Lecrin Valley Limpers

The weather for our walk on Sunday was a lot better than had been originally forecast, whilst not reaching the temperatures we had in August it was warm enough for some to walk in T shirts. I personally kept my fleece on, it did only get up to 16 degrees. The walk started from the car park in Monachil and followed the easy route through the gorge. The National park have done a lot of work on the footpath, erecting new fences, and fitting hand holds where the rocks overhang, a big improvement. The health and safety executive must have been around, the next thing, we will have to do a risk assessment, before doing the walk. Once again the autumn colours were wonderful and, set against the bright blue cloudless sky, it made the walk well worth while. Sadly this week it did not get the accolade of the best walk ever. On our return to the valley we went to Josettes for a celebration and tapa, Finally the courts have seen sense, and Josette has won the court case that seems to ...

What a great day out we had on Sunday, in fact it was described by one walker as the best walk ever, mind, she says this after every walk. but it was a cracker, the scenery and the autumn colours were stunning. The walk started in Fondales in the Alpujaras and headed down to, and then across, the Rio Trevelez before heading up the dark side of Sierra Mercina. At this time of the year this north facing hillside is mostly in shadow in the morning with a few patches of sun light dotting the path, it was like walking in and out of a freezer. One of the big attractions of this walk is the way down from the top of Sierra Mercina. The drop is near vertical but the path is very ingeniously woven into the hillside, so much so that, when you get to the bottom you cannot see where you have been. I have done this walk a number of times but have never stopped at the health fountain. This is a natural spring, with carbonated water, absolutely fantastic, on the next visit I will take so...

Sunday dawned bright and sunny, and for me that was a welcome change, having just spend 5 days in the UK. I think someone must have forgotten to turn the sun on, I had to walk round with a torch all week. Our walk this week took us down the hill to Guájar Faragúit and we were soon walking and stripping off to T shirts and regretting we had not put shorts on. After a short, stiff climb we arrived at the ruined moorish castle, situated high above the valley where we stopped for our breakfast. Our return journey took us through the lush valley bottom, and the hunter gathers amongst us were in second heaven as we wandered amongst Tangerine, Advocado and Custard Apple trees. Quina excelled herself this week by wangling an invite into a very friendly farmers field, by the time we arrived back in Faragúit we were loaded down with produce. Tapa was held at our house this week and an excellent meal was enjoyed by all. Our walk this Sunday, the 16th November, is a trip into the Alpu...

I do not know what the official government position is regarding the ending of the 7 year drought, but here in the valley we have seen so much rain this week that I keep expecting Noah to knock on the door wanting to know if I want to buy a boat. Combine that with the low temperatures that we are having to endure at the moment and you can understand the trauma that us Lecrin folk are going through. Our walk on Sunday was always going to be a hit or miss affair, not knowing from one day to the next what the weather would bring. When the cat came in at 5am Sunday morning, dripping wet, I thought it was going to be another day reading the Sunday papers, but by 7 am the clouds had rolled back and we had the makings of a fine day. By 9 the sun was shining but it was still only 4 degrees when we met in Nigúelas, but with hats, scarfs and gloves and the odd layer of thermal clothing everything was set for a stroll into the hills above Nigúelas. The views were stunning with Cabal...

With the clocks going back at the weekend we had, what was in effect, a late start for the walk, and boy did the group turn out in force, we nearly had enough for a charabanc. The walk was classed as easy, with the possibility of wet feet, as we were going up the Rio Dilar. Because of the heavy rain we have had this last week the possibility of wet feet turned into a certainty when we saw the level of the river, but, in the true spirit of the group we did not have any dissenters. One of the exciting things about this walk is the number of times that you have to cross the river, and the techniques used varied from the rock hoppers to the paddlers, in the end it made no difference, we all had wet feet, but it was worth it because of the Autumn colours and the stunning location of the valley.Nobody disgraced themselves by actually falling in, but the cameras did seem to come out every time we had to do a crossing. One thing that I did find was a mushroom, with what looked l...

