Caminho das Caldas – Picota Walk
Susan and John’s walk 3rd November 2021
Starter photo left to right
Sue
H, Jim, Manuela, Frank, Susan, Gill, Theo, Tony, Julie, Barry, Beulah, Sue M,
Ros, Geoff, Martin, Rafa, John
Thanks to Alan for being our photographer. He sent us 37 brilliant photos out of over 140 images.
This
circular walk with lots of hills started near the chapel of Caldas with 17
walkers plus our canine friend Rafa. 15
brave participants completed the challenge unfortunately 2 walkers left due to
a leg injury. We hope they made it home safely and that Manuela is feeling
better. The walk was lengthened by 300 metres due to a slight leading error
(mea culpa). The views and good cheer of all compensated for the difficulty of
the walk.
The merry crew anxiously look for their missing leader. My co-leader is
too busy chatting to notice. We still set off at the appointed hour of 9.30am.
A fun moment between Martin and Julie.
We decided to omit Picota from our walk as we felt it may have been a climb too many. This is the second highest mountain in the Algarve. Well worth doing it some other time especially on a clear day.
At last a very welcome lunch break
The wrong way at the 14 km mark. Glad you recced the walk with us Gill
as I had a senior moment which was shared by my co-leader (he denies this).
A William Tell re-enactment
Into Monchique to escape from the rain. Where did it come from? At least it gave Ros a chance to have a well earned first coffee
Off we go again for the final hurrah
Back to Foz de Banho for a well deserved drink. Thanks to Sue Minnis for organising these refreshments.
Walk stats: Distance: 19.88 km, Time 5:37, Pace 16:57 min/km, Total ascent 829m
We used the PR2 (Pequena rota- regional path) map for this walk and followed the red and yellow signs. Thanks to Jim, Gill and Linda for reccying this walk with us. Further gratitude to Jim for giving us the PR2 map.
Thanks to you all for joining our walk. We hope you all enjoyed it as much as we did.
Susan & John
A hearty first walk of the season for us. John & Susan were too kind to omit my fall/tumble on the way down ; if it wasn't for a convenient bush & Alan's helping hand, I might have joined my walking pole and slithered down much further.
ReplyDeleteA lovely walk. Worth doing again with the inclusion of Picota.
ReplyDeleteThanks Susan and John, lovely walk.
ReplyDelete