Monchique – Picota Loop Walk

 

Monchique – Picota Loop Walk

Date: 18^th January 2023

15 brave walkers plus 2 canine friends met at the Intermarche, Monchique to participate in the revised Monchique- Picota loop walk.

Pre walk drama

Almost loss of a walker who got locked in the gents toilet. Luckily Susan heard Martin’s ever increasing banging and released him. (Best not to ask what Susan was doing in the gents...ed)

The stick debate

All walkers were advised to take a stick but still deliberated on their necessity , however, some forgot them. Luckily the organisers came prepared with extra poles.( Mine is still up there somewhere...ed).

The weather

Ros has warned the organisers of the inclement weather forecast. It was cold beginning the walk and was reminiscent of the climate we were all trying to escape by living in the Algarve. Scarfs, coats etc were donned to overcome the cold weather.

 

Sterters : Martin, Jim, Ness, John, Susan, Tony, Linda, Gill, Julie, Karen, Frank, Rob, Marian, Ros, Rafa and Bica. Alan kindly took the photographs of the walk.

The starting photo was taken following a steep climb out of Monchique as the Intermarche was considered an unsuitable venue  for a photo shoot.

Having initially followed a tarmac road we turned off into a wooded path and began the steep descent downwards. All walkers were advised to use a stick and take care following Geoff’s demise on this path on a previous occasion (.....well, not quite demise....I made the mistake of talking, walking downhill and admiring the scenery.....fortunately a bush saved my rapid descent, but the walking pole had no such luck...ed). Thankfully they were all sure footed and despite the leaders’ apprehension were well able and had no difficulty with the uneven terrain.

The walk mainly followed the PR2  MCQ Caminho das Caldas- Picota walk except the walk started in Monchique and didn’t go as far as Caldas. The walk was altered as the organisers felt it was too long and decided to add the ascent to Picota as an option instead of going to Caldas.

 

 Off we go....the descent begins

We bypassed Caldas de Monchique and continued onto a tarmac road. The stunning scenery and good weather put everyone in good humour. John called for an early lunch in order to enjoy the view. Jim declared that it was the earliest lunch break ever at 12 o clock having just walked 7 km. Nevertheless, everyone sat down, relaxed, admired the scenery and ate.

A well deserved lunch break

The ascent continued after lunch ( tut tut leaders....ascending after lunch? You aregetting into Jim's bad habits...ed)Two angry dogs initially objected to our presence but following a good barking session gave up. Rafa and Toby were as always impeccably behaved and ignored them completely.

View over lake

Eventually we turned offroad onto a recently cut grassy path and passed an unoccupied house. Jim and Susan attempted to go off piste as on a previous occasion but quickly rectified their mistake when they saw the newly painted red and yellow PR 2 marking and Marian marching ahead.

Well Done Marian

In a little while we reached the point where the walk Intercepts the GR13- Via Algarviana and the decision point whether to ascend Picota or not. 7 walkers decided to continue directly to Monchique while the other 8 opted to climb to the top of Picota

To Picota or not

 

Linda and Toby are ready for the challenge

 

 The Brave Mountaineeers

 

 Upwards to Picota

The summit -you can do it Ros

Despite the spectacular view we didn’t stay long at the summit due to the wind and cold weather. John recorded the temperature to be 3 degrees.

Return to Monchique

 

Well deserved post walk refreshments ( well, for the hearty Rambos who climbed to te top, not so sure about the wimps....ed)

 

 

                                                                   Walk details

The walk stats

Distance 13.5km (14.8km Top of Picota)

Walking time 3.37 hours (4 hours top of Picota)

Maximum altitude at intersection leading to Picota 702m, Top of Picota 775m

Verdict - a scenic walk with incredible views. Thanks to all who participated, to Gill for the stats and Alan for taking the photographs.

Hope you all enjoyed the walk as much as we did.

Susan and John Ryan

 

Two Beaches, Three Headlands (Praia Da Manteiga / Praia da Pena Furada)

 We arrived at the starting point just off the N268 at 09.45 as planned. However, Steve and Bruce were missing as the leader had provided them with the wrong co-ordinates. After a series of phone calls we all met.

Due to the very low temperature affecting the camera the image was blurred. It had nothing to do with the inadequate cameraman.

We set of wearing multiple layers towards the west to find the coast. It was cool.

Things deteriorated quickly. Instead of striding out singing songs such as "We are Riding Along on the Crest of a Wave and the Sun is in the Sky", it was all about:-

Holes

Bones 

Feet

We were back to how holes appear in t-shirts. Was it the soap powder? Leaning on the worktop? Ironing technique? Frank advised that he had never got a hole in a t-shirt when he was ironing, but someone asked had he ever ironed a t-shirt. No comment. It was finally determined that Hotpoint had a special deal with Decathlon that created the holes in the t-shirts, when using Fairy capsule detergents that have to be kept away from children. They are kept on the top shelf with the magazines.

