Honey Cafe to Moinha de Rocha 23 Feb 2022

 Honey Cafe  to Moinha de Rocha

Some may have been put off by  last week's scramble, some by my warnings of ploughed tracks, others by the distance or doctor's appointments,  but most because they had flown off to see the Uk battered by Eunice or to inspect the tulip fields. Anyway, 7 of us plus Bica arrived promptly at the Honey Cafe for coffee , though it was rumoured that an almost as large breakaway group of Easterners had gathered Out East for a truncated walk.

The Honey Cafe has a new and enlarged outside sitting are, but L to R :

Bica, Linda, Jim, Sue, Gill, Steve, Tom ( photo by Geoff).

The usual route was recce'ed some weeks ago, and deemed impassable without machetes, so we had 13 mins of tarmac, but along a nice valley in the sun (incredibly warm for Feb) past a stream and an old nora...

Before we got to our first uphill track, and thence to The Hill That Sue Broke Her Wrist On.....but that was going down, now we only go up...

The Hippy Commune had erected new fences, but the paths were all passable, though we wondered what went on there....

Bica found a pond...

We reached Moinha de Roche, went up a different valley, and Bica found some more streams...

The last looking very beautifull in the dappled sunlight...

Rather than do a Jim and climb after lunch, we ascended the next big hill to have lunch at the top, with great views & visibility:

.....and Bica went on her usual post-lunch prowl for leftovers...

The flat section after lunch was , admittedly,. a little uphillish, but Sue's hat was adorned with some flowers from Jim..

I had realised by then that I was whistle-less : having taken off my jumper on the initial hill, I feared it had fallen off and that  I had lost it, but  hoped it could be found on the way back....but in the meantime, it was time to descend...

and more streams for Bica who seemed to climb near vertical cliffs with ease...

One stream to ford, but they were all to quick for the camera, except you-know-who...

We were soon doubling back, when Linda found, not a snake, but my whistle!

and so back to The Honey Cafe for a cold Sagres...

Thanks to all.

Geoff

Elapsed time was just under 5 hours....

Distance

17.3 km

Time spent moving

3:56 h

Ascent

376 m

Descent

420 m

Avg. speed (throughout time spent moving)

4.4 km/h

RIBEIRA DAS CANAS - 16 FEBRUARY 2022

 

AWW – RIBEIRA DAS CANAS - 16 FEBRUARY 2022

We met at 9.45am at the Café in Rasmalho and then car shared ready for a prompt start at 10:00am.

14 walkers and one dog.   Tony, Susan, Julie, Sue, Ros, David, Jan, Sarah, Gill, Geoff, Miriam, Russ, Ken and Bica the dog.  Linda was the photographer.

We started out at the valley bottom and walked close to the river, enjoying the views up towards our intended route.  This was the last watering hole for Bica until our return journey.

The ladies were up front leading us up towards Caldas De Monchique. 

The rest of the group followed closely behind in a tight knit group as we made the gradual climb uphill.  There was a nice cooling breeze to help us along.

 

Then we headed into the unknown valley checking for the arrow markers and pink ribbon at the junctions.

We zig zagged around the valley until we found a suitable stop for lunch with views down towards Portimao and the sea. 

We had an early lunch as we were well over half way at 9kms. 

 After lunch we headed back out into the unknown valley, looking forward to lots of promised downhill stretches.

We were merrily chatting and in good spirits until we came to a very steep downhill section which the leader did not remember from the recci and was not advertised in the walk description.  We all made it down safely, albeit very slowly and carefully and someone said “Sue Minnis wouldn’t have liked this”.  Neither did Sarah and Miriam.

Downhill skiing?

Once at the bottom we could not find any more arrows and pink ribbon at the junctions.  We tried various different routes which all ended in very steep drops.  We could see the main path back to the cars across the valley but there was a very steep ravine in between us and the path.  After lots of discussion and looking at google maps we made a joint decision to go back the way we had come.  Luckily we found an alternate path around the side of the steep hill.

Gill pointed out we were not even back to where we had lunch which was 9kms from the cars so it was going to be a very long return journey.  We looked on google maps for shorter routes back and decided to risk a path leading down the valley which looked like it may link up with the path we had seen in the distance.  We had to make a scramble on all fours on a steep slope with rough scree.  David shot up there like a Gazelle but it was a struggle for some.  

