The Beast in The East - A walk from Santa Caterina da Fonte do Bispo

There is something special about setting off on a walk on a sunny morning in the Algarve hills. The air is fresh, the sky is a beautiful shade of blue, and the countryside seems to invite you to slow down and enjoy the simple pleasures of being outdoors.

Our walk began in Santa Catarina da Fonte do Bispo, a charming village tucked away in the hills of the eastern Algarve, surrounded by rolling landscapes, ancient olive groves and the timeless beauty of rural Portugal.

If you ever find yourself in this part of Portugal, take a morning to wander into the hills. You may come back with tired legs, a camera full of photographs and, best of all, a feeling of having truly escaped for a while.

Sometimes, the best adventures are right there on your doorstep.

Sunshine, open hills and the quiet beauty of the Algarve — a perfect morning on foot.

Well that’s enough of that BS. From Artificial Intelligence to Human No-intelligence !!

The walk started well. Our professional photographer asked for the Usual Suspects lineup against the cemetery wall. Some wits would say how appropriate!!

From left to right: Carol, Jan, Tony, Peter, Julie, Ros, Mark, Karen, Bev, Alan, Steve C., Richard, Keiran, Fiona, Liam, Martin, Rafa and last but not least, Steve S.

Up the hill to get out of Santa Caterina and everyone warmed up but not too far up. Then we left the tarmac on a track into the valley and a little shade.

I did say that there were some uphills.  Just a little up!!

Then slightly less up.

There are always interesting conversations on the AWW. We found out that Jan and myself  prefer it dry and a little salty who would have thought. Steve C. explained to Steve S. that it's not like this, it's just like that.  Is there a bit of a bromance there?

Yay, a downhill track and who doesn't love going down ?

Through the hamlet then round and down to the very dry Alportel river close to Varzeas de Vinagre.

The fun bit of the walk was the flat but stony walk along the river bed I would have liked to have said that we walked on water but there wasn’t any. Or not much!!

The was a small pool as I had indicated in the description  Full of fish and one very happy dog.

Peter and his giant pole, apparently for me to keep everyone in order. Got my hands on Peter’s pole. 

Martin thought he’d get some public school practice in. I suspect Ros was hiding her head in shame. I leave that to everyone's imagination.

Back off the river to walk up to Barroso. This was the 5% I hadn’t recced.

Oh dear perhaps a little too off piste which was a quite piste off for some. For my sins I was subjected to the constant annoyance of little picks. However the walkers were very forgiving.  Shades of that lost tribe or the distant canal!  This was followed by the hill of doom.  Not the sting in the tail but further up the anatomy!! Great views though and a handy stop for lunch.

Yes it was that steep.  There was a bit of breather for some of us at the top as one unfortunate had to go back to the lunch stop to see if they had left their phone..No name and shame on this blog.

Going down to the main track.  Unfortunatly once on the main track it was back up. Well I did say uppy/downy.

Down(yes) to the tarmac road which would lead back to Santa Catarina.  I conferred with my navigational support (Steve C.) to look for a way back without trotting along tne tarmac or having to do the sting in the tail (now definitely a hill toooooo far).   After a democratic vote we decided to follow the part of the PR10 back towards a road into town. Peter, always his own man, walked back on the road.

Cafe at last. I think the cold drinks and opportunities to purchase fabulous cakes and bread meant that I was forgiven. Anyway, we charge 3 euros so I don’t want people to feel they haven’t had their money’s worth on a walk.

My thanks to Alan for the photographs, Steve C. for the navigational support, Carol for saying put more smut in the blog and everyone for joining me on the walk.

The Vital Statistics:

Distance:        12.34 kms

Climb:             341 m (yes only that.  It felt like a lot more)

Moving Time:    3h 12m

Total Time:        4h 17m