Alferce and Almost Picota

 

The weather was uncertain to the last minute, coming as it did on the back end of of a period what the British call "changeable weather". We arrived at the designated meeting point - the Snack- Bar Petisqueira "Tapas" only to find it closed. 

the closed cafe

Fortunately we found another cafe round the corner which was just opening as we arrived and all were able to secure their beverage of choice. 

 

 

Five intrepid hikers signed up including Hugh, a first time Wednesday walker accompanied by Francesca, herself only a second-time Wednesday walker. Then there was Ros (a thousand-time Wednesday walker?) neighbour Richard, and Tim, the walk leader and the only survivor of the recce.  

 

Amongst absent friends, none was missed more than Bruce who had shared the recce two weeks before (despite massive jetlag) and was even now rumoured to be in Switzerland😎. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We set out along a short stretch of paved road but after turning up towards a community ominously named "Alto" the still paved road became more of a lane. 

Ros knew people living here and we peered inside their front gate, but no-one was to be seen. 

 At the top of the lane the rain began, but miraculously ended again after two minutes, just after we had all donned our raingear! Raingear was removed again and our journey resumed. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The road continued uphill, but soon turned into a delightful forested track decorated with flowers. 

 

We never saw the rain again😊, but the road did continue uphill. After all, we were headed to Almost Picota.  

  

 

 

 

 

The broad track narrowed to an overgrown but colourful path.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 We finally reached the most westerly point of our trail, where a path ran directly up to Picota, but we left that for another day and turned left up a very wet but manageable trail. It was a lot less wet than it had been on the recce. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A couple of kilometres further and we were well on the downhill trail. We stopped for lunch with a small (very small) waterfall in the background.   

      

 More paved road, but very quiet except for the occasional dogs. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And so we continued to high point - or topograhically speaking - the low point, of our trip -  the suspension bridge over the Barranco do Demo (Devil's Gorge). 

The view as we began our descent 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We could see Alferce on the other side, looking much closer than it actually was. The bridge was only constructed in 2023. It is very popular and has, apparently, 570 wooden steps altogether. 

 

on the way to the bridge

Francesca took a cautious approach

Others were more relaxed ....

 And we finally arrived back in Alferce! But, sorry to say, no picture of that😞. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Distance 12.97km

Elevation 522 m 

1 April 2026 – (Cistus Valley) April Fool’s Day

 

AWW Walk report – 1 April 2026 – (Cistus Valley) April Fool’s Day

We all enjoyed a good catchup and drinks at the very nice café Trigo Bom in Figueira.  Big welcome to Debbie and Francesca on their inaugural Wednesday walk. Then we car shared to the starting point.

13 walkers and 2 x dogs.  Bruce, Dan, Linda, Trudy, Maura, Ros, Mike, Debbie, Tim, Karen, Francesca, Richard and Martin (photographer) plus the dogs Raffa and Toby.

We took a short cut through a field to join a nice wide track.  The farmer was just letting his sheep and goats onto the track; our dogs got a warning from his sheep dogs to keep away.

 

Then came our first water crossing but we all managed it safely.  Someone had kindly laid a plank across and some large stepping stones.

Then we cut into the hidden valley and joined the narrow paths between the cistus bushes.  

The bees were buzzing around in the air so some of us adorned our new head protectors.  These black veils are becoming popular with the walking group since the incident last Spring. 

We headed up the one main hill of the day, enjoying the views from the top, looking down onto the baragem below.

We passed the hover craft track with its two barking terriers yapping at us then headed down the valley, over two more river crossings.  Lots of pole sharing going on.

We passed another baragem and the dogs had another good cool off.  The only person we saw today was a guy tending his crops in a field. 

We found a nice shady area to relax and enjoy our picnic lunches and listen to the gushing stream nearby. 

Another water crossing after lunch which Ros crossed three times as she had misplaced her black veil.  Very important!

Then lots more narrow paths and cistus bushes, plus two more river crossings and another baragem for the dogs to cool off.  Ros decided to have a paddle at one water crossing.  Luckily the goats and sheep dogs had gone back home so we had a stress-free walk back to the cars.

Then we drove back down to Figueira and enjoyed nice cool drinks at the café.  Thanks, Ros for organising the drinks.

The walk was 14.08 kms and took 4 1/4 hours, including lunch stop.  No-one got stung and we all enjoyed a very scenic walk under the nice blue skies.  Thanks to Martin and Trudy for some of the photos.

Linda.

