Walk 15th July 2007

Lecrin Valley Limper

Dear all

As predicted last week the transport arrangements this week were chaotic, I thought I was doing a reasonable job of organising everything when the blond said we needed a proper logistics manager. She promptly got in her car and set off in the wrong direction. At this point I must own up by saying I then committed a serious error, when I was bringing the drivers back from Izbor ,before the start of the walk, I missed the Pinos turn off and had to do a circuit back to Lecrin. I will also like to say that the blond trainee logistics manager committed the same error some 5 hours later, perhaps she will be able to apply for the job again at a later stage.

The walk was from Pinos del Valle to Izbor and our guides this week were Nick and Carol, this routes uses a series of tracks, paths, and short cuts as it twists and turns on the wooded hillside between the two villages. I started a new game that was soon taken up by Veronica and Rob, it involved finding a suitable section of the path that had loose stones scattered about, standing on them and watching in amazement as your feet disappeared from underneath you.

While the walk was only 4 hours long I think it was with relief that the 16 walkers eventually stumbled into the Casa Blanca bar in Izbor, where suitable refreshment was served.

On our return to Chite we had tapa at Rob and Sandy´s new house and once again a wide and varied selection of delicious food was on offer. Sandy had a full time job showing people around, it was a bit like the Alhambra palace tours with timed tickets.

Our walk this Sunday the 15^th July is Veleta. The walk takes about 6 hours and while not over difficult terrain it can be classed as a hard walk because of the altitude. At 3396 meters Veleta is Spain´s second highest mountain. Conditions can be totally different from what you are used to at this time of the year, So make sure that you pack suitable equipment including a warm drink, food, plenty of water, boots, fleece, windproof, long trousers and some money. Hopefully the only things you will need are the food, drink and money. We drive to the car park above the Ski resort of Pradollano, this is as far as you can drive in a car but a mini bus can take you higher, but this is not our transport for today, we have something far more exciting. From the car park we follow the road up and around to the second ski station, where we catch a chair lift up the side of Veleta. It does not take us to the top but leaves us with about 1.5 hours of walking. Whilst the gradients are not steep the reduced oxygen levels at this altitude make the going a lot harder than in the valley. The advantage of this route is that if anybody finds the going too difficult you can turn around and make your way back fairly easily. Lunch will be at the top where extensive views from the mirador are first class, with only Mulhacen at 3479 meters blocking your view. Mulhacen will feature in the coming weeks but the walk is longer and harder, so check your performance out on Veleta first. Our return route is a bit quicker as we avoid the top section of the road and come down quite a steep little path back to the ski lift and the return walk back to the car park. Do not plan to pick water up on route, Veleta is a dry mountain.

On our return to Chite tapa will be held at our house.

If you are going on the walk please meet outside the Acropolis bar Mondújar at 8am

The walk is not suitable for dogs.

Have a good week and we hope to see you on Sunday

Stuart