Lecrin Valley Limpers

This week our walk started from Cumbres Verde and went up to Boca de la Pesca. It was a perfect day for a walk, there was no wind, we had blue sky, the temperature was just right and the views were superb. We started by walking through a pine forest and then across open farmland, with the views opening up all the time. It was still early spring around here and the Almond blossom trees were in full bloom. On the summit of Boca de la Pesca we stopped for a short break and to admire the views. Due to the high temperatures we have been having the recent fall of snow in the Sierras is in retreat,  quite large areas now snow free.  We continued the walk towards the Sevilla carpark and found 3 picnic tables where we could stop for our lunch break. With views over Travenque and the Sierra Nevada we could not have found a better spot. After lunch our thoughts turned to finding a bar for refreshment. We decided to follow the road back to Cumbres Verde and go to the Guit...

Summer arrived in the valley last week, we were basking in the sun with temperatures of over 30 degrees. This week winter has returned with a vengeance with high winds, heavy rain and temperatures down to 10 degrees, the T shirts and shorts have gone back in the cupboard.  We finally managed to get in a high level walk that I have been planning for the last 6 weeks, but have had to keep postponing  due to poor conditions. The walk starts off high above Guejar Sierra, which is the beauty of it as all the hard work is done by the car. The walk itself is really just a stroll. The only problem is the drive up to the carpark, there are a few drops to the side. You need a good day for the walk as the views over the Sierra Nevada are magnificent, even if the snow is red. This was forecasted to be the last day of the good weather and as we set off the sky was grey and overcast, but we had not gone far when the clouds started to break up and patches of blue sky appeared. We...

OK, I hold my hands up, I got it wrong, it was my fault we spent the morning walking in low cloud whilst everyone else had sunshine. The walk was from Venta del Fraile, on the carretera de Cabra road, and the weather forecast for Durcal, 15 kms away in a straight line, was for sunshine and cloud and reasonable temperatures. We should have stayed in Durcal because they had all the sunshine and reasonable temperatures and we had all the cloud and unreasonable temperatures.  The walk started from just below the bar at Venta del Fraile and for the first 3 kms followed a tarmac road. The road leads to a quarry so on a Sunday it is traffic free. At one point on the road shadows started to appear and I thought the promised, reasonable weather was going to appear but  it was a mirage, the shadows did not last long and by the time we arrived at the old quarry, which now looks abandoned, the views over to Pico Lucero and Maroma were non existent, it was just grey. ...

This week should have been our big end of the month walk, but I was worried that we might miss the Almond blossom if we left it another week, and what with the crazy weather we have been having it did not seem a good idea to go  too high or far.  We’ve had two days of what at first looked like misty weather but it turned out to be el polvo Sahareño. It cumulated in an almighty thunderstorm and red rain, which covered everything in a layer of red dust. This has created additional free time for the men as their wives have spent hours and hours washing all the windows and patios, Olwyn has not even got around to washing the cars yet. (In your dreams!)  The sky did not look too promising when we met up for our walk in Saleras, it was grey and overcast, and I was surprised to find 15 other folk there waiting when I arrived.  The walk followed our usual Saleras / Albuñúelas route that we use at this time of the year, some climbing but nothing too steep...

This week we had a group walk down on the coast, taking in the playas of Cantarriján and Cañuelo. I was on sick leave and spent all day moping around at home. Dave,  Jan and Steve led the walk and Jan’s report follows.    Once more we were anticipating low temperatures here in the valley so the plan was to head south again. This time all the way to the coast, with the walk taking in the beaches of Cantarrijan and Canuelo. Nine of us met at Beznar and drove to the car park above Cantarriján playa, where the temperature was a comfortable 12 degrees. We were joined there by 4 more, increasing the size of the group to a more respectable 13. The walk starts with a gentle uphill section until we meet the track which took us down to the eastern end of the beach at Cantarrijan. However, anyone expecting an easy stroll along the seashore were about to discover that easy is not an option. As we left the western end of the beach, those of us who had done this wa...

