Lecrin Valley Limpers

This week we had arranged two walks, an easy one with Hilary to Beznar and a harder one in Huetor. The harder walk started from the exit 259 on the A92 motorway, and we had arranged to meet up with the Granada contingent there at 9.40. How was I supposed to know that the motorway was reduced to a single carriageway and you had to go nearly to Guadix to turn around. Yes, they are resurfacing the road and they have closed the exits off, making a 27 km detour to get to our meeting point. At least everyone else was late in arriving as we all had to take the diversion.  With everyone assembled, goodness knows how many are still driving up to Barcelona trying to find somewhere to turn around, we set off on our walk, under a deep blue sky and the temperature was perfect. For the first couple of kms the path follows an easy 4X4 track. We then picked up the first of the advertised steep climbs, it’s all in the forest and a delightful path that turns and twists about a...

This week we had an easy walk from Dilar up to the Ermita Vieja. We had arranged to meet in the riverside carpark, unfortunately the last car in our very large convoy from Cozvijar got stuck in the traffic lights in Otura, and did not know where the carpark was. We were thinking of setting up a rescue party to go and search for them. Note:- we were only thinking about it, what’s a loss of 4 limpers when we already had 18. Fortunately after driving around Dilar for a while they managed to find the carpark and join the rest of us. It was cold down by the river, I mean proper cold, around 12 degrees and it was good to get the walk started to generate some heat. The way up to the Ermita is mostly along 4X4 tracks which makes for easy walking at a reasonable pace. The higher we climbed the warmer it got and we were soon stopping to take off our fleeces and jumpers. By the time we arrived at the Ermita the conditions were perfect so we stopped for our lunch break. After l...

Last week was our big walking weekend away, staying at the Poqueira refugio above Capileira. We started out on Friday afternoon with an easy, leisurely walk up to the refugio. It was not like last year when it was a boys only weekend, sleeping on the floor. This time we had real luxury, we had a bed, not each but one bunk bed that sleeps 10 people, boys, girls and kids all together, there was even a dog but he slept outside. There are actually 8 of these giant beds and, by the second night, every one of them was occupied, sheer bliss for the perfect night’s sleep. I must have been the only one amongst the other 79 who did not snore. (!!!)  There were two walks on Saturday. The first relatively easy and safe and the second one for the idiots amongst us, and there were 5 of us. All determined to throw caution to the wind and cross the vertical north face of Mulhacen. Both Martin and myself have been part way across this path before but none of us had ever done the full c...

There has been a serious change in the weather this week. It started with a terrific thunderstorm on Sunday evening (Sunday the 27th August), heavy rain on Monday and a marked drop in temperature for the rest of the week. Conditions are now perfect for walking and to help us celebrate the approach of Autumn we went on a circular low level walk from Meson los Prados.  The walk started from the bar, where we had arranged to meet Rafa but, after waiting a few minutes for him and unable to get a signal on our phones, we decided to move on. The walk passes through open countryside, farmland and forest. It’s a good combination with great views in all directions. On the way back we spied in the distance a couple sat having a spot of lunch, as we got closer the couple turned into Rafa and his friend, who had missed us by a few minutes at the start of the walk. After stopping for a short break with them we left them to continue with their walk and we followed the path back t...

The weather forecast this week for Granada was not very good. If we had got all the rain that was forecast the poor folk in Houston would have been offering us aid. Fortunately the promised unremitting deluge was constantly downgraded. By Sunday the forecast for the Alpujarras was for a cloudy but dry day. Our walk was a moderately high altitude one at around 2000 metres, starting from a quiet, picturesque recreation area above Capileira. It’s so quiet I have never seen anyone else there, so I was a bit surprised to find a lot of people camping by the side of the road as we drove to the carpark. It soon became obvious why there were so many people, they were holding a Barranquismo competition in the waterfall we were intending to bathe in after the walk. The competition involved following the river downstream using ropes and completing it, in the shortest possible time.    Our walk followed a track uphill as it climbed Loma del  Jabali. At the top we met up...

