Lecrin Valley Limpers

This week we had two walks planned, our big end of the month walk and a shorter walk with Hilary. Both walks started off together and offered spectacular views of the snow covered Sierra Nevada mountains. We met in Cozvijar and then drove to Gúejar Sierra where we met up with the Granada contingent. We continued the drive up the valley to the San Juan car park.  I had reservations about our newest member of the group, Antonio aged 10, but his mum said he could do the hard walk without drawing a breath.  We took the group photo at the start of the walk as we were all together,We split up after the photo, the hard group had a full day ahead of them and needed to make good time on the first section of the path. Hilary’s group had time to enjoy the wildflowers and the views in this spectacular valley.     I designated the hard walk as a 4 lunch break walk. You should have seen Conchi’s face brighten up at this news, then darken when she realized...

Something went wrong on this week's walk, we got wet!!. Yes that wet stuff that comes from the sky. It has never occurred before that we have actually set off in the rain. Whether it was the Gods trying to punish Grahame for coming with us I don’t know, but when he returned to his car it stopped raining.  Our walk this week was another new one for the Sunday group, and followed the barranco de la Arco just off the Carretera de Cabra.  We met in Cozvijar and as we were driving towards Padul it started to rain and the mist came down, by the time we arrived at our starting point it was obvious we were going to get wet, fortunately we all had our wet weather gear. Even though it has been in the bottom of my rucksack for 13 years I knew I would use it one day.  The walk starts on a nature reserve for the Alondra Rizoti, a rare un-crested Lark, only found in a few areas of Spain. Not that we stood any chance of seeing it, the visibility was down to about 20 met...

This week we went to Colomera, a small Pueblo north of Granada.We discovered this walk 12 months ago on our Tuesday outings but it was the first time we have done a Sunday walk from here. By the time we arrived in Colomera there were 21 of us in a convoy of 6 cars and I was worried there would not be sufficient space in the village for all our cars, and that we would spend half the morning rounding everyone up. Amazingly we all managed to park close together and we were soon ready for the off. I had spent the whole week polishing my crystal balls and was confident that we would not have any rain before 8pm, but one or two in the group took a bit of persuading to leave their umbrellas and waterproofs in the car.  For the last five years I have been relying on my GPS to guide us on our walks. This week I thought it would be a good idea to go back to basics and walk unencumbered by electronic devices, and try using the Cerebral Cortex for navigation, that the GPS was ...

After last week's disaster of predicting a cold and wet weather walk, and ending up walking in temperatures of 25 degrees dressed in our winter woolies, I have spent the whole week polishing my crystal balls, and this week the predictions were spot on. A valuable lesson has being learned, keep your balls clean and well polished. Now I will admit when we met at Cozvijar it was spitting a bit but, as our walk this week was starting from the Cañadas urbanization 10kms away, I was confident that the sun would be shining by the time we arrived. Antonia obviously did not have any confidence in my predictions because, when we met up with her, she was sat under an umbrella putting her boots on and her poor husband Fernando had to carry it with him the whole day.  The walk starts by following a pleasant, undulating path along the side of Sierra Manar with views up to Veleta. Dave and Martine were setting the pace, unfortunately for them they did not know the route.  We ...

This week my crystal ball was completely wrong, it had predicted typical Easter weather, wet, cold and windy so I had planned a walk down on the coast to escape the worst of it. Instead we got the hottest day of the year and we all had our winter woolies on.  We set off in 3 cars for Almuñécar but by the time we arrived we were down to 2 cars and we were short of 4 walkers,  Rafa dos had decided to take the scenic route via Salobrena, instead of the easier motorway option. We were just pondering the merits of going for a coffee when they arrived. For some unknown reason he had decided to follow a different white car. Rafa, the one you were following had a blue light on the top and it said Guardia Civil on the back.    With only 12 in the group we set off at a good pace through the Cherimoya plantations, and to our first crossing of the mighty Rio Verde. The last time we did this walk some of us got our feet wet trying to cross the river. Some kept ...

