Lecrin Valley Limpers

This week we went to the Ermita in Pinos del Valle. The start of the walk was on a new track to me, it was discovered by Jan earlier this year. Just to make sure he got all the plaudits for discovering the new track I made sure everyone knew about his discovery before the start of the walk. This also absolved me of any comeback if things went wrong.  The walk started from the carpark by the side of the Beznar dam and followed the road across the dam wall. It’s like looking into the bowels of the earth when you look over the side.  At the far side we took a campo road that headed up the hillside. The path was a delight as it made its way in and out of the orange and olive groves, along acequia and finally meeting a concrete road, which we followed up hill until we met the Guájar Faragúit road. Rene and Hilary decided this was a good place to say goodbye to us and make their own way back, I suspect they were heading for the bar Venecia in Pinos. It was not an idea...

Hi This week we had planned to do a circular walk around Cerro Huenes above Cumbres Verde, the walk we had postponed from the week before. The problem was the weather forecast, it was predicting rain but they had been saying that all week and nothing came of it, so we went armed with a couple of backup plans. Setting of from Cozvijar to drive to Cumbres Verde the weather looked promising with high broken cloud and some sunshine but by the time we arrived the clouds were gathering around the hills and it looked like we might get wet if we stayed out too long.  I decided to put plan C into action, this was a circular walk to Boca de la Pesca and there were  lots of possibilities to shorten the route if conditions deteriorated.    We had not been walking long when we came to a chain across the farm track we were on, and a notice saying “No pasar”, or you will be shot. Now we have done this walk a number of times in the past and we have never seen the n...

This week we had a local walk that started above Pinos del Valle. We had a convoy of 5 cars for the 4km drive on a compo road to the start of the walk. There were a few complaints from some of the drivers about the state of the road, but we all arrived at the start of the walk safe and well. Once again Dave was leading this easy circular walk but, after a couple of kms, I decided to reduce the pressure he was under and took over at the front. We had only gone about 1 km when Dave announced we had taken a wrong turn. I shrugged this damning criticism off as a training exercise for him, I don’t think anyone else noticed my error.  Returning back along the track we picked up the right path and continued the climb up on to the ridge. From here the views opened up over Los Guajares and down to the coast, up until now our views were of the Sierra Nevada, well what we believed to be the Sierra Nevada as they were covered in low clouds, which increasingly were getting darker...

This week we had two walks organised, an easy walk and a harder one and for the first time they started together and then split. For this walk we needed to have sufficient cars so that the two groups could come back at different times.  We set off in convoy for Prado Negro and we picked another car up en route. In the end we had 6 cars which completely filled the car park next to the bar. With Dave leading we headed off down to the waterfall. This was the dodgy bit. Would there be any water in the river? When the walk was planned we had been promised rain on the Friday but it did not arrive. The quality of the weather forecasts are slipping, at one time they would predict to the minute at what time it would start and how many drops we would get. I am thinking of going back to the old crystal ball and tea leaves, as the job opps boy at the Met office has no idea  what he is doing.  Our spirits were lifted as we approached the falls, we could hear the ...

This week we had a local short walk that started in Talara. Dave had a better day than last Sunday, and we all had a good walk. Dave had been out practising with his GPS all week so I thought it would be good for him to actually lead the walk. The worst that could happen was that we could all end up sitting under a tree awaiting rescue.   The walk started in Talara and went up through Mondujar and under the motorway. There was of a bit confusion in the tunnel as Dave’s GPS lost it’s satellite signal. Eventually we managed to find our way out and the walk continued up past Talara cemetery. From here we were on a proper footpath, taking a high level path towards Lanjaron. The views up here, overlooking Beznar, are superb and the weather was perfect for walking. After dropping down towards the barranco Tablete we picked up the Beznar acequia campo road heading back to Lecrin. This has always made a good running/ walking track but it has been upgraded with nice new red...

This week Dave bought himself a GPS and he wanted to test it out on a challenging walk. I wasn’t too keen for him to do an Ironman type walk where we wouldn’t see him again for weeks. Instead we settled on a very easy circular walk, something anyone could do with their eyes closed, what could go wrong! The challenge would be for them to start ½ hour behind us, catch us up and then lead us safely back to the bar.  So much interest had been generated in Dave’s new GPS that we needed 7 cars to transport everyone to Venta del Fraile for the start of the walk. We set off on a gentle stroll, the first part of the walk was along the quarry road. As you near the quarry a path leads off the road and into the forest. This was going to be the second challenge to Dave’s navigational skills, the first had been to find the start of the walk but he had the route and the map on his GPS.  At the quarry we admired the view, took photos, had a drink while we waited for Dave to catc...

Hi The  weather forecast for Sunday was not looking promising, with rain promised later in the day but by 7am there was no sign of the promised wet stuff, the walk was on and 17 of us were waiting in Marchena at 8.30.  My confidence in German efficiency and time keeping was shattered when Ursula was 25 minutes late for the start, she kept texting to say she was on the way, Unfortunately I had not realised she was planning a different start time to the rest of us. By using all my notable diplomatic skills we were able to avoid a major international incident. Dave and Angela would have been proud of me.  Our destination was Siletta and we had a short drive to the onion factory for the start of the walk. To start with the the track follows a level course across the campo. There were a few complaints that the path was not strictly level, but, compared to where we were going it was level, I inadvertently had forgotten  to point out our destination. ...

This week we went to Húetor parque natural, a superb area that we have walked in many times before. I thought I knew most of the paths and caves in this park but whilst I was planning the walk I discovered a new Cave, an abandoned hospital and some old trenches, they all looked interesting and in need of further investigation. This would involve going along short sections of unexplored tracks, but I deemed it worth it to open up a new area.There was a backup plan if any of the new routes did not work out.  We met up at the Puerta Lobo visitor centre at 9am and set off for the Curva del Gato. This was the first of the 3 new attractions we were looking for. We walked a couple of kms and into an area of the park we had not visited before. The cave was a large one and we spent a few minutes exploring it.  We then walked on to a Fuente which we have passed many times but never stopped. We refreshed ourselves with food and the cool water from the fuente before a 2km cl...

Our walk this week was to the Lavadero de la Reina. It was a walk with a 12km off road drive requiring 4X4s. This limited the number of people who could go to 17, but we managed to squeeze an extra one into Mark’s trusty little Renault to bring the number up to 18. The weather forecast was for a dramatic fall in temperature down to 30 degrees in Granada, almost autumnal after the stifling heat of the summer. After a dusty drive along the rough track we stopped at what must be the car park with the best view in the Sierras.As you head off walking in the direction of the refugio at Pena Partida you are surrounded by the lofty peaks of Veleta, Mulhacen and Alcazaba. The refugio made a good stopping point for our mid morning break. Up at this height the temperature was around 15 degrees with a strong north westerly wind. What was not forecast was the cloud that was sneaking up on us. It was not above us but it was coming up the valleys below us. The refugio sleeps about 12, ...