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Fourteen brave souls (and Linda's dog), gathered at the car park near Fonte Pequena in Alte, some of us illegally parking in one (or it might have been two) of the bus spaces. 

Soon all (except Frank, who hid behind the sign, for a laugh) were ready for me to take a picture pointing in (as our resident Pro Snapper pointed out) entirely the wrong direction, requiring later photoadjustmenttechnology, 

I can just about make them out in the morning murk: Alan, Jan, Julie, Peter, Frank, a glimpse of Ros, Julie, Linda, Gill, John, David, Jim, and Tony.

Interestingly, this meant that fully two-fifths, 40%, of the starters had first names beginning with either 'J' or something that sounded very like it. The next-largest category was 'T', accounting for one-fifth, or 20%. You can check my arithmetic...

Having pleaded with all to please stay together as a group (well, it was worth a try) and rashly promising to 'deviate in mysterious ways' from the straight and narrow, we set off. 

Up the hill.

As usual, we had to trudge up Rua de Julia on the first hill (of three), even on this shorter flatter version of the well-worn trail.

We went through the village, where Grand Works were in progress: a hole in the ground, big and sort of round it was:

"Twice I told him, "Don't dig it there, dig it elsewhere. You're digging it round and it ought to be square"

... then down to cross the main road and to the flat track to the south.

We eschewed the track up to Rocha Amarela. Too steep. Too far. Sod that.

Jim had a brief but meaningful conversation with a very big dog:

Then the first of my promised mysterious deviances* took us onto an earthy track. I feared for our boots after the recent buckets of rain which had fallen, but actually the mud wasn't too bad...

* Deviance refers to rule-breaking behaviour of some kind which fails to conform to the norms and expectations of a particular society or social group. 

Deviance is closely related to the concept of crime."

Two of the back markers apparently decided to take a pee at the same time and, when they finally looked up, they were Alone. 

Bravely carrying on the wrong way, they ended up in some sort of ploughed field...

... but soon realized their mistake and caught up with the rest of us.

Re-United

[Re: United; Confirming Alan's hunch, Luton Town were indeed relegated from the old First Division just before the Premier League began.]

We then followed a track, which certainly showed signs of the aforementioned buckets:

which led us via the main road, up to Jaffers Supermarket in Benafim, one of the Cultral Highlights always present on this walk.

From there it was but a hop and a skip to the lunch spot, down by the old wash house:

"Oi! Don't Touch That"

Most of us enjoyed the shade, but Ros thought wistfully of the last time she'd done this walk:

We found, then followed, the Via Alarviana Main Track back to the Fonte Grande in Alte, pausing on the way for the traditional Silly Walk:

Having discussed at length where to have our post-walk drinkies without coming to any particular conclusion, we suddenly spotted an open tourist trap at the Fontes themselves, and descended upon its bemused staff with an arm-long list of exotic drink requirements:

... watched over by the cat-like Guardians of the Valley of the Dead Fonte:

The weather stayed dry, but it had been quite close and moggy

Approximate track and stats:

~16km, ~4.5hrs

Thanks to all, and especially to Alan for the excellent photos.

Terry M