Sunday was one of those days that if you had not made arrangements to go out, you could have turned over and gone back to bed. The weather forecast was promising rain, there was a lot of cloud about, and a thick mist hung over our intended route around lake Beznar. But I had promised birthday girl José a nice walk, so I had to get out of bed. When I got to the meeting point there was only 3 other people, so I was beginning to think the bed option had been taken up by the rest of the group, when suddenly people appeared from all directions, the locals ran screaming to lock their doors as it looked like an invasion. As we made our way down to the lake the mist rolled back to give an almost surreal view over to the windmills. With the weather now improving by the second, and the country side a lush green after the recent rain which is helping to fill the lake, the scene was set for a very pleasant walk in glorious sunshine. The pomegranates are ready for picking, the oranges...

Well I don't know if last weeks description of this weeks walk put folk off, but suddenly this last week everyone has skipped the country, folk have jetted off to Boston, Budapest, London and any other destination they could think of to get out of the Sunday walk. There were only Arthur and I men enough to turn up, but don't worry, I will sneak it in again when everyone is back. The walk started in Restabal and headed up hill to the camp site where we had hoped to get coffee, but it was closed and the gates padlocked, so we had to make do with water from our flasks instead. It was an hour later whilst we were starting to make our way back that Arthur realised that he had left his walking sticks back at the rest point. Not having seen a soul all day we confidently believed that they would still be there when we returned later in the day by car to pick them up. Isn't it surprising how easily your confidence can be shattered? When we returned a couple of hours late...

Well I don't know if last weeks description of this weeks walk put folk off, but suddenly this last week everyone has skipped the country, folk have jetted off to Boston, Budapest, London and any other destination they could think of to get out of the Sunday walk. There were only Arthur and I men enough to turn up, but don't worry, I will sneak it in again when everyone is back. The walk started in Restabal and headed up hill to the camp site where we had hoped to get coffee, but it was closed and the gates padlocked, so we had to make do with water from our flasks instead. It was an hour later whilst we were starting to make our way back that Arthur realised that he had left his walking sticks back at the rest point. Not having seen a soul all day we confidently believed that they would still be there when we returned later in the day by car to pick them up. Isn't it surprising how easily your confidence can be shattered? When we returned a couple of hours late...

Well, it looks like the extreme summer heat has now passed by, the sheets and duvets are starting to reappear on the beds, and it is noticeably cooler in the morning, creating perfect conditions for a walk in our beautiful mountains. So on Sunday we went walking above Cumbres Verde, on the side of Trevenque, and what a beautiful walk it was, the sky was a deep blue, the footpaths wandered in and out of the pine trees, the Crocus flowers were in full bloom, and the smell from the curry bushes as we brushed past them reminded us of our last great Indian meal we had. For some in the group the temptation to eat was so great they had consumed their lunch by 11.30. Luckily the walk also passes a large blackberry bush, full of lush berries, so we spent a few minutes there, eating all we could pick. The official lunch break for anyone with anything left to eat was at Tomar Canal. The path is a circular one and returns on a high path, looking down on the Rio Dilar. If I had taken m...

Can I start by extending a warm welcome back to Bob, Githa and Daniel who have returned to the valley after their extended trip to Holland, in the past Bob has been the butt of many of my sarcastic comments, I will try to behave myself in future. Our walk last Sunday was to the Castle at Murchas, or Melegis, as nobody seems to know which village lays claim to it, but either way we started off in Murchas and followed the river Torrente to Melegis. The path then turns right and heads off towards the Castle before dropping down and following the Rio Durcal for a short while. Ever since we first discovered this route you have had to look carefully to find a little path marked by a dead tree. True to form the dead tree has done what dead trees do, it has fallen over and the route is no longer marked. This caused us to back track about 10 meters before we picked up the correct route through the Bamboo tunnel. Once again you wonder why they built the castle here, when all the...

