Past the village of Nerpio, the land climbs toward the Calar, a high limestone plateau with thin soil, pine woods and open pasture, and the name Cañaica del Calar tells you where you are. Cañaica sounds like a diminutive of cañada, a drove road, and old tracks of that kind cross the sierra, used for centuries by shepherds moving flocks between summer and winter pastures. The shelter here, the third of a group, lies eleven kilometres from Nerpio, among those quiet uplands, which is farther than most of the other sites in the district and gives a stronger sense of isolation.
I can say that this is a district rich in such places, and that the ride also visits the Diosa Madre site and the Abrigo del Engarbo, which are known to specialists. If you want to see them, ask in Nerpio about guided visits and about the state of the tracks, because the way is rough and unmarked in places.
The road to the plateau is a good one, with long bends, big views and almost no traffic. In the lower sections the road follows the Taibilla valley, with cottonwoods and willows by the stream, and then climbs through pine forest to the open country. The surface is variable, with patches of gravel and cracked tarmac, and the weather can change in minutes, with cold wind, sudden hail and fog. Snow and ice are common from December to March, and the nights can be cold even in late spring.
Nerpio has the basics but little more, so plan to fuel in Yeste, a town of about thirty-five hundred people twenty-three kilometres from here. The food of the plateau is shepherd's food: roast lamb, stews with wild herbs, and migas with peppers and garlic. In autumn, wild mushrooms and pine nuts appear in the shops.
Pick a clear day in late spring or early autumn, take a warm layer and keep an eye on the sky.