Walk 5 January 2014 Venta del Fraile

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Our first walk of the new year was a spectacular success, 23 turned up at the cold and windy BP garage in Cozvijar. It was so cold I started thinking of alternative plans, involving mulled wine and hot fires. In the end, because a lot of the walk was in a forest,  we decided to go for it. We could always cut the walk short and then head off for the mulled wine and log fire.
The plan was to run 2 walks from Venta del Fraile on the Carretera de Cabra road. We would all start off together for the first 6 km and then split, with Hilary leading a group back on a short cut, and the rest carrying on for another 10 km.
For logistical reasons we needed 8 cars and my idea of parking at the Venta del Fraile bar were thrown into disarray, there would not have been any room for paying customers, luckily we found some waste ground close by. I was expecting to be hit by the icy wind when we got out of the car but there was nothing, not even a breeze, strange how conditions can change with a few kilometers.
The walk follows the road for a couple of hundred metres and then heads off into the forest and a short climb up to a well constructed ancient mule track.
The level track twists in and out a series of barrancos, giving you spectacular views over the Sierra Nevada. Why it was constructed I have no idea when you could have walked in the valley floor in a third of the time. Perhaps it was constructed just for us because there are no sign posts and we have never seen anyone else in these parts.
We had advertised Hillary’s walk as 9 km but it seemed a shame for them to leave us at the designated turnaround point, as 1 km further along there is a spectacular view over Jayena and the Sierras de Tejeda, Almijara y Alhama Natural park. Besides they had no idea how far they had traveled. Unless someone tells them otherwise.
So as a group we all climbed up to the quarry, this does involve a slight trespass and crossing over a fence, which no one seemed bothered about. The views are well worth the little extra effort involved and it also made the perfect place to stop for lunch. So finding a sheltered rock to sit behind, as the wind had returned to this exposed spot, we stopped to eat our sandwiches.
After lunch we returned to the main path and said goodbye to Hilary and her group who were returning the quick way along the valley floor.
The rest of us continued down a steep sided, bolder strewn barranco in a loop that took us around the base of the quarry. At the bottom and out of the wind, it was quite warm and Jan, who has lived in the wilds of Scotland for the past 30 years, must have thought summer had arrived because we found him walking around in shorts and a T shirt. Either that, or he has still got that inner glow that comes with working with all that radioactive stuff.   
After this it was a short climb up on to the ridge and down to the valley floor road back to cars.
At one point Kees and I thought we were finally going to make a bit of money with our complaints scam,  procedure. Steve, who has not walked with us for a few months and was unaware about the new complaints policy, wanted to complain about the poor view he was getting of the Sierra Nevadas, there was a tree in the way at this point and it was blocking his view. He appeared quite taken with the idea that he could be entitled to compensation of up to €10.00. It was only when we mentioned the €20 administration fee that he decided to withdraw the complaint.
Returning to the cars we drove to Venta del Fraile for drinks and tapas before returning home.
An excellent day out on a walk with some of the finest views around.
 
Because Steve was on the walk this week and he likes to know these things, I have one or two very interesting stats taken from the GPS.
Hilary’s group walked 11.2 km and climbed 183 metres.
The boys and girls in the A team walked 15.9 km and climbed 459 metres.
The maximum altitude was 1516 metres and minimum was 1155 metres.
The walking time was 3 hour 40 minutes 46 seconds and we averaged 4.3 km/h
The elapsed time was 4 hour 51 minutes 15 seconds

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