THE EPIC SAGA OF OS HORTINHAS

 

THE EPIC SAGA OF OS HORTINHAS

                                  A 12 km adventure of courage, chaos, and questionable decisions

Our story begins in the legendary parking area of Restaurante “Os Hortinhas”, where six  brave heroes — Allan, Jan, Peter, Caroll, Martin, Don, and Rafa — assembled like the Fellowship of the Ring, except with fewer swords ( and not a bow and arrow in sight) and more snacks.

🌊 Chapter 1: The Ribeira Do Alportel Standoff

The group marched boldly along the Ribeira do Alportel, until they reached a river crossing that can only be described as:                  “Absolutely not. Try again.”

The water was high.
The current was strong.
The rocks were slippery.
The group stared at it like it had personally insulted them.

Then came the heroic question:
                                                          “Should I go for a swim?”

Translation:
“I’m considering a terrible idea, please stop me.”

🍽️ Chapter 2: Lunchtime —                   The Survival Edition

Lunch was enjoyed by the river, where sandwiches instantly transformed into Michelin‑star cuisine simply because everyone was hungry enough to eat a small tree.

🍊 Chapter 3: The Neighbour’s Fruit — A Spiritual Experience

A kind neighbour offered fruit so fresh, so perfect, so life‑changing that the group briefly considered abandoning society and becoming full‑time fruit‑based nomads.

🥾 Chapter 4:                                            The Final Kilometres

As the sun blazed and legs grew heavy, the group pushed through the final stretch.
There were moments of doubt.
There were moments of drama.
There were moments when someone definitely pretended to tie their shoe just to rest.

But after 12 km, they emerged victorious — tired, dusty, and miraculously still friends.

😄 Epilogue

All of them were happy.
All of them survived.
And none of them had to swim.
A triumph for humanity.

Peter....with a bit of assistance from Geoff, but mainly co-pilot.

AWW 4 March 2026....Honey Cafe /Montes de Cima....Remembered?

 Honey Cafe /Montes de Cima....Remembered?

Back in the days of yor (well 2016/2017) BC ( Before Covid) we checked out a new route in this part of the countryside with intrepid reccee-ers Russell, Linda and Rose. It took us two or three saturdays to sort it, but we eventually had a 15kms walk, quite uppydowny , which we did in February 2017....this was back in the days when 15kms was considerd a short walk. The blog is at :

AWW 2015-24: AWW 22nd February 2017: To hill with Geoff – and back.

I had been wanted to retrace our steps for some time, and eventually with Ros, Linda and Sue managed to do (most of) it , so  our gallant band of 14 set  off having been suitabled caffinated at The Honey Cafe :

L to R : Tim, John, Steve, Kieran, Fiona, Dan, Trudy, Martin, Ros, Sue, Mike, Trish, Maura.....and Rafa.

Unfortunately (?), we can't walk up the first steep hill ( I recall David's  quip of whether that was what is called a hillstart...) as the path to the renovated ruin has been blocked off. With no official photographer ( Alan gone AWOL again) I had to deputise, so here are a few backsides:

The landscape had altered in the past 9 years , with the recovering  from the fires, new firebreaks/tracks  and whilst some was still surprisingly familiar, some wasn't.....try as we might on the recent reccees, we couldn;t recognise where Russell did his heroic deeds in 2017 :

Nor could we really recognise this hill...

Was it this one?

Probably not....but perhaps this one?

Anyway, we skirted both , but then...horror of horrors...I realised  I had been talking and walking and had missed our  turning! Various phone maps were consulted as to whether it was possible to carry on and find a new way back : if it was only a few of us, I might have concurred, but with 14 it was too risky, so it was " about turn" and we retraced some of our steps.....it was a nice day, lovely views, and if it wasn't for the 180 degree turn, I doubt many would have noticed.

Lunch called, some favouring a fallen tree:

others, a more conventional resting spot...

Without any more alarums, we rejoined the track we have done many times on our Monday walks ( CVO Ramblers) , though there was still a big puddle to navigate...Rafa showing the way through the middle...

 But strangely, all kept to the side...

When we did this section of the walk last on a Monday Walk, Linda had to limbo under a fallen tree...and in the wet...

But a kindly forrester had cut it down...

There were some landslips after recent rain...

One final water obstacle..

Then back for a drink!

Many thanks for your company.....there is still scope to explore this route further, perhaps starting from  Casais.....a task for next season! The doubling back at least added to the total of 15kms!

Map & stats...

Geoff