Lecrin Valley Limpers

We had 2 walks planned on Sunday, our hard end of the month walk following the route of the Neveros and an easier walk with Hilary from Melegis. The hard walk. We had a small, select group of walkers this week, in fact there was only John and myself in Cozvijar for our late 9 am start. Fortunately  Rafa, Antonia, Fernando and Mark were waiting for us at the alternative meeting point near the Dornajo visitor centre on Veleta. The weather was perfect and the temperature was just right for exploring this new area. In the past I have walked on all the paths but this week was the first time we have put it all together into a circular walk. The walk starts by following the first section of the Sulayr long distance path but, after a couple of kilometres, it crosses the los Neveros path coming up from Granada, this was used until the advent of refrigerators to bring ice down from Veleta for use by the Granadinos during the summer.    This is an excellent, well ...

Our walk on Sunday was the big one, yes, it was Mulhacen and they just don’t come any bigger in mainland Spain. We are so lucky to have this enormous lump of rock on our doorstep.  Every year I think no one will want to go up it again but every year, in spring, someone will say “when are we doing Mulhacen this year” and the numbers just keep growing. Poor Paco at the information centre keeps having to find bigger and bigger buses for us.  There were 26 people originally booked to go but, at the last moment we had 3 who were not feeling too good and this is the last place to be if you are not 100%.   We had a very early, 7 am, start from Beznar, and then drove to Capileira and met up with the sensible ones who had spent the night up there in hotels. After a quick cup of coffee we were off in the Medio Ambiente bus that would takes us to the start of the walk at 2500 metres. The conditions were superb, clear skies and the temperature perfect for a da...

Phew! It’s hot, my newly cleaned and polished crystal balls were right in predicting dry sunny weather. I am sorry for the misunderstanding in last weeks email, it should have read “Olwyn has spent the last few days cleaning and polishing my crystal balls”. Some folks thought I had had a very good week, and that I had also found a new way to forecast the weather, neither of them were correct.  Anyway we are having a heatwave, not an English heatwave of 22 degrees, this is a full on 44 degree Spanish heatwave.  Because of the heat we had a short walk planned to Pico Lopera. We had an early 8.30 start from Cozvijar and stopped off in Padul to pick the Granada contingent up.  There were 21 of us and a puppy for what is an easy walk in spectacular countryside.  The walk starts from the Mesón de los Prados, the little bar on the carretera de Cabra, and it follows a farm track through rolling countryside. We were lucky to see a family of Jabali out for...

This week we had 2 big walks planned. One for the sensible ones and one for 6 guys who wanted something a bit tougher.  We all started together from the carpark at Hoya de la Mora on Veleta for the first half of the walk to the refugio Elorrieta. To start with the walk passes through the ski area above Pradollano, not the prettiest area in which to walk but the going was easy, something that was appreciated by those carrying heavy packs.  We stopped for a quick bite to eat at the Laguna Yeguas and then the serious climbing began. The scenery becomes very dramatic and it doesn’t look possible that they could have put a path through it. With Martin leading the way I decided to help the stragglers at the back. Between gasps of breath I offered a few words of encouragement to the inevitable question “are we nearly there yet”. At least I had not unloaded my pack onto a long suffering wife like Dave  had. I carried every kilo the whole way.  The weather w...

I would like to start by offering a public apology to Richard and Jackie for arranging to meet them at 9.15 in Otura. The time should have been 8.45, so of course they were not there. I had put this down to Richard getting lost again, never thinking my instructions would be at fault. With an amazing feat of navigation Jacky coerced Richard into following us. This week we went on another river walk, this time to Dilar. The walk starts from the carpark opposite the Merendero and follows the river, on a good track, to the hydro station. We were walking slowly, waiting for Dave and Julie to catch us up, as they had had a late start.  After the Hydro the track turns into a path and you start the crossings of the river.  In the past we have never been able to agree exactly how many times you did have to cross the river. So, determined to get an accurate figure, we assigned the task to Sid, at 7 years old he still has the mental agility to remember from one crossing ...

