A Remainers Meander around the Funcho

A Remainers  Meander around the Funcho
Wednesday 14 November, 2018

Whilst David was leading his intrepid band of history fanatics (otherwise known as the AWWExiteers,) around Wellesley's  defensive lines of Torres Vedras,  I thought I'd choose a more local place to explore, the delightful Barragem do Funcho, for the Remainers.

Not being a cryptic crossword type of walker , Jan's early morning offering of  "It's decided to bail out, just me" had me pondering , till I noticed that "i" and "o" are adjacent on the keyboard, and she was trying to tell me that Ots ( aka Otter) had decided not to venture forth......though on second thoughts, perhaps she was right first time?

Anyway, as the ET ( ex Treasurer for those with short memories) wouldn't actually say ( don't ask), 8 intrepid Remainers gathered at the appointed hour and the appointed place  ie the Silva cafe  in Fuzeiros. I labour the point as our two new Irish walkers turned up a day and 30 minutes early, confusing my Monday CVO Ramblers Walk, which was held on a Tuesday, with Wednesday'a AWW aka Remainers walk, if you're still with me, that is.

Anyway , as the ET wouldn't say ( think you get the drift now), voila the starters photo, in the absence again of John  O'Spice (Official  Starter Photographer In Chief, possibly Emeritus) still AWOL in Bonnie Scotland.

L to R ; Russell, Sue M, Linda, Isabel, Sue ( My Sue), Dolores, Nicholas,  Geoff.....keen observers will notice , not only no dogs but Jan's absence, perhaps something to do with bailing out It's/Ot's???

Anyway ( you get the idea now), off we set  after Sue M had marveled at the price of coffees ( 85C for a meia de leite) with a quick detour for our Irish visitors' benefit to the tombs:

A brisk walk along the Fuzeiros ridge and down a newly bulldozed track to join the main path. On the way down the eardrums were assaulted by a strange banshee wail , it was Jan. She had  tracked us from the barking dogs. Spending winters in Austria enabled her to slalom down the track at great speed and catch us up at the bottom.

I thought her excuse for being late was a bit lame...nothing to do with Its/Ots, it was a certain lack of something else in the morning, she confided. The imagination  was beginning to run riot ( remember this is the AWW , not the HHH) when she added that  she couldn't find the Silva cafe, and had driven almost as far as the barragem. Whilst conceeding that  the cafe  didn't actually have a name , that was a bit of a feeble excuse, bearing in mind it did have a  Delta Coffee sign, which was a bit of a clue.

Anyway ( etc etc) she eventually remembered what it was  she had lacked that morning  ( & thus put our minds at rest) : it was...guess?...endorphins. She'd woken up without any.....must admit, think I do most days too! If you google it, you get ;

"When you exercise, your body releases chemicals called endorphins. These endorphins interact with the receptors in your brain that reduce your perception of pain. Endorphins also trigger a positive feeling in the body, similar to that of morphine." 

Well, I don't think I can comment further.

A long upward climb commenced through countryside showing severe fire damage, though with encouraging early signs of regrowth; some even remarked on a strong likely resemblance to the lines of TV ( ditches, earthworks etc) , and a lot nearer!

complete with a new top to the hill:

We espyed the Arade and repairs to the lynx farm:

presumably to keep the more agile lynx within the confines, though the fence did seem unnaturally tall.

We had an almost 1 k detour to admire the Barragem do Arade in more detail;

though cynics might say that we missed the correct turning, but I couldn't possibly comment as , as you can see, I wasn't actually in the leading group at that time.

Anyway ( etc etc ) up to the promised Lynx Look Out post, where I had told our visitors there  was a powerful telescope to see the creatures ( that is, if there were any there). Regretfully, this is the site we met:

One of our number, who had best remain anonymous, did  publicly wonder what had happened ; the others thought the utter fire devastation offered a clue !

A short trip on Jan's favourite tarmac followed, and then down to the Funcho and an excuse to admire the views over lunch and put the world to rights:

A gentle DOWNHILL stroll after lunch ( please note, future leaders)  brought us to some more earthworks reminiscent of TV again:

and a bridge from nowhere to nowhere...

We decided to avoid the optional extra couple of hours or so up to the far trig point, so back to the Silva for a well earned drink, delighting the NT ( New Treasurer aka Sue M ) as the round was under 9€. Need to come again.

Regretfully, no photos of the drinkers, but here, courtesy of Nicholas and ViewRanger  is  the map and the stats. I can assure you that we did stop and start at the same place, he must have been a bit late switching the gizmo on : the side-trip to the lake is clearly visible, and I like how the speed increased at the end with beers in sight!