This week the conditions were perfect for our walk to the summit of los Machos. There was no wind, unlike last time when they had to close the ski lift. We didn’t see a cloud in the sky all day and the temperature was around 23 degrees. What more could we ask for? We started the day with coffee in Pradollano before catching the ski lift up the side of Veleta. The lift drops you off at 3000 metres, so saving you quite a bit of climbing but leaving you breathless when you hit the first slope.  This side of Veleta looks a bit tatty in the summer with all the detritus of the ski resort littering the hillside but, within 10 minutes, you move into a different world as you drop down into the Guarnón valley under the north face of Veleta. There were a number of climbers making their way up this sheer rock face, it’s not for me, even attached to a rope.  Our ascent of Los Machos started from the valley floor, it’s still a steep ascent but it is walkable and only 2...

My idea this to keep cool this week was to go high. It worked a treat, we had a nice breeze and temperatures were around 23 degrees. There were only 5 of us at the roundabout in Beznar so we all managed to fit into 1 car for the drive up to Hoya del Portillo. This is as far as you can drive  when you are going up Mulhacen.  The walk starts by following a track through the forest before coming out on the moor where it picks up the Porqueira refugio track. We weren’t going to the refugio this time but the path offers an easy way to gain most of the walk’s altitude. The highest point of the walk is 2700 metres at the Mulhacen bus stop. From here it’s all down hill, well downhill except for the couple of little climbs, one to our lunch spot to some very comfy rocks with superb views over to Mulhacen and Veleta. The other was a scramble to the peak of Prado Llano, not the ski village but it did give me an idea for next Sunday’s walk. It was only as we approached the car...

This week we went for a river walk in the Rio Dilar. In an effort to keep cool we had an early, 8.30 start from Cozvijar and by the time we had all met up in Dilar there were 17 of us, so not a bad turn out. The walk is very easy, no hills to climb and no chance of getting lost as the path follows the river, crossing it many times. Normally the river reaches up to your knees but, due to the lack of water and that someone had been placed stepping stones in it, the water hardly came over your ankles. I later heard that some in the group managed to get there and back without getting their feet wet. If you know the names of anyone who kept their feet dry just let me know and I will cross them off the email list on the next wet walk, they obviously don’t need the river to keep themselves cool.  I am not going to slop about with wet feet for 10 km, whilst walking next to a guy who hasn’t even taken his socks off. As it is such an easy walk, I was quite happy for others in...

This week, in an effort to escape the overbearing heat wave we are experiencing at the moment, we decided to head for the ski village of Pradollano. The circular walk starts at the 2000 metre line about 5 km outside of the village . There wasn’t a cloud in the sky and the temperature was perfect for walking. For the next 1½ hours the walk climbed gently across the hillside. This was a two sandwich walk and we stopped for our first break after we had completed all the climbing. I was just thinking it was time to move on when there was an enormous clap of thunder, it was definitely time to move. We set off for Pradollano at a good pace, only to look back later to see that half of the group were meandering across the hillside, oblivious to the brewing storm. We took our second break at the Museum Etnológico fuente alta, a great place we had discovered a few weeks ago. I don’t know when, or if it ever opens but it is a great place to go for a picnic. There are tables and ...

In an effort to try and stay cool, on what was forecast to be one of the hottest days of the year so far, we had a walk planned to Picacaho Alto, a 1771 metre high hill behind Dilar. Now we aren’t daft, we weren’t going to climb to the top in that heat. Instead we only went up to 1670 metres, saving over 100 metres of climbing, and this route also gives you a superb traverse along the hillside. The walk starts off from the carpark down by the river and it was already 23 degrees at 9.30 in the morning. For the next 2 ½ hours the only way was up, but it was noticeable that the higher we climbed the fresher the air got. By the time we reached the traverse the temperature was superb, well worth the effort and sweat of getting there This was a 2 sandwich walk, the first one we had whilst on the traverse with superb views over Travenque, the second one we had in the forest after we had lost some altitude. The way back follows a barranco down to the river, the crossing of wh...

This week we went to pico Corzo in the sierra Huétor natural park. This is one of my favorite areas in which to walk. If the truth be told it would be difficult to choose a favorite as there are so many. We had arranged to meet the Granada contingent at the start of the walk near to the Prado Negro exit on the A92. I was a bit surprised when we were coming off the autovia to find that our convoy of 4 cars had been reduced to 2, somewhere along the way we had lost 2 cars. Not a good start, I know that we do occasionally lose people on the walk but as long as the numbers are low the losses can be classed as acceptable but to lose 9 before we have even got boots on the ground is a bit much, questions would be asked. Eventually both cars turned up, the problem was Alan had gone into ‘limp mode’. Let's make this clear it was his car not Alan that was in ‘limp mode’. With everyone present and accounted for our walk proceeded through forest and pasture to the summit of Pico ...