In an effort to cool down from the 40 something temperatures we have had this week we scheduled a river walk in the Rio Durcal. The walk is a hidden gem, known only to a few people, it’s a fantastic walk for anyone seeking solitude, in the peace and quiet of some stunning scenery.  There were 30 people waiting at the Durcal Corivan for our later than normal 9.30 am start, so for anyone seeking solitude this was not going to be the walk for them.  We drove to the start of the walk down by the river, it’s a pleasant enough walk through the campo from Durcal, but walking back in the heat of the day is a killer.  The walk starts by climbing up to an acequia, this is when we discovered that someone had erected a footpath sign. Yes, I kid you not, a proper sign, now the whole world would be able to find our hidden gem, but we were still early enough to be in front of the masses.  We had not gone far when we discovered wet footprints on the path and...

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 any...

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 diffi...

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 mirag...

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 Elor...

This week we had a big walk to Caballo. We had 24 booked to go  on the walk, so many in fact that we had hired Antonio’s  8 seater 4X4 taxi, plus 4 of our own off roaders to get everyone up to the Rinconada de Nigúelas, the starting point for the walk.  Now normally the little carpark at the Rinconada is empty but on Sunday it was full, our route to the summit is proving very popular. Setting off on our climb we soon discovered why. There was a big group in front of us from Motril.  We had a leisurely climb to the summit and arrived at the same time as the Motril group, and we were surprised to learn that they had heard of us and they suggested that we join them sometime for a walk. They were a very friendly group, they even joined in whilst we were trying to do our group photo. The photo had so many people in it was impossible to recognise anybody.    After lunch on the summit three of our group decided to return to the cars whilst t...

This week we did not have a walk, just a BBQ in Dilar. My personal assistant, Antonia and myself have spent weeks organising this BBQ, we thought we had nailed it down to the finest detail but it still ended in chaos. This is the first time we have had a BBQ in a restaurant, the idea was a good one as we had visited this bar February whilst walking in the area and the tapas was amazing. What we had not taken into account was that the chaotic service we received on our first visit was just a sample of what they could achieve when we went for a meal.  The venue was superb with loads of shade from the trees and a garden like setting. It is close enough to the river to keep the temperature down, it must have been the most refreshing place in Granada. The atmosphere was good, with a lot of families there.  With no one in overall control, and most of the staff appearing to be on work experience, it was a recipe for disaster.   In spite of everything w...

This week we had a spectacular day out on the Caminito del Rey. 20 fearless people had signed up for the walk, which was once described as the most dangerous in the world.   Nowadays, after a major update, it’s just scary.  We had arranged to travel in style, we had hired a luxury VIP  mini coach. It was waiting for us when we arrived at El Zahor, our meeting point. We were all there except Billy who had misread the email. After a telephone call we were able to redirect him and then we were off to Ardales. We asked the driver  to stop for coffee along the way. This was a great way to travel, no one had any worries about driving, we were all together with no one getting lost along the way. No problems with parking at the start of the walk, we just got off the bus and told him to come back for us at 5pm. I was so impressed I am thinking of getting a chauffeur for the Dacia.  The only indication as to the start of the walk is a little sign a...

This week we had 2 walks organised a tough one and an easy one. The tough group met in Durcal and had a short drive to the start of the walk above the Hydro electric station. Since we last did this walk 3 years ago the route has been upgraded to a PR local path, with yellow and white waymarking signs. An excellent choice as the views are superb and it’s good to see the medio ambiente putting some effort into promoting these paths. It’s not a difficult climb, just steady away, for 2 hours as you slowly zig zag back and forth following the line of the water tube for the hydro. I have to appologise to Jim at this point as I had promised him we would see the tubo, but it was not to be. Someone has been working very hard covering it in. Talk about breaking rocks, I don’t know what the poor sods had done to get that job. After two hours and with most of the climbing done you arrive at the casita del agua a little house where someone used to live and controlled the water going d...