Walk 31 March 2013 Circular walk around Conchar

All togged up waiting for the rain

Well, we had a disappointing walk on Sunday. All

week the forecast was for heavy rain. I had advertised the fact that it was going to rain, I had predicted we were going to get wet. I was even prepared to cancel the walk because of the amount of rain we were going to get. But the popular opinion was no, don’t cancel, we want to get wet, we want to get really wet, as we have become accustomed to the last few weeks.

Even on Sunday morning the weather forecast was saying heavy rain at 10 am, perfect timing for our late 10 am start.

We set off with 11 in the group all togged up in our waterproofs, Rene was so well protected she could have swum the Amazon and not got wet. It soon became apparent on the steep climb out of Conchar that it was not raining, so off with the protection as we were getting too hot. The path up is on campo roads and we made rapid progress to the ridge, there then followed a long descent down into Restabal. With rain threatening we stopped for an early lunch down by the river. Once again the waterproofs were eagerly put on again in anticipation of the torrential downpour. We had even gone to the trouble of positioning a rescue vehicle in Melegis in case conditions deteriorated too much, but no, it was just three spots of rain. We were all feeling a bit down at this stage of the walk, what is the point of a weather forecast predicting rain and then for us not to get wet. To help cheer us up Julie distributed some Easter egg goody bags she had made up. At least it lifted the sombre mood.

After lunch Dave guided the group to the river crossing, he knows this area well, him being a local. The river was in flood and the crossing was made more precarious by the odd shaped stepping stones in the river, anyone falling in would surely have being washed downstream into the dam. It was only when most of the group were across that someone noticed the bridge 10 metres away, Dave is going to the opticians this week. The route was a circular one so we had another climb back over the hill to Conchar. This time we followed a well defined footpath as it made its way straight up the hill, a superb path. At one point the waterproofs went back on again, but to no avail, it remained dry.

We even sat outside at the bar in Conchar, willing the rain to have one last go at wetting us, nothing, nada. Kees, who has taken some stick from me lately, redeemed himself, when he produced a bag of Easter eggs for everyone to share. They were a lot better than the 3 portions of vegetarian tapa we ordered with our drinks, it had chorizo in.

An enjoyable walk, a pity it did not rain.

We walked 13.4 km and climbed 623 metres.

The maximum altitude was 890 metres

The average moving speed was 3.9 k/ph

Total walking time 3 hour 27 minutes 13 seconds

The humidity was 71%

The temperature was 16.6 degrees

I am sorry for all the figures but Steve was walking with us and he likes a precise breakdown of the statistics, its a bit sad really.