17 August 2014 Rio Durcal

By -



Hi
We had a superb walk this week, well it could not really be described as a walk, it was  more of a scramble in a river, and we all got soaked.
We had met at Los Mondarinos in Durcal and then driven down to the Rio Durcal picnic area, it’s only a couple of kms but it saves the walk back when it is starting to get warm.
You can only do this walk in the summer when the water temperature is high enough, and the volume of water is reduced.
The walk starts by following an acequia as it meanders through a cleft in the rocks. If you can take your eyes off the narrow path for a moment and look up it is a truly stunning path. Anywhere else, it would be a tourist attraction, with coach trips and “that will be €5.00 please”. In our corner of Spain it’s “so what, why would anyone want to come here” Long may this attitude continue and we can continue to enjoy our walks in solitude. Well, not quite, there were 22 of us.
The acequia and river eventually meet up and this is where the fun begins. There is no option, you have to walk in the river. Elisa did try to find a route that was dry but to no avail, she was the first to fall in and get a soaking.
Every year the geography of the valley changes as the rocks get moved in the winter storms. Well this years arrangement was just about perfect, with enough big rocks to scramble around and sufficient water to paddle through. At times those amongst us who are vertically challenged, well alright, short arses, looked to be on the verge of disappearing in some of the deeper ponds, only to emerge a few seconds later with a big smile on their faces and everyone else killing themselves laughing.
The natural turnaround point is an enormous rock pool and waterfall, it is possible to go on, but you have to be serious, and what is the point of that. We were there for a laugh. For anyone who was not soaking wet already the rock pool was an ideal opportunity to cool down, this year there is even a natural water slide. You have to return back down the river as there is no possibility of climbing out of the valley, the sides are nearly vertical. The fun and games continued all the way back to the cars.
An excellent day out.    
We walked 6 km and climbed 50 metres, figures estimated as the GPS does not work underwater.



Comments

Andy Grigg said…
I think we missed out - enjoying your posts - Andy
9:12 am
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