March 27 2019 : Moinha da Roche...with a difference.

Moinha da Roche...with a difference.

The instructions on the can said : " ...this is the one where Sue fell and broke her wrist doing a reccie : no worries though, we'll be walking up that section, rather than down, so it should be safer......whilst similar to the M da R walk I have led a couple of times in the past, this has a new beginning and end and a bit of a different middle.....the track is quite undulating, with one quite steep section . There is one section that is a bit overgrown  so trousers are advisable"....in addition,  I added at the start that whilst all had been reccied, the section we were doing in reverse hadn't been in that direction, so be prepared...

Almost a full house of 20 walkers made it to the Honey Cafe by the designated start time ( some only just...) , ready for a coffee and a starters photo ; alas without the technical expertise of one John H who was resting from his AWW exertions of leading last week with an easier ride as WAGS blogger. Cynics, I heard, said I'd only take a picture of the railings, but I didn't...

Starters were, L to R, Ros(talking!), David, Alexander, Manuella, Linda, Russell,sue M, Geoff,Moira,Trudy, Sarah, Scott, Alan,Sandra, Dan, Gill, Alan, (Cycling) John,Jim, Isabel....and Jasper.

We welcomed Sue's friend Moira, Manuella's son Alexandre ( a doctor, a sign perhaps?) and our Canadian friends Dan & Trudy. Keen observers will notice that neither the leader nor many of the walkers followed the leaders advice not to wear shorts due to some off-piste work!

There's often a white cat with a chewed ear at the Honey Cafe : today there was a dreadlocked dog who made friends with Linda:

Off we set, only to realise we weren't the only ones out enjoying the sunshine and the spring flowers....the Honey Cafe wasn't named that by accident, and both Ros and Scott were stung. Fortunately, the First Aid bag that I had carried for the last decade or so , lost it's virginity and healing antihistamine cream was soon applied after the stings had been extracted.

No, it isn't Darth Vadar, it's Alan in anti-bee gear! 

It was during this section of off-piste work that the leader gave an involuntary shout....a 6 inch sharp twig had penetrated  my shoe ( a Merrell walking shoe before you ask) and had stuck in my foot...mercifully, not all 6 inches, but enough! Application of Germalene from the First aid kit did the trick...bit like London buses ....nothing used for years then twice in almost is many minutes!

We skirted well to the east  to avoid the hippy-type community that had turned Ros back on a previous walk here, and walked up the hill where Sue fell and broke her wrist doing  the reccie. 

Dan found a kaleiderscope....but not the usual plastic affair, one made of turned brass :

It shows he was an observant policeman in a former life : last week he found the brown snake!

It was soon after this that the leader made the fundamental mistake of talking and walking and following , compounded by walking this section in reverse...as a result, we came to an abrupt cliff-edge ( well, almost) and had to retrace our steps for a few hundred yards.

I was comforted at that stage...we had had 3 accidents/incidents, so nothing else could go wrong, could it?

The track then undulated, with far more ups than downs...but here's a slippy one....

and we saw the latest fire warning signs...

Old hands at Moinha da Roche may recognise the masthead picture...it's the shortcut near the end, but overgrown! We thus walked a new section, which was mainly all up, so we straggled a  lot...

so we had an  early(ish) lunch...trust Gill & Jim to find some comfy stones...

You've all seen Cycling John on his stool many a time, so I won't show it again, but here's 

Alan's  lunch which seemed mainly liquid, but non-alcoholic he assured me...

Off again after about 20 minutes, ever upwards until we joined the old MdR track....but then still ever upward, despite my assurances of " no more hills"....past a distant trig point ( I recall Headley saying that he could never find the way there)...

and our old lunch spot...

before a 7 spotted cistus was seen...and then another...

but Linda was having a rest in the shade

before a nice long downhill stretch, passing a digger doing not-quire-sure-what :

before Linda decided her feet needed cooling as well

before we got to the water crossing

where Ros nearly did a Hazel....

and then one last hill and back the non-bee way to the Honey Cafe. 

