'World's Scariest Walkway' Open Again
(Newser) The stunning cliffside walkway in Spain once known as one of the world's most dangerous is a lot safer now, authorities saybut still no place for the fainthearted. The recently reopened Caminito del Rey trail includes 2 miles of thin boardwalks that hang 300 feet over the Guadalhorce River gorge, reports the New York Daily News . The famous pathway was officially closed in 2000 after four people fell to their deaths, but authorities launched a major renovation project after daredevils continued to traverse the path, even though parts of it were completely gone and they had to get over big gaps, reports National Geographic , which lists it among the world's most thrilling trails.
The trail's website says that after the $6 million renovation project, visitors "aren't risking their lives," but the boardwalks and hanging footbridge, "as well as steep walls, make many visitors feel inevitably dizzy," ABC News reports. It will be free to walk the renovated trail, which started out as a path for hydroelectric workers in 1921, the Daily News reports, but hiker numbers will be limited to 600 per dayand they'll be required to don helmets. (For those with a longer hike in mind, officials are making progress on the 1,000-mile Mountains-to-Sea Trail in North Carolina .)
From me: There is a 20 minuite video at the link that shows you just how dangerious of a hike this is, even AFTER it's been fixed. My response is, no way in hell would it do it! Never! But still, it is well worth the watch. Or at least as much as your stomach can handle.
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Plus it's much more interesting then cakes!
After goggling " Caminito del Rey trail " and looking at the imageswhat came to mymindwas, "Um NO !".
Stunning place though, for those brave enough to attempt the walk.
"Um NO!"
Pretty much my response...I just think of the guts of the poor bastards who built it in 1921.
Well the article said they did some work on it after 4 people fell to their death in 2000. Still doesn't look any safer to me!
(sitting here shaking...) NO THANKS!!
I don't do bungee jumping, either...
It does look like it has safety ropes in some spots, but the video also does show some places where there is no boardwalk at all for 8 or 10 feet and you walk on what looks like iron bars a few feet apart, with a safety rope and pitons for mountain and rock climbing carabiners to hook on to so you don't fall.
And 2 miles long of it? I won't walk two miles on the streets around my house any more.