Lecrin Valley Limpers

We had a new Sunday walk this week in a barranco near Jayena. It’s a walk we discovered in the summer when we had planned to go all the way from the Carretera de Cabra to Jayena. The way through was blocked by brambles so we found another route for our return. This is the route we did on Sunday, slightly modified to remove a difficult scramble.  The weather conditions were perfect, blue skies, a bit of frost on the trees out of the sun and wonderful views. The walk follows a forest track for a couple of kms until the start of the barranco. It begins in an inauspicious way, and slowly builds the further you go. The autumn colours on the trees were a perfect match to the canyon walls. We stopped for a little lunch in a great natural amphitheater with sufficient seating for 500.  A few weeks ago in an effort to try and clear a path the Tuesday group had returned armed with machetes and secateurs. We hacked away for what seemed like hours but gave up after clearing about

We had a big storm on Friday night and Saturday brought further heavy rain to the valley and fresh snow to the Sierra Nevada, so I was quite surprised to find 19 walkers waiting in Melegis. Dave and Julie joined us when we knocked on their door. It’s a good job we did as I think they would have spent the day in bed. We now had 21 to walk the plank on the way back, most of the group did not know what was coming. Last week Hilary lost 1 walker and a dog, this week I did much better, I returned minus 9 but more of that later.  After passing through the Orange groves of Melegis the walk starts on the 400 metre climb to the ridge between Melegis and Conchar. At first it is quite steep but it soon turns into a pleasant climb with the views opening up the higher you go. At the top we split into 2 groups the “No fear” group going with Dave down a superb path with steep drops, the rest of us followed the Campo road down into Conchar. We had arranged to meet up at the La Huertec

We had 2 walks organised this week, an easy walk with Hilary from Restabal and the big, end of the month walk to Pico Lucero. Pico Lucero We had an early 08.00 start on Sunday, well, we had to make the most of the available daylight on the day the clocks went back. It was only 7 degrees when we arrived at the start of the walk, the valley is in the shade, fortunately there is about 1 km where you can walk at a brisk pace and generate a bit of heat. Of course Plym, being immune to cold weather, chose to walk in her sleeveless T-Shirt. After crossing a river, note no one fell in, we started on the climb and into the sun. It wasn’t long before the fleece jackets were coming off. The beauty about this walk is that you climb a bit, then it levels out, and this keeps repeating until you eventually arrive at the top. After the first climb, and with our destination looming over us, we stopped for a quick break, it’s a good spot to stop but it does make you think you might h