Walk 25 June 2016 Laguna Yeguas

By -


This week we had a walk to the Laguna Yeguas, with the option for those who wanted something harder to go on to the refugio Elorrieta. The temperature was a cool 10.5 degrees when we all met up at the Hoya de Moya carpark on Veleta for the start of our walk.  I could understand Jim being in a T-shirt, after all he is English and it probably felt like a balmy summer's day to him but I could not understand Antonio. The rest of us had our fleeces on, even if some of us were wearing shorts.
 We set off at a steady pace, following the road up past the Virgin of the snows, I had promised Mike an easy walk. The path to the Laguna eventually leaves the road and heads off across country towards  the radio telescope. From here you could see the path the more determined amongst us were going to take up to the refugio. Things did not look promising,there was still a lot of snow about.
 We stopped at the Laguna for a snack and to sort out who wanted to go on to Elorrieta or return to the bars at Hoya de Mora. This year there were no icebergs floating in the laguna  so we had to contend with looking at the crystal clear azul water of the lake and snow covered mountains surrounding it.
 The group now split into 2, with Mike leading his charges back to the bar while the rest headed for the high ground. We had not gone far when we came across the first obstacle, a bank of snow was obscuring the path. After a short diversion we were able to climb up the snow bank and regain the path. The higher we climbed the cooler it got, with the wind picking up even Antonio succumbed to putting a fleece on, leaving Jim to go it alone in his T-shirt.  We continued on the path getting closer to the summit when we came across another large expanse of snow covering the path with a steep drop to the side. We decided to abandon our quest to reach the refugio, preferring to return another day when conditions are more favorable, rather than risk certain death if we slipped whilst crossing the snow.
We made our way back to the laguna de la Virgin where we stopped for lunch, it was beautiful, a perfect setting. We were hidden away out of the wind, surrounded by snow with the laguna stretching out in front of us. No wonder the young lass remained a virgin, the lads would never have found her up here.
After lunch we headed back down to the cars, stopping of for refreshment at one of the bars on the carpark.
A great day out, even if we did not achieve our objective.    
We walked 14.5 km and climbed 573 metres and burnt 1858 calories.


There are no walks Sunday 26 June and 3 July as some of us are heading north, in case of a brexit vote we can continue on to Santander and a ferry back to the UK.

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