There is a particular quiet in the high country of south-west Albacete that is hard to describe to anyone who has only ridden the coast or the motorways. Nerpio sits more than a thousand metres up on a rolling plateau, and the land around it is pine forest, scrub and rock, with long views to ridges that fade blue in the distance. At night the sky, free of city light, is dense with stars. Cavidad III, one of the Nerpio rock shelters, lies about eight kilometres from the village in this empty, open country.
As in other shelters in the area, the cliff here holds prehistoric paintings from the Mediterranean Basin rock art tradition, which UNESCO listed in 1998. Cavities like this one were chosen by people who lived on the move, hunting and herding, and it is easy to imagine them looking out over this valley from the same ledge.
For a rider the main thing to know is that weather up here is serious. Winters are cold, with snow and ice on the road from December to March, and even in spring and autumn the mornings can start near freezing and warm quickly. Summers are hot but the altitude keeps nights cool. The roads are quiet and the surface mixed, some good, some broken at the edges, and the bends are open and easy to read. A rockfall or a flock of sheep can appear around any corner, so ride within sight.
Nerpio has the basics, with some small shops and bars, but for fuel and a wider choice of food, Yeste is the nearest town of any size, with about thirty-five hundred people. The region's cooking is a hearty shepherd's tradition, with roasted lamb, stews with wild herbs and migas, fried crumbs with garlic and peppers, and the bread is good. Honey and cheese from the sierra make a fine picnic.
Go in late spring or early autumn and start early, so you are on the road when the light is low and golden.