20th Feb 2019 Vale Luis Neto.

Long, Muddy and Moist. A Tale of the Vale. 

The first interesting aspect of this epic was the composition of the group, with more than the usual chopping and changing, to whit:  Five who were expected did not appear (though four of them had not contacted me), one with a legit excuse, that is a shattered tooth; two unexpected who swore they had given notice (they did, but it went into Spam), and four regulars missing on sad duties. So the party gathered at Tia Bia at the appointed time (at least that went well), was as much a surprise to me as to anyone else.

The final group as follows:

Russell, Sue H, Alan and Trish, Alan and Sandra (welcome back!), Kim and Kirsten (now becoming our regular Danish contingent), John D (even the Tour of Portugal couldn't tempt him away from the AWW), Nicholas, David. Jasper, recovered from his wounds, resumed his herding duties. The weather for the day was perfect for walking, with a cool breeze and hazy sunshine, the sky clearing to full sun as we neared the end. I described this walk as two balloons with a string joining them together, and with one small diversion this is the route we walked.

    Starters minus Leader

Leaving the cafe, we drove down the Cachopo road for three k or so, disembarked and began the walk by descending into the valley on the right - and that's where we got muddy for the first time. Path widening and clearance was happening right along our route, and this section was wet, so the mud was well and truly churned up. The government is now so concerned about fire risk that they are using the army to reinforce the regular workforce, and they are using some serious digging kit. This rather unpleasant underfoot section was relieved by the sight of mimosa in bloom along the valley floor- probably the best display I have ever seen.

After a brief hesitation over the route, and the crossing of a stream swollen somewhat by the recent day of rain, we made our way along the valley and up the steepish hill to Besteirinhos, where the little communal washplace and pump provided an excuse for a rest and a photo. Then onto tarmac for the stroll to and through Montes Novos, where daffodils were glimpsed in a garden. Russell was keen to half-inch a bunch to take home as a welcome back to Linda, but was restrained with difficulty.

    At Fonte da Rata, Besteirinhos. Minus John D behind the camera.

   According to my dictionary, a large rat or a mole. Rato is a mouse.

The track after Montes Novos took us into the moist part of the walk. This wide valley is notoriously boggy after rain, and some time was spent negotiating ponds. After quite a bit of this, I decided to take to the high ground, adding some distance to the walk, but keeping our feet dry. We walked the ridge above the bog and eventually joined the wide track into Vale Luis Neto, where we encountered a large flock of sheep and goats. (lots of ovine livestock today).

Walking through the older part of the village, we saw evidence of re-habitation, together with some rebuilt water fountains. Then it was on to the easier walking terrain across the plateau, and the long descent to Macheira, where we stopped for lunch within earshot of the village dogs, who kept up a welcome throughout.

I had begun to feel quite confident of completing this walk without further problems, but trouble lay ahead. Descending into the valley beyond Macheira, I found the landscape along the stream at the bottom completely changed from my previous visits, and the result was quite a long retrace and a good deal of hesitation and exploration before we found an alternative path to connect with the previous trail. This was tiring and of course added to the distance and time for the day, plus a rather brambly path caused a few scratched legs.

    More livestock as we approached Problem Corner.

Back on my planned route we climbed steeply to Vale da Rosa and continued on the return to Vale Luis Neto. Although the local route signage was better than the last time I walked this way, the paths have been rather neglected, and more scratches were suffered as we approached Corticadas. Turning onto the dirt road back to VLN, we saw cones on the road and beyond them more road works and more camouflage outfits. Then on through the village once more and back to the linking track between the two balloons. 

    Attractive new azulejos at Vale da Rosa

The final stages went to plan, with a very welcome long downward trending ridge to the Barranco-Cachopo road and a return along the valley, where we got muddy for the second time as we joined the outward route. After a final unkind climb back to the cars, we returned to Tia Bia where we were served drinks by a very pleasant and efficient young man, Russell deputising for Sue M as KOTK.

    End of a long day.

Stats (roughly)  23k. 6.75 hours. Moving average around 4.3kph Congrats and thanks to all for patience and assistance. Particular praise to Kirsten on only her second hill-walking adventure for keeping up with the pace and smiling throughout!

Track is in 2 parts

Footnote for those who were there. The path I took which we had to retrace was correct. Where we tried to find a way across the stream was where I crossed previously, but it had become overgrown, as we found out.  A rewrite and reroute will be necessary.