     I had planned a walk to Beas de Granada but as the week progressed the forecasted daytime temperature kept dropping. It finally settled around 6 degrees, with a strong northerly wind. Those kind of temperatures don’t fit with my current hair style. If the winter lasts much longer I am thinking of letting it grow again and going back to my long, dark curly locks.  Instead of the freezing cold weather in the hills above Granada we decided to go down hill, to Guajar Faraguit, where the temperature was much more amenable.  The walk started from the waterfall by the side of the road up to Guajar Alto. Now we know this area well, but there are a couple of paths I have never walked on, Steve and the Sexi Senderistas from Almunecar have. So with the new route on my GPS we set off to discover the tracks. Our path started by going uphill, straight uphill. It’s the kind of hillside you look at and think there is no way they could get a path...

This week we had two walks organised to kick off the 2017 season. The first one, on Friday, was a fun walk to the Conchar mosto fiesta. Once again I don’t remember much about it other than we had a good time and staggering home afterwards. Oh!! and I seem to remember Mike once again doing his mountain rescue thing and turning out to recover another stranded Limper. Next year I think we will cancel our insurance and just keep Mike on a retainer.  Our second walk of the week was on Sunday, and we had a fabulous walk up Pico Huenes. The walk started from the Sevilla carpark above Cumbres Verde. It was considerably warmer here at +4 degrees than when we had met up at Cozvijar, where everyone appeared to be reluctant to get out of their cars, even Jan and Martine had kept their engine running. For the first few kms the route follows a gently rising path in the shade, on the cool side of the hill, where gloves and jackets were the required apparel. After finding a patch o...

What a change to the weather we had last week, gone are the damp miserable days, to be replaced by glorious sunshine, and to celebrate the return of  the sun we climbed up to the Ermita del Cristo Zapato in Pinos del Valle. It was cold when we met up down by the dam for the start of our walk, hats, scarfs and gloves cold, but you could tell the day had promise. To start with the path winds around the hillside slowly climbing its way up. Mike was convinced he knew the way and tried leading us off piste. We let him go off by himself, knowing that he would soon return. We then resumed the walk, following the correct trail as it started to do some serious climbing.  It wasn’t long before layers were starting to come off.  As we progressed up through the forest we came across some hunters, who they were or what they were hunting we had no idea. They looked more like Special forces, with their assault rifles, radios and camouflage gear. I tried surrendering to t...

Once again the weather was not looking promising for the weekend, with rain forecast throughout the day on Sunday. It would have been unprecedented for two walks to be cancelled in a row, we would have become a laughing stock. The English walking group afraid to go out in the rain. I was determined we would go somewhere, and, like Hilary last week, I had a back up plan. We could always go to the bar.  We met at the crossroads in Talara and it was dry, but low cloud was hanging about on the hills and it did not look like we would get away without a soaking. The route I had chosen had numerous options to cut it short if it did start to rain. Someone suggested we could start off with a coffee in the bar, but I was worried that once we got sat down I would never be able to motivate anyone into moving. We set off for Mondújar castle, it’s only a short distance away but you do get a reasonable climb to warm you up in the morning. We didn’t stay long as there was a bit o...

It was touch and go this week whether we would manage our autumn colours walk from Pitres  before the forecasted first heavy rains of the winter swept in.  It was not our scheduled end of the month big walk, but timing was critical to get the best of the colours, so it had to be this weekend.  We had arranged to meet at Beznar, well all except Cees, who, for whatever reason known only to Cees, thought Cozvijar would make a better meeting point for a trip to the Alpujarras. He rang me at 09.00 to see if the walk was cancelled, as he was the only one there, the other 16 of us were at Beznar. I don’t think Ford had designed the Transit to go at 200 kph but it only took him a few minutes to drive to Beznar. To my friends at traffico he didn’t know what speed he was doing, his speedo was broken.  Distance wise it is not too far to Pitres, timewise it takes a long time to drive the 45km, particularly when there is a procession of coaches, all making their ...

This week, we had the first of this years  autumn colour walks, which started from Nigúelas. It was cool on the car park at 9 am but we had a hill to climb, don’t we always. We would soon warm up when we started climbing. First though we had to walk across to Acequias which involves dropping down to the Rio Torrente, I have only once seen it living up to its name and that was in 2006, and it’s not due to flood again until the 18th September 2021.  We joined the GR7 long distance footpath leading out of Acequias, heading for Istanbul, not our destination as we had only a short walk planned this week. Dave and Julie had decided not to join us this week, preferring a lazy Sunday in bed instead, so Mike took the lead. Now normally he prefers to walk at the back, just tagging on behind everyone else, but with Dave’s position at the front vacant, he took the lead and charged off up the hill, leaving everyone in his wake. Poor Jim went A**e over T*t and ended up flound...