Never did a Sagres taste so good!

As near as damn-it, 20kms, 5 hours walking, 20 mins lunch, 4kph....well done  &  thanks to all.

Geoff

AWW 2019 03 20: Behind Silves with a Spring in One´s Step

The pre-walk blurb had been as follows:-

AWW Wednesday 20th March 2019.  Non-Athletic Stroll
Meeting Point: Cafe Elias. Start Time: 9.30 a.m.
This walk will be approximately 19 kms, all on recently recce´ed tracks. A few middle-grade uphills, one steepish descent. Occasional water for dogs. A few water crossings but none expected to be deep. Stretches of level ground. No opt-out. Your leader doesn´t move at more than 4 kph average so here´s a cautionary Easy Jet style paraphrase for those with greyhound-like propensities, “take time to look around – your nearest leader may be behind you.” 

Despite that caution, most of our more athletic types did turn out, and promised to be on their best behaviour and to follow the leader.
It was great to see Miriam back after several month´s lay-off following her ankle accident – maybe she had been lulled into a false sense of security by the “non-athletic” label in the blurb, but she did exceptionally well all day. It was also good to see Val and Manuela out for their first walks of the season. Welcome. too, to visitors Brian, Kay, Dan and Trudie. Altogether there were 23 starters; quite a turn-out , but then it was the Vernal Equinox after all – night equals day – and Spring was in the air.

The Starters  (from the left)
Ken, Kay, Manuela, Dan, Trudy, FrankM, Brian, David, John the Cyclist, Margaret, Gill, Steve, Miriam with Bica, Russell, Val, Linda, Jim, Ros, SueM, Martin, Isabel, Hazel, JohnH (leader).
Somewhere in the background, David´s Jasper.
Despite the coffee service being painfully slow, we managed a remarkably prompt 9.30 am start. We turned right up the hill past the organic strawberry farm and when we paused at the top of the first hill, the leader realised with horror that something had already gone terribly wrong. For all that he had forecast no more than 4 kph, he had been going at over 4.5 kph –uphill! Something really had to be done, but, try as he might, for the rest of the walk, he fought a losing battle to slow things down.

We had two fairly long gentle downhills where it was simply not possible to walk that slowly. On one of these stretches, Dan spotted a brown snake in the middle of the track just beginning to wake up in the morning sunlight.

We then tackled a 2 km long uphill stretch, at the top of which the leader pointed out a slightly higher ridge and suggested that those who wanted to catch a sight of the Arade Barragem  in the distance might like to go up there for a look-see. Remarkably enough , 12 individuals fell for that sucker punch (it´s quite remarkable what you can get some people to do!) and off they went to look, while the sensible ones among us had a very welcome pause for breath and refreshment.

   12 go looking for a Barragem
Then came the sharp descent into the Aquas Belas valley which tested Miriam´s resolution quite severely , but she made it.This valley, with its crystal clear stream repeatedly disappearing and reappearing under the stones, was pleasantly green after the recent fire damage.

One or two water crossings but all minor. At 12 midday, we stopped beside the old Medronho Factory for an early lunch in the shade. John the Cyclist perched as usual on his light-weight folding stool…

while Jim constructed something rather heavier to perch on from materials found inside the dilapidated factory

Lunch took an indulgent 30 minutes, well over AWW norms. Shortly after lunch, Jasper disturbed a deer on the track but, obedient to David´s command, didn´t waste too much time chasing after it. (A bit surprising to catch a deer out in the open at that time of day.)

After 4. 5 kms along the valley track, we swung south and up the last steep climb of the day. Steep although that was, it didn´t really slow the average pace down by very much. It was then a gentle ridge walk down towards Encherim, inevitably picking up speed as we went. It was while we were up on this ridge that we heard the sound of a whistle in the distance; we paused, whistled back; then there was silence. We couldn´t see any one, but somehow we felt we were being watched. And, as these pictures show, we had indeed been watched, and photographed.