Last weekend I was in the UK again so the guide for the walk  was Dave. I was leading this week’s walk with Stuart away. Starting in Melegis with the plan to skirt around the three villages of Melegis, Saleres and Restabal. 26 of us met outside the bar Puerte del Valle (The Blue Bar). I think the owner thought there was going to be a rush but he would have to wait until we returned before I would allow the group to take their well-earned refreshments. We walked out on a track from Melegis before cutting down across the Rio Torrente and then through the orange groves and over the rio Durcal where we had a steep climb up, but only for a few meters. Making our way across the hillside with fine views back towards ‘El embalse de Béznar’, even with its lack water looked shimmery in the distance. As we walked further before our descent there were nice aerial views over to Restábal. Making our way down and crossing the rio de Barranco de Luna  and into the village ...

This week we had a walk from the Reloj de Sol, mistakenly renamed by me as the Puerta del Sol, so apologies to anyone who could not find it. The Reloj is a big Sundial on top of the hill above the Alhambra. There were 23 of us this week for the walk when we met up at the clock. I had just finished counting everyone when I saw another 50 heading our way, I thought it was time to leave rapidly and in the haste to hide out of the way we took a wrong turning. I don’t think anyone noticed though as there were no complaints when we had to go back up the hillside.  The walk starts by heading down into Jesús del Valle, it’s a wonderful path down in lush vegetation, whilst we were heading down I decided it would be nice to investigate a new side path that we came across. In the end it was not worth the effort as we had to climb back up to our original path, but hey, this is how we discover all our routes.  The path continues alongside the Rio Darro to an old cortijo...

This week we had a short, easy walk starting off from the Carretera de Cabra road. I say easy advisedly here as there were a couple of tricky sections.  We met at the BP in Cozvijar and then drove on  to The Repsol in Padul to look for anyone looking fit enough to go for a walk. After driving around the carpark in a convoy we came across Mark and Anne who followed us to the start of the walk.  The walk started on a nice level track through the campo. You don’t have to walk far before you come across an unusual sight in Spain, Pigeon lofts, I kid you not. It only needed a man with a flat cap and a Whippet,  heading for the pit and I could have been at home, well, the blue sky and the yellow T shirt would have to go. We walked on, passing Orchids and other spring flowers.  Now we know this route quite well having walked in this area a number of times, but in an effort to shorten the path a bit, because we had Jan and Martine’s grandchildren with u...

This week we went to Beas de Granada, just off the A92 on the far side of Granada. There were 16 of us in Cozvijar and then we met up with another 6 in Huetor de Santillan. The walk starts from the village of Beas and follows a campo road that soon leads you out of the village and into the countryside and onto foot paths. Dave was in front leading the way, following a GPS track I had sent him. But on Saturday evening I had found a new path that cut out a climb. So while poor Dave and Billy were looking around for us, we were 30 metres above them having climbed a very easy slope, they unfortunately had to climb up the banking. The initial climb is about 300 metres but it is not steep and it eventually brings you out on a forest road we walked on about 12 months ago. Then it was thick mist and raining, this time we had a deep blue sky and extensive views.    We continued walking in the forest until we came to our lunch spot. Now this wasn’t some grotty spot by ...

Our walk this week was our big adventure walk to Bermejales. It was advertised as suitable for anyone between 8 and 80. Well we hit both criteria, we had young David, Maria Jose’s son at 8 years and old Jim who was reclassified from viejo to anciano by some Spanish kids he met on the walk and, according to Conchi, you have to be really old for that. We all met in Bermejales and this was where the complicated bit set in. The walk is a linear one and, whilst you could walk there and back along the same path, walking back against the flow of the other walkers would take forever as there are a number of choke points along the way. Another reason for following the river downhill is that the walk just gets better the further you go. Our solution is to take some cars to the end of the walk so that we can drive back at the end. So while the drivers were busy positioning their cars, and with 27 walkers we needed a lot of cars, the rest of the group had time for a leisurely cup of cof...