Tales of the Cortelha Seven

 AWW Wednesday, 8th March 2023.

Driving up to Barranco do Velho at the appointed time, I was fully expecting to be walking in cloud for much of the day. Thankfully, we only had about half an hour of it. In the midst of a wet, mild spell, we were unlikely to see the sun, though it did show its face briefly.

Anyway, here I was at 24 hours notice, leading my first full AWW for the best part of a year. The first half was a backs of the hands thing, after that I had my well-known and trusty Google photos for guidance.

We would have been nine, but Ken and Miriam had a sudden urge to see some medics, so seven it was, as follows:

Geoff, Sue, Ros, and Alan of the usual suspects, plus newcomers Jerry and Della, who for some inexplicable reason were coming back for more after their first experience. Still, after their epic journey to get to Portugal in the first place, they are obviously determined to ´enjoy´ themselves . Party completed by yours truly.

                           Some optimists were not wearing wet weather gear at this point!

Coffees taken and photo shoot done and dusted, we set off into the drizzly mist past Barranco church and along the ridge, delighting in telling Jerry and Della about the wonderful view they were missing. The drizzle soon stopped, but the low cloud persisted, and not until we were past the windmill, with the umpteenth telling of my nude photography story, did it lift sufficiently to get a glimpse of the bellavista down to Salir.

We could have used some help a bit later!

What´s a maple leaf or five hundred or so between friends?

                                        Yes, very funny, boss, but can we move on?

Across the road and along the track to Vale Maria Dias, negotiating the first of many small water hazards, we saw the completely renovated roadmender´s house on the N2, occupied now by an outpost of Civil Protection - very smart it is too. These properties should all be given the treatment.

Then it was up the hill past the barragem and round the wide curve to regain the N2 at Cortelha. I gave the group the choice of soldiering on or calling at the cafe for an early lunch. Given the damp conditions and the call of more coffee, it was a no-brainer. We sat in a pleasant fug in the plastic-covered roadside terrace, and were treated to sweeties by the cafe owner, in honour of International Women´s Day.

                                    Can´t get away from that Via Algarviana these days.

No, you can´t have a ride.

Where´s the taxi?

Haven´t a clue. It´s a David walk.

                 

             Jerry made a friend. Fortunately, the pull of home was stronger than the call of the wild.

Refreshed, and under lifting skies, we strode off into the wilderness east of Cortelha, first through a valley lush with vegetation, then steeply uphill to a ridge line. Turning east at the ridge, there followed a long trek along - or rather up - the ridge, so long it seemed that I had to consult others with these modern electronic gadgets to make sure I had not missed a turn. I had not!

                                    ´Not difficult, you said.` Leaders always lie, Geoff. 

And the ridge went on, and on

                                                                   .....and on.

Finally gaining the highest point, we made the turn towards our destination, only to be confronted shortly by a rather precipitous descent (forecast) which took some time to negotiate. Another reassuring consultation with my tooled-up companions ensued at the bottom - I was still on the right track! That was followed by an almost equally steep, and longer, climb out of the valley. Gaining level ground, we could at least now see the communications masts above Barranco do Velho, and know that we ´merely´ had to walk towards them.

                           It´s sticky fingers, bloody knees or a mucky bum - your choice!

And what goes down.......

...has to do the other thing.

Well, we didn´t exactly aim straight for them - that would have been too simple for the AWW. We seemed instead to walk right past them, and double back - which is precisely what we did. A final, and testing, valley and climb took us to the end. This final valley gave Alan his only real chance of the day to snap any unfortunates going over their boot tops in water (I had a boot full, but I was already across before the paparazzo got there😉)

O´er hill and dale they wandered, followed by:

Extended highlights of the crossing of the mighty stream. 

Right. Definitely RIGHT

Well, Salir is there somewhere.

And so back to Tia Bia, and a relaxing drink and chat outdoors, the weather having improved considerably. The paparazzo had gone on strike as we reached the end, so no pics of this bit. Take it from me, we were pleased to be sitting there.

Thanks to my fellow walkers, especially to Alan once more for the photos. I´m through dealing with stats. Suffice to say that according to Ros we had done more or less exactly what I foretold, though others disagreed (surprise, surprise!). We took rather a long time over it, but given a cafe lunch stop and some fairly severe inclines, perhaps understandably. The amount of ascent, at just over 300m, was surprisingly small however.