Hi This week we had a gem of a day out. We went on the Grand Granada Canyon Adventure, this was a walk we discovered a few weeks ago and have been raving about ever since.  We met at the BP garage in Cozvijar and, as we were just standing around discussing the walk, there was an almighty crash behind us. We expected to see bodies lying on the ground and a number of cars written off, but no. It was Plym who had driven into a plant pot, not your average garden size plant pot but one suited to a garage forecourt, and this time she was wearing her glasses. Perhaps she should have gone to Specsavers.  With 30 people on the walk we needed eight cars as we had to take some cars to the end of the walk and leave them and then get the drivers back to Bermejales. We set off in a long convoy and when we arrived in Bermejales all the passengers were able to enjoy a coffee in the bar whilst they waited for the drivers to return. To say that this is one of the most specta...

This week we started the walk from the Meson los Prados, the bar on the carretera de Cabra road. It a popular start for the walk up Pico Lopera but we were going somewhere different for a change. We had discovered some new paths a couple of years ago but had never made it into a Sunday walk. By combining 3 different tracks we were able to make a superb 13 km route that encompassed forest, farmland and open mountain views. The conditions were ideal, we had blue skies, warm sunshine, even the wind that has been such a feature of this winter had disappeared. What else could we ask for on such a beautiful day? We stopped for elevenses with views of the snow covered Sierra Nevada in one direction and Sierra Tejeda in the other. Setting off again we hadn’t gone far before there was another request for our lunch stop, fortunately I knew of a nice rocky outcrop up ahead which had a lot of comfy seats. As we sat eating our sandwiches enjoying the peace and solitude of our beautiful ...

Once again with low temperatures and a northerly wind forecast we headed off downhill to the warmer valley of Los Guajares. Driving into Gujar Fargúit I could not believe the number of cars that were parked at the side of the road. Every centimeter of spare ground was taken. I thought the groups email for the walk had gone viral and what looked 5.000 people had turned up for the walk. I was having kittens, had they all brought some food for lunch, because I knew my cheese sandwich could not feed all that lot. It was chaos, the road up to Alto was closed, nobody knew what was happening. The plan was that we would leave one car in Faragúit and drive to Alto and walk back. Fortunately Cees had arrived early, and had managed to park at the far end of the village. He was hoping he would have sufficient time for a coffee before we picked him up, he had no chance, they were queuing 10 deep at the bar. In the end we broke through the police cordon and set off driving towards Alto...

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...

Our walk last Sunday was our yearly Almond Blossom walk from Saleres. Normally it is a walk we do in February but, because of the very mild weather we have had this winter the blossom started appearing in December, so for the first time we did the walk in January and I must say I think it was the best display of the blossom ever. The trees were loaded with flowers, the sun was shining, and the colours were spectacular, what else could you wish for. The walk started in Saleres and crossed the river before starting the ascent up the other side of the valley. I don’t whether it was the sun coming out or the climb but by the time we reached the top I was considerably warmer than I was in Saleres. We stopped for the group photo amongst the Olive trees, which caused a few comments, seeing as it was the Almond Blossom walk. But these are my favorite Olive groves, the rocks and the terracing are fantastic and anyway there was some Almond trees behind us and it was my camera. Cont...

We did a new walk from Beas de Granada this week and we have given it the name “The walk of the many excuses”. It was going to be a long walk and, even before the start, the excuses were pouring in as to why the stalwarts of the group would not be able to come. Freya was worried that her old granny was not up to it. We had Mark, who had suddenly decided to check when his return flight back to the UK was and found he was returning on the Saturday, not, as he thought, the following Thursday. We had Fernando who had beat himself up with the shower and required a trip to the hospital to have his wounds stitched up. Mike also excused himself by claiming he had picked up a bug after his recent flight back from the UK. The trouble is, he uses the same excuse every year. Personally I think that he eats so many pork pies and drinks that much beer he can’t get his boots on.      The walk was a linear one, starting in Beas de Granada and following a high level r...