Lecrin Valley Limpers

Dear All What a delightful little walk, most of us had this last Sunday. The walk was to the Hermita, above Pinos del Valle and is a must for any true Limper because of the outstanding views of our Valley that the little hill affords. So on a very bright and sunny, slightly breezy morning our group of 17 set off on our little excursion. The normal route sets off from Pinos and zig zags straight up to the Hermita, but our route was the longer but far more interesting one that leaves Pinos on the Guajar Faraguit road for about 1km before turning right, up what was once a pleasant gravel road out into the campos, but somebody is doing their best to try and spoil it, by laying concrete and making it another soulless road. You sometimes wonder if the guy who invented cement realised how much destruction and devastation his product would cause to such a beautiful landscape. After about 2 km you come to the real objective of coming this way, a wonderful little path that leads ...

Dear Limper We had an excellent turnout today for a walk, that had been advertised as having spectacular views, and particularly views of Africa. So it was with a sinking feeling in my heart that I and 14 other brave and intrepid walkers set off for the summit of Pico Lopera. Our only hope that the views would materialise, was that the gale force wind would blow away the fog, that was swirling around us. One advantage of the fog was, because you could not see the objective of the walk we did not receive the usual cries of "Oh my God, we are not going all the way up there, are we?". Surprisingly for the altitude you climb and the height you attain, the walk is very easy. While the cloud base did slowly became higher, it was not fast enough to ensure the dramatic vistas we had hoped for, and we arrived at the summit watch tower still surrounded by fog. A quick picnic stop was taken, as we huddled around the watch tower like Penguins in an Antarctic winter. We h...

Dear all I thought Margarets' offer to host the tapa would swell the numbers turning up for the walk, and this turned out to be the case, with 16 of the crew setting forth from Murchas on a blustery morning. The hard part was knowing what to wear, you needed a jacket on because of the wind, but the sun was quite strong so you were soon sweating. The walk sets off from Murchas and heads out of the village up to the canal which you then follow on a broad track for about 2 km. Surprisingly for the little altitude that you have to climb the views are magnificent. At the point where the canal disappears into a tunnel, the wide track finishes and you have to follow a little track up the hillside for 50 meters. It is at this point that the sick and the lame turned back to follow the track back to Murchas. The rest continued along the track and headed up a gentle hill for the next hour with panoramic views in all directions. At the top, when El Caballo, with it's snowy top...

Dear All The weather in the valley this past week has been decidedly mixed. A typically English summer week, wet, cold, and the odd burst of sunshine. So it was with fingers crossed that a last minute decision was made to go ahead with the planned excursion up the Rio Dilar. We set off with a total of 5 cars in a convoy but as the inevitable happens with so many cars we lost one along the way. They eventually reappeared saying that they liked Dilar so much they thought it would be nice to go around it twice. In true Limper tradition 12 started the walk, but we had 2 with gammy knees in the group, so after about 1 hour of walking, and a number of river crossings, 6 members decided to turn back. I think the real reason was, they were afraid they would miss the 3pm start of the tapa party. The remaining 6 in the group continued on for a further hour, but with the clouds getting lower, or the path getting higher, and a definite chance that they would miss the 3pm start of the...

Dear all After a week of bitter cold temperatures, snow and heavy rain, it was with some trepidation that we set off on our Sunday walk under heavy grey skies accompanied by a strong head wind, which eventually worked in our favour by blowing the clouds away, leaving us all sweating under the multi layers of clothing that we were all wearing. The walk eventually started from the centre of Padul, after a misunderstanding as to where we were supposed to meet, and set off across the unbelievable flat farm land that was once the bed of a lagoon. As soon as you arrive at the other side, the banking surrounding the lagoon rises steeply and it was amongst this jumble of rocks that the remains of a Roman road could be found. This is not a sample of the long, straight, well constructed Roman roads that you can still find in Britain. This is a track that you would have trouble getting a challenger tank down, never mind a horse and cart, The good people of Padul must have made a for...

Dear all What wonderful weather we had on Sunday, for our walk from Marchena. I know the area around Marchena does not appear too interesting and this may well have put a number of people off going on the walk, but from the start of the walk it only takes about 5 minutes before you are walking in a pine forest, on an old mule track meandering around the hill side as it slowly climbs towards the Camino forestal running below the Sierra del Manar. With no great distance to travel and a meal booked at the Mezquita restaurant we were able to travel slowly, stopping frequently to admire the unfolding views around us. Including the frequent stops the walk took about 3 hours. Our walk this coming Sunday the 28th, is a tapa included walk, and is classed as easy and suitable for Olwyn. The walk sets off from Padul and crosses the valley floor of what once was the bed of the lagoon. Hopefully we may see signs of the old Roman road which skirted along the edge of the lagoon. There...