Lecrin Valley Limpers

At the roundabout in Beznar at 9 am it was 3 degrees, the skies were black and with the wind blowing you could hardly stand up. I did question my judgement for going ahead with the walk, but the tea leaves were predicting better conditions down on the coast. When we got to Almuñecar it was 8 degrees, the sky was blue and there was no wind. In a straight line it was 21 km from Beznar, it was like being on a different planet.  The walk starts in the valley of the Rio Seco and heads uphill, you haven’t really got a choice in this valley, you have to go uphill. The first attraction of this walk is the Orchid field that you pass by. Normally we do this walk in the middle of March when the field is full of them. This week they were just coming out but they were superb. Our destination was Pico Moscaril which, at 753 metres, occupies a commanding position overlooking the valleys of the Rio Seco and the Rio Verde. Even though we were higher than Talará, having by now climbed...

This week we did the Dilar walk that we had canceled last week because winter had arrived. This week, with the winter behind us and with the return of spring, we were able to resume our walking activities. The walk to the ermita vieja offers extensive views of Caballo and the ridge line all the way up to Veleta. A perfect walk to view all the fresh lying snow.    By the time we had all met up at the car park down by the Rio Dilar there were 20 of us, a respectable number for a spring walk. I think everyone needed to get outdoors after being stuck inside for 3 days.  Setting off we could not see the tops of the hills because they were shrouded in an early morning haze, it was nothing to worry about as it would soon burn off as the sun got up. To start with the path follows the forest road as it gently climbs its way up towards the ermita. Mike wanted to continue on this gentle sloping climb, but I had other ideas. There is a nice barranco that you can follo...

The weather forecast for this Sunday wasn’t very good, so we decided to do something a little different and become proper tourists on a fun day out. We went to the Cueva de las ventanas in Piñar. When we met in Cozvijar at 9.45 the rain was lashing down. Well, perhaps not that much, but you have remember it is a long time since we have seen any rain. The rain was not only a delight to the farmers, it was a welcome relief to me too.  Can you imagine the tongue lashing I would have got if the sun had been shining? By the time we reached Piñar it had stopped raining and everyone was now excited about our day out and looking forward to the caves. We bought our tickets at the town hall and then caught the train. This was not your common everyday highspeed intercity express. This was a little one that runs on the road. If the group keeps expanding I can see us one day having one of our own. The Limper Express. I can just see Kees as the engine driver, a mystery tour every t...

This week we had two walks planned, the end of the month long walk and an easier walk with Hilary Hilary’s walk It was perfect walking weather and I counted 17 at we left the lavaderos. The countryside was full of the little puffs of pink and white from the more distant almonds and fragrance from those near at hand. Our walk was mainly through pine woods on a narrow path that roughly followed the contour taking us away from Pinos del Valle with occasional glimpses of the Ermita way above.  We walked for more than 7.5 km, climbed less than 200 m, took about 2 1/2  hrs and came back with the full compliment. > Not shown in the photo are Rocio and Pedro and daughters Paula and Lucia aged 6 and 7 who headed home before the detour to the bar and Robert, Jenny and Flis who were chatting to a local who had given them lemons. Sorry about the photo which seems to have cut off some legs and heads. Hilary Longer walk from Cumbres Verde. This week we went to...