Walk on Western Shores of the Arade and Funcho Baragems,
9 April 2025
A
sense of relief that our maiden outing as leaders passed without incident! We
had a great turnout thank to the fine weather which was perfect for walking
i.e., dry and warm for the most part.
The group met at the Arade Dam car park at the 10am appointed hour and disturbed various French campers who were overnighting there. We set off more or less on schedule.
For
the record, the 19 walkers included John & Susan, Stephen, David, Ken &
Miriam, Marian, Steve & Karen, Caroline & Karen, Ness, Ros, Alan, Jan,
Peter, Kieran & Fiona, plus guest Max who is a friend of Ness. Bica was the
sole dog joining us on the day.
A steady incline early on soon gave way to a flattish track proceeding in a northerly direction along the western slopes of the Arade and Funcho baragems. The full reservoirs presented Alan with some wonderful photo opportunities.
Our first water and banana break was spent atop the Funcho dam enjoying some lovely vistas overlooking the reservoirs.
While
to this point there were no major climbs, this changed once we headed “inland”
following the anti-clockwise route. The first real fat burner commenced soon
after and lasted more or less until we stopped for lunch around 12.30, at quite
a high and breezy elevation.
After
lunch the terrain changed and Ken, Miriam and Bica took the option of pursuing
a slightly shorter route, with the main group following a loop through abundant
Cistus plantations to the west. A steady descent brought us along a small river
(all passable without issue), before a further short climb linked back in to
the home straight (in parts following the via Algarvia). Some streams were overflowing
on to paths but were easily negotiated.
We
arrived back at the car park 5 hours after departure, corresponding to 4.5
hours walking and 0.5 hours for lunch/breaks. The total distance covered was
18.5km.
The
post-mortem took place in Café Silva close by.
Thanks
for your patience and thanks to John for his assistance recceing the route.
Kieran
& Fiona
Looks an interesting walk in a part of the world I thought we knew, but apparaerntly don't! You'll have to repeat it when we are out there pse!
ReplyDeleteGood old Silva doing a good trade from us recently....3 out of 3 i think !
Super walk, well recced and prepared. Our short cut was wonderful. We did 13.5 km and an elevation of 487m.
ReplyDeleteSorry to miss it. Well done, it looks a great route.
ReplyDeleteI had a brilliant initiation with so many wonderful people. The scenery was fantastic , can’t wait to join you all again. Thankyou all so much
ReplyDelete