Lecrin Valley Limpers

This week we had an easy walk from Pinos del Valle along Phil’s Wild Boar cycle track. Fortunately we had arranged to meet up outside bar Venicia, there were 29 of us and I think the landlord would have had a fit if we had met in the bar for coffee.  The walk began by getting most of the climbing done at the start of the walk and, as we were making our way up, we passed a group of hunters all dressed in camouflage uniforms. I don’t know what they hunt but we made a rapid exit just in case we turned into the quarry. There was a slight navigational error as we crossed the track up to the ermita. The error was well within the navigational accuracy of a GPS unit and was soon corrected when someone suggested we were going the wrong way.  I know Phil had upgraded this old abandoned path for use as a cycle track but it makes an excellent footpath as it meanders through the pine forest above Pinos. Eventually it comes out near the scout camp and this is where we started ...

On Sunday we did a circular walk from Dilar. It was a mixed walk, a steep climb, high mountains and an opportunity to get wet. It was a bit chilly when we met up for the start of the walk from the river side car park in Dilar. It wasn’t worth putting a fleece on because I knew that within 10 minutes, when the climb started, things would soon warm up.  Sure enough as soon as the climb started we came out of the shade and into the sun, it was like someone had turned on the heater. Not that we needed the sun now to keep warm, as the climb was 400 metres straight up the steep side of Boca de la Pesca. There were no prizes for getting to the top and everyone just took it at their own pace. The last couple of times I have been up this path I have ended up collapsing in a heap at the top. This time, with Dave carrying a defibrillator and walking alongside me, every time I showed signs of flagging he would give me a cardio shock, it worked wonders, I made it to the top wit...

This week we had arranged a walk from Venta del Fraile, on the Carretera de Cabra road.  The walk starts from just below the bar and for the first couple of kilometres follows the road. This is not a problem on a Sunday as the quarries are shut, mid week it’s not very pleasant due to the constant stream of lorries. By contrast the return route is along a superb high level path. We stopped for a group photo, I don’t know what went wrong, but one of us was left looking a bit translucent. There have been comments made on Facebook that maybe my copy of Photoshop could do with updating, but I blame the camera operator who hadn’t had his porridge for breakfast and was not been strong enough to press the button on my camera. Three of our group decided to return on the high level path whilst the rest of us extended the route by following a barranco down the side of an old abandoned  quarry. The path is superb as it makes it’s way past giant boulders. At the bottom the...

This week Stuart had asked me to lead the walk while he was off gallivanting around the country. I had planned a short walk in one of my favourite areas Cumbres Verde walking up to the fire look out at Boca de la Pescá. As we entered the Cumbres Verde park I thought  Stuart had been doing some serious recruiting as there were four or five coaches disembarking hordes of walkers all kitted out in the same t-shirts.   Anyway, we drove further into the park where twenty of us met and set out on a pleasant track alongside the pine forest. We had only been walking a few minutes, as we turned to look back at the fine views over Granada, I realised we had already lost the Dutch contingent and one or two others. At first, I was thinking they just didn’t trust me to lead them into the mountains but it turned out that someone had left something in the car. We walked for about 3Km along farm tracks before climbing, seeing some of the largest onions known...