An oven-ready walk, sort of.

This week's walk from an EAWW quintet was led by Julie and Tony. It was, as Boris might say, an oven-ready trail, circular in nature and conveniently passing the Sol e Serra cafe/restaurant in Corte Garcia not far from Querenca. This is where we met and here is the starting group to prove it.

L - R Jan, Sue, Martin, Julie and Tony behind the camera.

Also one four legged friend, Rafa, brought by Martin.

We nearly had an interloper in Mr Whippy, but we had him licked

and were gone before he even realised.

Our basic route was the PR12, but since this was just 8.5km we had to do a little tweaking and stretching to make it worthy of an AWW. Our route took us through the back lanes and tracks of Corte Garcia and Adega and then gradually up into the hills to the north.

The temperature was rising and combined with the climbing it was time for a rest and a drink of water. A wise move as we had decided to walk up to the telephone mast on the top of Cerro Cepo at 438m.

At the top we were surprised to find a new wooden structure, built during the lockdown. Was it a fire lookout post? Or with a picnic table under its shady roof more likely a public viewpoint. Either way, it provided expansive views to the coast and Foia.

One day Jan this will all be yours.

It was a long walk down the track back to the Barranco do Velho road and then to the shaded parking area, not far from our start, where it was time for lunch.

We stuck to our standard 20 minutes, but it was tempting to walk back to the vehicles a further kilometre down the road.

We continued instead across the road and then the stream and then up the almost vertical path towards the main track leading to Cerros dos Negros.

I haven't mentioned our additional canine companion who'd been with us since we started. He'd been excellent company for Rafa and us too. We weren't sure whether we were showing him the way, or he was showing us the way. Here he is refreshed from the stream and ready for the climb.

I told you it'd be steep!

Time for a bit of a rest for all.

And take in the views.

Finally four of us managed to reach the summit for some of the best views of the day. Apart from Jan's graffiti on the trig point. (Just kidding)

Looking south from the summit, still with energy for the descent. If you blow up the picture you might just see Martin and Sue to the left of Julie's hand, under a tree by the path.

And so it was back down to the valley stream and a circuit along the side of it, before an unwelcome last climb back up to the road and the very welcome Sol e Serra for refreshments.We didn't even get to say good bye to our canine friend. He'd disappeared for his own refreshments.

Thanks to everyone, dogs included, for a very enjoyable walk.

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