    Did you hear that whistle?
Down onto  the low flat ground behind Encherim (and it really is low there - 8 metres above sea level according to the leader´s gizmo), round a corner we went and all became clear.

There he was, the whistle blower all in camouflage and in shorts (well, we  did say it was Spring). Geoff our Co-ordinator had come to meet us and to receive a warm welcome from all his female admirers.

   What´s all the fuss about?
There was now about 4 and a bit kms still to go and speed was still critically high, particularly as Trudy kept breaking into a trot. The leader had somehow to play for time. He called  Hazel to take the lead in an attempt to calm things down. Then, a final throw of the dice, on the last ridge above home, he called the group together for a lengthy  huddle and asked for their co-operation. He pointed out that the barrista at Café Elias, nice old guy that he is, was not exactly the fastest gun in the West, and suggested that we put in our drinks orders here and now, and send one runner ahead to get those drinks ready so as to avoid delays round the coffee machine. SueM was volunteered for that job.  She, having taken orders for 13 beers, 4 7-ups, 2 white wines and 1 red, then set off like a prize greyhound released from its trap, delighted to be able to hit her normal pace once again after a whole day´s unwonted restraint. Unfortunately,eleven others could also smell the beer in the distance and off they raced after her down the main track, failing to note that the Leader had gone to the right and was taking a less obvious but more scenic route home, past a small barragem.

    The more scenic route
So, having gained a 24th walker at Encherim ( how often does that happen on an AWW?), the leader now saw the group split in half  over the final half-kilometre. (Your a-political Blog editor has vetoed the obvious Leaver-Remainer analogy).  No-one got lost, however, and all re-united at the Café where, thanks to SueM, arrangements for the after-walk drinks went perfectly; Hazel distributed avocadoes, and got banana skins, plastic bottle tops and packets of sugar in return; and the ever-hospitable proprietress of Café Elias  brought out her customary on-the-house offerings of cookies and biscuits.

And the results of all the day´s efforts?
Here are the Track and the Statistics:-

Total Distance: 19.6 kms. Total Time: 5 hrs 55 mins.
Moving Time: 4 hrs 33 mins. Lunch Stop: 33 mins.
Average Moving Speed: 4.33 kph (!!!!!).
Total Ascent: 683 metres.

Thanks to Geoff for his pics and, to all who took part, thanks for your company.
JohnH.

AWW – RIBEIRA DAS CANAS 13 MARCH 2019

AWW – RIBEIRA DAS CANAS 13 MARCH 2019

We met at 9.45am at the Café in Rasmalho and then car shared ready for a prompt start at 9.56am.

14 walkers and 2 x dogs.  Terry, Frank, David, John, Gill, Martin, Russell, Jim, Trudy, Dan, Isabel,
Ken, Ros and Linda (photographer).  Plus the dogs Bica and Jasper.

After pulling a muscle in his leg getting out of his car, Frank declined the big hill.  We would like to
thank him for his kind note and 1 euro left on our car windscreen and hope he enjoyed his shorter walk.
 This left us with 13 people on the thirteenth of the month much to Terrys distress!!!
Superstitious or what. We appeased him with the fact there were 15 of us if you counted the dogs.

A short stop to admire the wonderful views from the top.

 

Glorious sunshine, a light breeze, 22C and lots of wild flowers.

No picnic benches but wonderful views down the valley for the lunch stop.

The afternoon was much easier as more downs than ups.  Which was much appreciated.

Plenty of water crossings and water to keep the dogs cool.

The end is in sight and the bar getting closer.

    

A surprise appearance by “Ernest Hemmingway” on the steps of the bar.
 No complaints this week about being short changed as we covered 19.2kms as promised with
some big lumps and small slopes.  A good time of 4 hours 42 minutes, including lunch stop.

No major incidents, just Dan with a Bee sting but Ros had come prepared with all the medical supplies.

Thank you to everyone who joined us and our Canadian visitors Dan and Trudy.  

Linda and Russell