Walk Sunday 30 October 2016 The caves of Húetor

By -



What a fantastic day for a walk, clear blue sky, not a cloud to be seen anywhere all day, perfect walking temperatures.
This week was our big end of the month walk, as it turned out it was not quite as big as advertised, but it was still a great day out.
 The walk started from the Puerto Lobo visitor centre in the Húetor parque natural, we had arranged to meet Mari Carmen there but, unfortunately, she had gone to the wrong place. So after waiting a few minutes for her we set off for the trenches, a sad reminder to all those who lost their lives in the civil war. The walk continued on to the Cueva del Gato, an unusual name because I can’t imagine any self respecting cat living here, there are no beds, sofas or any of the on demand services required by a cat.
After a short break we continued down to the lowest point of the walk. I think some of the group were hoping I had had a change of heart and that it would be a downhill walk for a change. Sadly this was not true because we had another cave to visit, some 600 metres above us. The way up is a delightful path that twists and turns as it makes it’s way up through the forest. I had planned to stop for lunch at the old TB hospital that has a nice wall to sit on, under the shade of a big tree. Unfortunately another group had beat us to it, and we ended up sitting amongst the falling down ruins of the hospital. There are so many people out walking these days it’s becoming a problem finding somewhere to stop.
After lunch we continued the walk up to the Cueva del Agua. The last time we were here the gate was open and we were able to enter easily. This time we had to crawl under the fence, but don’t tell anyone because I think it is there to keep people out.
From here it is virtually all down hill as I did not think we had time to climb up to the Cruz de Viznar, now that the nights are drawing in.
 A few years ago we stopped off at a quiet little bar in the park so we thought we would pay it another visit. The place was packed, and we had to beg, borrow and steal the tables and chairs. The guys on the table next to us were all smoking pot and we were shrouded in smoke, we all went home on a high, I don’t remember the drive back.
This was another of my favorite walks and everyone else seemed to enjoy it as well.


We walked 16.5 km and climbed 681 metres

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