29 September 2013 Gúejar Sierra

By -


The original plan this week was to go on our big walk to the refugio Elorrieta, this is at over 3000 metres and it is at the head of the Lanjaron valley, with access from veleta. By the middle of the week the weather forecast was predicting cloud so a backup plan was made, with a walk from El Dornajor visitor centre at 1600 metres. Sunday morning was very cloudy and there was lot of speculation when we met in Cozvijar as to whether or not El Dornajor would be in the cloud.
Cloud was the least of our problems by the time we arrived there, it was cold and pouring down. My idea of what is light drizzle late in the day is obviously different from the man who wrote the weather forecast.
Our group now consisted of thirteen people, twelve of of them were looking at me and thinking they could have stayed in bed. I needed to pull a rabbit out of the hat and pretty quickly if I was to retain any credibility within the group.
There was no chance of walking from here, the only way to save my reputation was to go down into Gúejar Sierra. A new footpath had been opened on Saturday along the route of the old tramway. It is amongst the trees and in and out of tunnels down by the river and, best of all, it passes numerous bars and restaurants, so plenty of places to seek shelter. This was an immediate winner, especially with Graham and Conchi, who immediately started planning what they were going to eat. Goodness knows how many cafes they visited when they were in London together.   
The start of the walk is at the head of the pantarno, of course you can’t see the footpath sign, that is 100 metres down the track. It was still raining but the temperature was a lot better down here. So we set off to walk the 2 km to the bar at Maitena, much to the consternation of Graham and Conchi who had envisaged sitting in the bar having breakfast and watching the rain come down.
This section of the track is superb, it’s level, in a dense chestnut forest, and full of interesting sign boards telling you about the history of the track. The path passes the door of the old Maitena station, which is now a big restaurant. Suitably clad in our wet weather gear we all trooped in, they even put down a red carpet for us, I think it was more to do with catching all the water that was running off us than welcoming such an esteemed group of walkers. They did serve some excellent coffee and toast so we stayed till the rain had nearly stopped and we thought we had better make a move, even Hilary’s B team were planning on going further than this.
Setting off again we had intended going up as far as the barranco San Juan but the rain returned so we decided to call it a day and head for the bar San Juan in Gúejar Sierra instead, nearly the same place, just short of a ranco! (Bar ranco)
We had a good afternoon in the bar and all that was left was a delicate matter of a bag of sh*t. Now, to Mark, having a bag of Manure in the car may not be a big deal, but somehow we got landed with bringing back a sodding big bag of the stuff for Mike and his Tomato plants. I don’t know what smelt the sweetest, 5 wet hikers or the bag of sh*t.
We didn’t walk far, only 8.5km, and we got wet, a feature of our walks at the moment but everyone seemed to enjoy themselves.     
We walked 8.5 km and climbed 143 metres.
Hilary’s walk
Our walk took us from Los Naranjos down to the reservoir and then up to Restabal on a winding path through the vegetable plots and into the lower barrio, conveniently close to Bar Jovi where the seven of us filled the tiny terrace.  I forgot my camera so I'll tell you that our group included Liz [Chite], Tony and Fran [Restabal], Dave [Murchas], Isabelle and Peter [Vienna].  From there we headed out of the village, up the Rio Durcal past the lavender farm and then back to Melegis, a circular walk of 8 km with many walnuts and figs consumed on the way.  It is good to see so much land devoted to vegetables. Amidst the orange groves there were neat rows of lettuce, cabbage, beetroot and maize and carefully staked tomatoes, beans, aubergines, courgettes etc  One huerta had an unusual orange tree, spouting football size toadstools which on closer inspection were found be to gourds.  
Good to be back.
Hilary

The photo was taken at our turnaround point near to the barranco San Juan.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Walk Sunday 2 December 2018 Sierra Manar

By -
Image
This week we went walking in the Sierra Manar, the range of hills behind Dilar.  The walk had been postponed from a few weeks back when it was raining every day, it’s not a walk to do when the ground is wet and muddy. The weather forecast for this Sunday was for sunshine and temperatures of 21 degrees, perfect walking conditions.  The walk starts from the Ermita Nueva and heads up a gentle slope through Olive trees.  After 1 km the path follows the tree line on what at first looks like a level track. It soon becomes apparent that it’s not level at all, but a series of switchbacks with steep ups and downs.  There were only 9 in the group, and we all walked together, chatting and enjoying the warm sunshine. Nobody thought to check that we all turned onto a path into the forest. It was only when we emerged on the other side we noticed our group had dropped to 7, Elsa and Martine were missing.  At first, we weren't worried, we thought they would soon rejoin us. After
Read more

Walk Sunday 4 November 2018 Nerja

By -
Image
This week with snow on the Sierras we decided to go down to Nerja for our walk, at least it would be warm down there. I left home in long trousers, fleece and a jacket. One hour later, at the start of the walk from the caves, I was down to shorts and a T-shirt, don’t worry I had not thrown caution to the wind, they were all in my rucksack along with another 2 coats.  The route was a circular one setting off from the caves and the idea was that we could do an easy and a harder walk, with the easy walkers walking with us for the first half of the route and then making their way back along a 4X4 track, whilst the harder walk went up a hill. Trying to keep track as to who, and how many there were in the group was impossible, even Einstein would have had trouble keeping up with all the comings and goings. For the first 1km, the track follows a 4X4 road to the picnic site, it then drops down into a superb barranco which fortunately, even after all the rain, was still dry. Th
Read more

Walk 18 November 2018 Talara

By -
Image
The walk this Sunday was a local one from Talara. The weather forecast was not promising. It wasn’t a matter of if it rained, it was at what time would it start and how heavy.  We met at the crossroads in Talara and the fallback wet weather option was coffee in Antonio’s where we could reminisce about walking in dry sunny weather. It would only be a short discussion as dry weather was sadly lacking in 2018. It was decided to skip the coffee, it wasn’t raining yet, and we had a walk to do. The route was designed with 12 options to shorten it when the rain started, it also went close by a number of Limper homes where we could seek refuge if necessary.  The walk passed through Chite where we picked up a couple of stragglers and then headed off down to the dam. This is a wonderful path as it winds its way down the hillside in and out of the Agave plants, Fortunately, I had brought my machete with me, as a number needed trimming. I had to be careful this week, my care
Read more