Next it was "Dem bones, dem bones, dem dry bones" and Jim's hip bones. It was advised that about 10% of people who have a hip replacement die within 90 days of the operation. Ros pointed out that she was almost completely recoverd from her operation within 6 weeks (42 days), so there was at least a 90% probability that Jim would enjoy walking for at least 48 days if he had the operation. You have to look at the Risk / Reward. Then the conversation turned to those people, where the operation was sucessfull or unsucessfull. I found a space in the walk and my mind wandered to whether blue paint dried faster than tartan paint. However, as Jim managed successfully to get up and down the tracks plotted by the walk leader, then perhaps he is fine delaying the inevitable a little longer.

And finally the feet. The feet looked great. We were continually back to the feet during and after the walk and the "barefoot" shoes. Not for all

Who would wear gloves on their feet?

Anyway we walked and it was spectacular. It was a bit up and down, but it was worth it. The leader did get some "looks" on the descent down to Praia Do Muracao, but he took these on board in his usual manner. He ignored  

See the photos below.

It is fantastic to see that the countryside is green.

Praia do Muracao

Steep descent to Praia da Manteiga

Praia Da Manteiga

Praia da Manteiga is spectacular. Not a lot of footsteps on the beach

Climb Up from Praia da Manteiga

Lunch

We had lunch on Praia da Manteiga. We were sat in the sun: there was no wind: the waves were crashing on the shore. it was idylic. It was like "herding cats" to get them up and moving again. They kept asking when the Kia Ora lady was coming with her tray of drinks and ice creams. The ones sitting in the back seats were the worst.

Trig point on the plateau.

When we were nearly back at the cars we found a Trig point on the flat. Ros was desperate to get her photo taken for her friends. However, she kept moving so it was blurred. It had nothing to do with the incompetence of the photographer.

And we were back at the cars at 14:40 as predicted by Jim.

Details

Distance         16.1km

Elevation         371m

Level                Moderate with some tough sections (we took the easier route up from Muracao)

Time                  4 hours 40 minutes.

Verdict               Splendid

Route

Followed the blue paint from Muracao to Manteiga (no tartan)

Frank M

25th January 2023

11.1.23: Under the Boardwalk - down by the sea

17 of us met at Ken and Miriam's house for a coffee before the walk.

John, Martin, Frank, Tony, Miriam, Alan, Marian, Gill, Wendy, Ros, Marshall, Linda, Ness, Susan, Julie, Karen and Ken plus dogs Rafa, Bica and Toby. The group welcomed 2 new members, Marshall and Wendy who Ken had dragooned into walking after meeting them at a dinner party the previous weekend!

We set off across the fields from the house until we reached the new boardwalk.  This runs from Vale do Lobo more or less all the way to Faro island.  Apparently Loule council intend to extend it in the other direction towards Vilamoura at some stage.

Continuing along the boardwalk round the lake, we came upon this building. "Was it a hotel?" someone asked; "no", said Miriam, "its a private house; empty for much of the year and costing several thousand pounds a week to rent in the Summer!"

Crossing the bridge towards Gigi's restaurant, (arm and a leg and a fat wallet job)  we headed on to the beach, where some walkers choose to remove shoes and the dogs chased around in great excitement.

Although the tide was at its lowest for the day, the sand was quite soft and it was actually really hard work walking in it.  2 km of sand, not what the doctor ordered; but the sun was shining and most of us were quite cheerful.

We then headed off the beach through the illegal fishermen's houses onto Faro Island.  Poor Toby got spooked by a rather protective dog guarding its house, but Miriam and Susan managed to catch him and lead him safely through.  We reached the centre of the island and the welcome loos, and place to sit to dry off sandy feet, and debate whether we had time to stop for coffee.  We decided we didn't.  At that point, Marshall and Wendy decided to forego the longer walk, and left us to walk straight back towards the start.  They did enjoy it however and have said they will walk next time they're back in Portugal.

We then crossed over the bridge back to the mainland, and proceeded to walk alongside the airport. Being a Wednesday, at this time of the year there aren't that many flights but Alan managed to capture one on its way out plus some storks unfazed by all the walkers.

We found some great seats for lunch; Linda had 2 of her favourite friends drooling by her side too.  Unfortunately there were plenty of mosquitoes hanging about too, and many of us got bitten.

Setting off through the woods, we came to the only "hill" of the day, and yes more sand underfoot. But then we were back on the path heading towards the salt flats and the salt "mountains"

    These could be spoonbills or non pink flamingos.  Difficult to tell and I'm sure someone will know and comment!

Walking alongside the Sao Lourenza golf club, it was teeming with birds and wildlife, and the odd golfer of course.

After this, we reached the boardwalk again where it started to rain.  There were the usual discussions about whether to don raingear; most did and it was quite a squall but it didn't last long and the raingear soon came off again.  There was some discussion about Kens raincape which had a large zigzag tear in it.  When questioned, Ken admitted he'd been wearing  it in the garden with his chainsaw cutting some wood, and it had got caught up!!! Note to self?

Miriam spotted a  seagull!                           Homeward Bound!

Back to Ken and Miriam's for coffee and homemade biscuits.

                                                      Moving time: 4hrs 28 mins

                                                  Total time: 5 hrs 4 mins