually held my breath as the person made their way across particularly precarious parts of the path… 

(Originally built in 1901, this walkway serves as an approach to makinodromo, the famous climbing sector of El Chorro, Spain.)