Walk Sunday 24 July 2016 Circular from the Botanical gardens

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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 knows.
The path continues all the way to Veleta, far too far away for us today, the temperature was rising but we had a nice breeze to keep us fresh. We stopped for an early lunch at the highest point and I went off to explore a new path I had seen on the map. It turned out to be non existent so we made our return on a path we knew. We were soon down the steep hillside and into the forest on section 1 of the Sulayr. This is a delightful area to visit in the spring when the wildflowers are out. So remind me next year and we will pay it another visit.
 The forest section provided us with plenty of shade as the path made it’s way back down to the cars.
 It was too early to go home so we stopped off at the merendero for a drink. Normally this bar is heaving on a Sunday but it looked as if all the Granadinos had gone to the playa for the day, we nearly had it to ourselves.
A great walk and a chance to get some cooler, fresher air for a change.  
 
We walked 9 km and climbed 616 metres.

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