Rock climbing?....but no rope!

Russell was at the bottom but tripped and fell flat on his front, winding himself and taking on lots of scratches.  We all waited with baited breath whilst he got his wind back hoping nothing was broken.  Fortunately he was just a bit battered and bruised and managed to scramble up the slope with the help of Tony.  We plied him with energy drinks and sweets and he managed to get his second wind and march back on.

The leader didn’t have time to take any more photos as she was busy trying to get everyone back home, apart from the photo of Gills new boots.  She had decided to break them in today as it was supposed to be a shorter walk.  Looks like they are broken in now. (David also had new shoes, but not so photogenic as Gill's......good job it wasn't a hash, she's have had to drink out of them! Ed).

We got back to the cars and headed down to the café for some much needed refreshments.  The walk ended up being 24kms.  So well done everyone and thank you for not moaning and complaining.

Thanks for the photos from Geoff and Tony and David.  Also the lemons from Jan. 

Linda.

(Ed note : we weren't really that far off from the  correct route. After our abortive dead-ends, we took the path to the right of That Steep Hill : we should have taken the one to the left, that would have taken us back  near the cars...see dotted line on map . The perils of walking in reverse ( to the recce) : it's surprising how different paths look . Linda didn't recognise  That Steep Hill because they must have come along the flat path that we went back on....oh well,  should be OK next time!)

In closer detail, we should have come along the track on right at top, bypassed the bottom of That Steep Hill and then gone along the dotted trail.....).

Via Algarviana, Day 10, Arade Barragem to Silves or the voyage of the Bounty.

The crew gathered in Silves before the voyage and found that we had a couple of ‘press ganged’ additions before the mast. It was a beautiful morning in Silves as the sun rose above the castle and the storks decorated houses and street lights around the town.

The drive from Silves to the start at the Arade Dam (called the Salazaar Dam after the late dictator of Portugal) was completed without incident with a short wait for Jan to meet us there. After a couple of panicky phone calls the last crew member, Jan, arrived at the start bang on time.

From left to right: Jane, Kevin, Ros, Ken, Marian, Jan, Miriam, Sue, Linda, Geoff (AKA Fletcher Christian), Jill, David, Susan, Jim (AKA Capt. Bligh), John and at the front, Alan and Bica.

We set sail on a beautiful morning along the shores of the Arade reservoir and almost immediately crossed the path of another group of walkers although small but better organised. This group walked in a well coordinated group as they were Pine Processionary caterpillars ( Thaumetopoea pityocampa).

We carefully avoided the caterpillars and admired the views across the reservoir although it was clear that the water levels were very low for this time of year.

We had a fair wind and reassurances from our captain that there was only one uphill stretch so off we trekked.

 There were ups:-

 There were muddy patches :-

 There were water crossings:-

 Much to Bica’s liking!

 Susan and Sue even found a table and chairs to enjoy a rest and chat:-

 We took our lunch in a narrow valley surrounded by Eucalyptus trees.

 After lunch we continued along the valley where we met a road and stopped at a plaque in memory of one of the first walkers to traverse what has become the Via Algarviana, Maurice Clyde. David told the story of his first attempts to plot the route and get recognition for the walk.

 We left the memorial to Maurice and that’s where the trouble started. The valley ended and the route continued one of two ways, up or level. Our captain Bligh (Jim) had already told us that there were no more hills but then insisted we climb the hill; the second in command, Mr Christian (Geoff) was about to lead a mutiny and set Capt. Bligh adrift but a Via Algarviana marker was spotted on the upward trail so Mr Christian and his co-mutineers followed the captain uphill albeit with some grumbling and suggestions about keel-hauling and walking the plank. Mutiny averted we found a cairn of stones at the top of the hill and each walker was invited to add a stone to the AWW Jenga pile. All managed to place a stone, although I’m sure somebody cheated.

 As we crested the hill and finished our Jenga build, the castle of Silves came into view, it was all too much for Kevin who decided to take a seat which was fortunate as some one had left one conveniently on the slope.

After prising Kevin out of his seat, we had a pleasant, downhill stroll back into Silves where a cold drink at the Castello Café awaited us. (mutinies forgotten and Jim not lynched!)

Alan