The weather forecast for Sunday this week was not promising, wind, rain, and cool temperatures. It was the kind of forecast to make you want to pull the covers up and go back to sleep. By 6 am Sunday morning the rain had passed over, it was still cold and windy but that was not going to bother us as we were going down the hill to Guajar Faraguit, always a good valley to walk in when it’s cool on the hill. Mind, I was still surprised to see folks turning up at Beznar in their summer walking gear of shorts and T-shirts. I had my fleece, coat and scarf on, much more in keeping with the 8 degrees the car was saying. Even Jan and Martine had long trousers on.  After driving to Faraguit we set off walking up the hill and it wasn’t long before Elsa acquired a new dog, he followed us and played with Floppy the whole walk.  I don’t know if was all the exertion of climbing up the hill, or wether the temperature was actually rising, but we were soon stripping off our coats ...

What a fantastic day for a walk, clear blue sky, not a cloud to be seen anywhere all day, perfect walking temperatures. This week was our big end of the month walk, as it turned out it was not quite as big as advertised, but it was still a great day out.  The walk started from the Puerto Lobo visitor centre in the Húetor parque natural, we had arranged to meet Mari Carmen there but, unfortunately, she had gone to the wrong place. So after waiting a few minutes for her we set off for the trenches, a sad reminder to all those who lost their lives in the civil war. The walk continued on to the Cueva del Gato, an unusual name because I can’t imagine any self respecting cat living here, there are no beds, sofas or any of the on demand services required by a cat. After a short break we continued down to the lowest point of the walk. I think some of the group were hoping I had had a change of heart and that it would be a downhill walk for a change. Sadly this was not tru...

With the unsettled weather continuing we had organised an easy, short walk from Lanjaron. The walk had numerous options for modification to fit in with the weather.  It had rained first thing in the morning but the tea bags were predicting a dry walk. By the time we met at 09.00 in Beznar there were black clouds swirling about above us, leading some to question the the accuracy of using Yorkshire tea bags in Spain.  The walk started from the Casita de la Papel in Lanjaron, a convenient place for drinks and tapas after the walk. It was closed for holidays, and there was me thinking we could help Ray kick his 70th birthday celebrations off in fine style. The path goes up past the ermita de San Isidro, a chapel built for the labourers of Lanjaron in the early 20th century. The path continues up through the campo, and past a quarry before finally coming out on the GR7 Nigúelas/ Lanjaron road. Ever since Mike and I discovered this route years ago I have never unders...

The autumn rains came to Spain with a vengeance last week, summer is well and truly over and the daytime temperatures have dipped down to 25 degrees. We even had snow on the Sierras.  Our walk this week was to the windmills above Albuñuelas. We met at the carpark and then drove up onto the ridge for the start of the walk. Since the last time we did the walk they have concreted the road which has made parking difficult, we ended up abandoning the cars at a cortijo.  Setting off I did not need to consult the GPS as we have done the walk a few times before and I know the area quite well. After a couple of kms we came to a junction I did not recognise. It was time to look at the GPS, and yes, we should have turned off 1 km back. All was not lost though as the good track we were on did lead to where we wanted to be. After another couple of kms we joined up with our original track, which we then followed.  Over the years we have been walking in this area fences...

On Sunday we went to Monachil, and for a change we walked through the gorge It’s a while since we have done the gorge walk, instead we have been going around it. What’s changed in the intervening years are the number of people out walking. If you saw 20 other people you would thought it was busy. On Sunday there were hundreds, there was even 3 coaches in the car park by the time we arrived, and by the time we got back there were cars parked everywhere. I blame it all on Decathlon, they have all this fabulous walking gear that people are buying and, instead of wearing it as a fashion statement, they are actually going out and using it. We followed the path through the gorge, crossing the swing bridges which we had to queue up for before making the crossing. If things continue like this it will worth while opening up the abandoned buildings and selling tea and coffee whilst you await your turn, they could even do jam and cream scones, I would come back every week. We all made...