Our walk last Sunday took us to the Ermita Vieja in the Rio Dilar, and whilst you do gain quite a lot of height the path is well graded and no effort is involved in getting to the top, also because most of the walk was in the forest we were provided with anatural sun screen, mind you it was not always needed because there was some cloud about and Alison did report 2 drops of rain, it nearly had us all dashing to put the cagoules on. It was a very good walk with spectacular views and was enjoyed by all. Tapa was held at our house afterwards, a big thank you to all who turned up. Our walk this coming Sunday, the 7th of September, is to the Castle at Melegis. To describe it as a Castle is stretching it a bit far as there is not much more than a wall left standing, but to say we are walking to the wall inMelegis does not have the same ring to it. The walk is a circular one starting in Murchas and follows the river down to Melegis before heading through the orange groves and th...

There has been a lot of news just lately about the wet weather they have been having back in the UK. Not having seen any rain for the last 3 months I decided last weekend to go and check it out. Well folks I can tell you, I spent 3 days there and there was nothing, no drizzle, no floods, no thunderstorms, no Sun,nada. So I came home and guess what! The Sun is shining. Ermita Vieja from Dilar Our walk this week, Sunday 31st August, starts from the car park in the Rio Dilar opposite the Merendero bar. We follow a Camino Forestal, and a good footpath as it climbs slowly through the thick pine forest before arriving at the Ermita Vieja. From here we pick up another good track and follow it to the foot of Pioacho Alto, before it starts its descent by way of a barranco and back to the car park. Tapa is at our house in Chite around 3.30, all welcome. Description of walk Height gained 435 meters Length 10 klm Estimated time 4 hours walking Difficulty 4 , good paths ...

The weather forecast for our walk on Sunday had slowly been going down hill all week, with the promise of cloud and cooler temperatures getting a little bit worse each day, things were not looking good for our walk to Mulhacen, mainland Spain's highest peak. We were committed, in part, to at least some of the walk because we had booked tickets on the National Park bus out of Capileira. Our early Sunday morning start brought cloudy skies and no sun, it was 7.15 in the morning and apparently the sun does rise at this time of the day in August, but by the time we caught the bus at 8.30 the clouds were breaking up and we had the start of what looked like a promising day. The bus drops you off around 10 am, the clouds had gone and the sun was warm. The conditions were perfect for climbing Mulhacen. For 5 years I have been reading fairy tales about being able to see Africa 200 km away from these mountains, I have always considered it a myth similar to Ryanairs customer care p...

Our walk on Sunday was the delightful little stroll from Albúnelas to Restabal, it was advertised as very easy and ending up in a bar. I think I have finally found what motivates people to get out of bed on a Sunday to come on a walk, it is that little 3 letter word "BAR" because this week 12 turned out for the walk. The walk starts in Albuñelas and follows the GR7 path as it meanders down through the campo, to Salares and Restabal. It offers plenty of shade at this time of the year, and the views over our Valley and the Sierra Nevada are wonderful. As we neared Restabal the pace rapidly increased as the prospect of a cool beer became a reality, our planned stop of bar Sifon was dismissed in favour of the new bar Andrea, which I must admit served very tasty tapa. Because of the high temperatures and wall to wall sunshine we are experiencing at the moment, it is too warm to sit out and enjoy our afternoon tapa parties, it was decided that we would all go home and h...

Sunday saw the first of this seasons campo fires, and at one stage it put in doubt Sunday´s walk, as it was in the barranco de Rio Verde the valley that we had intended to walk in. Fortunately because of our planned late start, it was an afternoon walk, the Bomberos and the helicopters had succeeded in bringing the fire under control, and they were just damping down by the time we arrived at the other side of the valley. This weeks walk was split, with a very easy section to start with along the top of the gorge for the ones who wanted a short walk, and a trip up the steep sided gorge of the Rio Durcal for the ones who wanted to go further. The gorge walk has lost some of its beauty over the years as successive storms have somehow altered the river flow. When we first discovered it you walked through a series of waterfalls, now there is no water in the river at all, but it is still a spectacular gorge to walk in. Tapa was held at our house in Chite, thank you, to everyone w...