6th April 2014 Ermita Vieja

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We had two walks organised for Sunday, one easy and one a little harder.
On Sunday we went on a local walk to the Ermita Vieja. The weather forecast was predicting 24 degrees and wall to wall sunshine. Everyone was expecting a cracking walk  with perfect conditions in wonderful countryside, they were not disappointed.
We met in Marchena and then drove a couple kms to the start of the walk. The path starts off with a steep uphill section, fortunately it only lasts a few minutes. After this the path continues uphill, but the gradient is only 12%, so we were able proceed at a good pace. In part this was down to our new trainee guide. Conchi had expressed an interest in leading a walk and this was her first day, with on the job training, I think she forgot about the old guys at the back!
After walking for 1 hour uphill and with the views opening up over the snow covered slopes of Cabello, we stopped for a well earned rest and refreshment. I must say it looked fantastic, after the rain during the week there was plenty of the white stuff on the tops.
We then walked for a further hour and  stopped for lunch overlooking Picacho Alto. You could not wish for a better spot to stop  and eat your sandwiches. The walk returned to Marchena via the Ermita Vieja.
In the afternoon we went around to Jan and Martine’s for tapas, and we had a discussion about what the oldies could do to keep up with the increasing numbers of youngsters in the group. Now we are OK on the flat bits, but as you know there are not many of these around in our corner of Spain. No, the problem is the uphill bits. The consensus was that on the uphill sections the youngsters in the group will carry the rucksacks of the oldies, and if that does not slow them down enough we can always put some rocks into their bags as well. Anyone under 60 is classed as a youngster and, if you are as old as Mike, Dave H will give you a piggy back on the steep bits.     
We walked 13.9 km and climbed 583 metres.
Stuart
Only Quina, Dave and I opted for the easier walk. It was about 10km with a very modest 30m height gain as we headed back up to the bar.  As many of the original Limpers will remember there is never a dull moment with Quina.  We stopped many times to watch birds, mating frogs etc, talk about ancient springs, the roman road, peat workings and the draining of the laguna whilst the walk itself had a couple of little diversions as when we crossed a canal on a plank and retraced our steps to swig home-made wine with locals, distant "primos" I assume.  They were planting potatoes the old fashioned way with horse and plough. Altogether a gentle walk on a glorious day with the snow covered Sierras towering above us.
Hilary


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