Lecrin Valley Limpers

This weekend we had two walks organised, an easy walk from Melegis organised by Hilary and a harder walk up Silleta. The weather forecast was poor, well it was worse than poor, it was approaching awful. Temperatures forecast to be as low as 10 degrees, rain and thunderstorms. A team walk to Silleta We met at the Renault garage in Marchena for our walk up Silleta, normally we do it from Padul but it is a little short for the end of the month walk. Mike suggested we could try a path we had seen last time we were up there, I never said anything to him but I was a little worried as to the state of the path as it went near a quarry. Just to reassure ourselves that the path was passible Graham and I checked it out mid week. Our conclusion was that it was well used and safe as long as you proceeded with caution, and had a rope with you just in case. Not wanting to arouse any suspicion that anything untoward was afoot, I buried the rope at the bottom of my rucksack. In a...

Lunch stop on Boca de la pesca The weather this week has been fantastic, blue sky and 30 degrees all week. The only problem was the forecast for the weekend was not too good, cloudy and cooler temperatures. Sunday morning in Cozvijar and it was definitely cloudy, the problem was the clouds were lower than the hills we had intended to walk on. I had planned three walks, all around Cumbres Verde, but all at different altitudes, hopefully one of them would keep us out of the clouds. By the time we got to Cumbres Verde we had left the poor weather behind and there was not a cloud in the sky. Plan A was a walk up Boca de la Pesca and the conditions were perfect so we drove up to the Sevilla carpark. The walk starts by following a level track and we had not gone far when we came across three deer grazing by the side of track, not a bit bothered by the presence of walkers. By the time you begin the ascent of Boca de la Pesca you only have 130 metres to climb up a well graded trac...

At the Mirador Tajos del Angel Spring has arrived in Spain, finally, after months of rain, the clouds have gone and the sun has returned. The hills are green and the spring flowers are popping up everywhere.   Our walk this week was from Bubion and we managed to walk on sections of two long distance paths. We started out on the GR7 as it left Bubion heading out towards Pitres. We only stayed on this path for about 15 minutes before turning off, heading up towards the Sulayr path. After heading up hill for around 1 hour we arrived at the Mirador Tajos del Angel. This was a great place for a short break and to stop and admire the scenery. With the 3 villages of the Porqueira gorge below, and the snow covered peaks of the Sierra Nevada above, it is an incredible place for a stop, there are even seats and comfy rocks to sit on. An important consideration when Dave is on the walk. Continuing along the Sulayr path we continued upwards until we reached an altitude of 183...

We have had another week of mixed weather, heavy rain, wind and cool temperatures but finally the clouds are heading north and the sun is making an appearance. This week we went to Guajar Alto for our walk. This was chosen as we wanted a big walk this weekend after enduring weeks of short wet walks. There was still a cool breeze forecast for the higher altitudes so a trip down the hill was on the cards. It was a new walk for the group on good forest roads. We met at the roundabout in Beznar and then set off to meet Kees in Guajar Alto. We had said we would meet him by the bar in Alto so we were a bit surprised to see him sat outside the bar in Guajar Faragúit enjoying a coffee. He looked so happy there, enjoying his freshly brewed coffee.  I was loath to stop and spoil his day but I couldn't resist. He appeared very pleased when I enquired after his health and general well being. He appeared a little surprised that we stayed in the cars and did not join him for coffee....

All togged up waiting for the rain Well, we had a disappointing walk on Sunday. All week the forecast was for heavy rain. I had advertised the fact that it was going to rain, I had predicted we were going to get wet. I was even prepared to cancel the walk because of the amount of rain we were going to get. But the popular opinion was no, don’t cancel, we want to get wet, we want to get really wet, as we have become accustomed to the last few weeks. Even on Sunday morning the weather forecast was saying heavy rain at 10 am, perfect timing for our late 10 am start. We set off with 11 in the group all togged up in our waterproofs, Rene was so well protected she could have swum the Amazon and not got wet. It soon became apparent on the steep climb out of Conchar that it was not raining, so off with the protection as we were getting too hot. The path up is on campo roads and we made rapid progress to the ridge, there then followed a long descent down into Restabal. With...