AWW 4th October 2017: A Shambles Behind Silves

Recent research into the physiological basis of fatigue has defined that condition as physical and/or mental weariness resulting from exertion, that is, an inability to continue excercise at the same intensity with a resultant deterioration in performance. (Acknowledgements to Evans W.J. &  Lambert C.P. of the Nutrition, Metabolism, and Exercise Laboratory, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Central Arkansas Veterans Healthcare System, Little Rock , Arkansas 72205, USA.)

I know what they are getting at but, rather than reproduce some dull academic speak dealing with general disorientation and performance-related disintegration, this blogger would prefer to plump for the simple, unvarnished tale of a true cock-up.

It had all started pretty well. 18  had signed up for the  walk from Café Elias, but then 2 dropped out – Hazel with problems with her water works (garden irrigation pump) and Yves succumbing to a severe attack of the lurgi. However, two understudies who had turned up unexpectedly were available  – Frank to play the rôle of Hazel and Janet that of Yves. So that was all good.

Jim Brownlow, who had volunteered his brother Alec for the walk, agreed to take the Starter photograph. He thought at first that the camera was a sophisticated Apple device operated by fingerprint ID……

……but he eventually got the hang of it.

The Starters

From the left:

Russell, Val, Linda, Terry, Jill, Hazel (Frank), Sue, Jim, Jan, JohnD Rose, Alec Brownlow, Maria, Miriam, Ingrid, Yves (Janet), Ken, and JohnH, plus Java and Bica.

The first bit was a straightforward march along the canal heading west towards Encherim/Silves. As we neared Encherim, a group of 5 women wearing long-flowing robes and carrying large stacks of grasses on their shoulders emerged from the orange groves amd onto the path in front of us and then just vanished. Was it a mirage?

This was at the point where the canal plunges undergound at a cliff edge and then emerges some 250 metres further on at the top of another cliff and then runs along through the back streets of Encherim. This map indcates the gap between the two lengths of canal (shown in yellow).

     Mind the gap

and this shows where the canal reappears from underground in Encherim:-

We didn´t go there but swung north. A local resident looked on as we began to tackle the first big hill of the day.

Some found the climb  easier than others.

At the top, the Leader began to have the colley-wobbles. Anyway, we successfully negotiated a previously unreccced downward path in the general direction of the São Marcos road and then paused to take advantage of some relative shade for an early lunch.

JohnD took his ease on a bit of gear which looked suspiciously like some of the Phoenecian tripods (purpose unknown) of the late Bronze Age – early Iron Age (circa 9th/8th Century BC) recently excavated in Iberia which the Algarve Archaeological Association had been told about the previous evening.

JohnD representing the proto-Aluminium Age.

Lunch break over, Terry, Jill and Val left us to go to the Café Pára e Fica for their transport back to base as previously arranged, and with them went Ingrid and Janet as well, very sensibly in view of the increasing heat.

The remaining 13 then headed eastwards along the Aguas Bélas valley. Half way along, we had by then done a total of 12 kms. The easier option at this stage would have been to continue east and then gently home, but the Leader had promised some more hills in the afternoon, so we swung to the right and uphill. That was the first mistake. Thanks to the application of some cold compresses provided by Rose, the Leader managed the ascent, but shortly afterwards he “lost it” totally. He doubled back. Second mistake – he should have gone on.

Sense of direction- gone. Confidence – gone. Ability to think straight – all gone.  All cats are grey at night, they say; similarily, all hill paths can look the same at high noon. The group discipline was exemplary, however, and, working as one, they found a somewhat overgrown tracklet leading downwards to a valley. With Hash House Harrier calls of “On, On “ and “On Down” to guide us, we scrambled down to reach a clearly marked path which the Leader thought he recognised; he opted to turn south. Third mistake – he should have gone east. And now he really was lagging behind the mian group.

Now,obviously, none of this was very good for the purposes of doing a blog because, unless the blogger is in the midst of the group, he can´t catch the off-the–cuff witticisms and snatches of gossip, or take the revealing snapshots, which can add spice to the narrative.  The camera was pretty much forgotten.

I think that what happened next was that 7 fit walkers had the sense to realise that they were near the canal again and so took that route back to Café Elias while the other 5 stayed to escort the by now ex-Leader along to Encherim from where they picked up by car and returned to base – thanks to Ken and Jim for that. Thanks also to Russell and Linda who ensured that I didn´t forget to drink and that I kept putting one foot in front of another. My morale was considerably boosted by Russell´s reassurance that he had been trained not to leave any bodies behind.

Back at the Café, probably an hour behind schedule, a considerable amount of liquid was being downed by all and, given all the extra consumption, the owners kindly laid on some tapas. My thanks to Dr McEwan for prescribing an ice-pack massage and to Auxiliary Nurse Maria for applying same.

Jan did sterling work deputising for Ros in the cash collection and making, reportedly, a record profit. 

Apologies to those who got landed with a longer day than they had expected.