Lecrin Valley Limpers

Our walk this week started from the Botanical gardens above Cumbres Verde. It was only a short walk as the temperature was forecast to be around 40 degrees.  Elsa had offered to take her car, I think there may have been a misunderstanding of the words “forest road with steep drops”. When we got to our destination not only had she chewed all her nails, her fingers were down to the stumps and her shiny black car was now a dull white. It was a delight to discover the temperature was only around 20 degrees, it felt positively fresh and I was regretting not packing my fleece.  We set off following section 2 of  the Sulayr path towards the Rincon de Nigüelas, 20km away.  Fortunately for us we were only following the camino forestal for 2.2 km, the rest of the way is a killer. Instead we took a small path as it climbs up the loma de los Panaderos. It’s a lovely path as it twists and turns up the hillside, what the bread men found to do up here, miles from anywhere, god only kno

We were a small, select group this week for our walk to the Albergue Francisco. The higher the temperature the more inventive the excuses become for not turning out. Can you believe the Distinguished wise one wanted to watch 2 men hit a ball with a stick in the rain, and Speedo Dave wanted to go swimming in the sea wearing a white cap. Why? He’s bald and does it matter if lost a few hairs in the sea.  The walk started a couple of kms above the Dornajo information centre on Veleta. It’s a walk we have not done for a while as, last time we did it, the way back was across a difficult hillside on a non existent path. So this time, after many hours searching maps and Google earth, and discovering what looked like a possible path that would cut the difficult section out, I thought it was worth  doing and exploring this quiet and overlooked area of Veleta.  I planned the walk in the opposite direction this time as it would get all the climbing, and possible difficult bits, out

With so many of the group away on holiday I was surprised to find there were 15 of us ready and waiting at the Beznar roundabout for this week's walk.  Our destination was Bubion, where we hoped to find somewhere a bit cooler than the 40 degrees forecast for Granada.  The path leads straight up hill from the carpark and, for the next hour, continues climbing sometimes steeply, until you arrive at the mirador overlooking the 3 villages of the Porqueira valley. We stopped here for our mid morning break and the group photo. The path continues uphill for another km but at a much gentler incline, and you soon arrive at the high point of the walk at 1784 metres. From here it is all down hill, apart from the little bits of up you have to do on the way down.  The heat must have affected my judgement, I suddenly found myself saying we would soon be swimming in rock pools under a giant waterfall, surrounded by dusky maidens, I was hallucinating, it was a mirage. I had f