Walking time was about 4h 20m, which gives a very creditable 4.5kmh.

Many thanks to those who kept us company for a good 5 hours.....not quite  the same as  looking at  TV perhaps, but very enjoyable none the less.

Geoff

A Scramble around Silves

A Scramble around  Silves : 7 November 2018

After a night of heavy rain and a cloudy start to the day, it was perhaps surprising that only 2 walkers cancelled, citing a downpour in Vale do Lobo-land and jetlag from the land of the rising sun. The remaining 18 , having found somewhere to park in a congested  Jardim do Largo  da Republico,  gathered in the Pastelario Tio to gossip, warm up and completely ignore my entreaties to venture out for a starter photo. Hence, it was only Frank and I that made the official starting grid

though Russell arrived a nanosecond later. Their consciences stirred, the rest emerged and were photographed for posterity a little later. They were,  Lto R :  Richard, Cycling John, David, Russell, Susan, Linda, Jan ( incognito), Sue M, Martin, Stephen, Sue, Iggy, Ros's rear, Frank, Isabel's rear, John....Dolores was late again.  I should add, that we welcomed Dolores, Richard and Iggy to their first AWW , and Stephen returning for some more punishment.

I obviously missed our resident Starter Photographer's  ( John H)  persuasive tongue : he and Hazel being AWOL back in Bonny Scotland.

It soon began to get warm, blue skies and sunshine appeared, so Jan stripped off, admired by some local fowls:

  

Onwards and upwards for the first third of the walk, with some reasonably tight groupings:

until we reached the new watchtower/rest station:

 

 and then dropped down to  another ruined farmhouse:

downhill all the way, and over an apology for the river Enxerim :

I had warned everyone about the steep hill, but don't think they believed me when I pointed out the motor-cross one:

 

Not that the one we ascended was much less steep , with a lot more straggling :

  

We were now in the midst of the  fire-ravaged countryside, which , whilst very blackened, did show some signs of regrowth already :

 Sue M  gave us a bit of a scare by donning her new cagoule. She pretended it was spotting with rain, but I think she was just showing-off it's rather fetching design :

A couple more hills/slopes , and then a well-earned rest at the top for lunch .  Cycling John looking as if he was the most comfortable:

For some reason, no-one wanted to climb the optional extra to view the trig point, so it was mainly all downhill, circumventing a few dark oily-looking puddles en route:

  

There were mutterings at the bottom about climbing up to the windmill, but mutiny avoided and we traversed the slope to by-pass the actual windmill...picking up dirty trousers and, in poor Cycling John's case, a nasty looking cut leg, ably bandaged with some assistance from nurses Russell & Jan :

Time to admire our earlier climb :

 before heading down again , past the remains of the unknown walker, and some bracketed fungus:

  

Before a well earned drink, back at the Tio...rarely has Sagres tasted so good.

The consensus was that it was almost 21 km and John's machine reckoned  total time 5h 30m hours, moving time 4h  45m, av.moving speed 4.3kph ( very creditable bearing in mind the hills ; we must have come down very quickly),  av speed 3.7kph.

Max elevation was  157m , ascended 531m...1742 ft sounds much better and it felt like it!

Thanks to John for stats, thanks to all who came .

Geoff

AWW 10th October 2018

10th October 2018. Os Pocos em Penina.

Numbers have been fairly low since the start of the season, but on this occasion, the cause was easily identified. A party of Hashers from the fair (?) city of Birmingham UK, had descended upon the Algarve, and a joint Hash had been organised with the Algarve outfit, sadly taking place immediately after the end of our walk. So, only seven of us rendezvoused at Penina on the last dry morning of the long summer, to find the café closed, with only a note on the door detailing the day´s bread order. 

    Not enough bread for Russell there!

There was almost total cloud cover for much of the day, with a little sunshine mid-walk.

The Caffeine-Starved Seven:  Linda, Russell, Martin, Frank, John H, Hazel and David. Jasper came along, but he had no mercy barrel round his neck, so we couldn´t even have a snifter to help us on our way.

    The two ladies on the right wanted to join us, but we thought they looked too fit.

Various local folk came to see us off – very kind of them, but I guess they might have been waiting for their morning stimulant as well. We left on time after the usual photo - very good to welcome back our official paparazzo, ( thrice retired). The climb onto the Rocha da Pena plateau was a big pull from a standing start, but all made it in good time and good order. A visit to Trafele trig-point was spurned, everyone present having been there before (most had done the walk before as well but what the hell).

We walked the length of the plateau, passing and debating as ever the origins of the enormous wall of loose stones that crosses north to south across the middle. 

    If it´s written down, it must be true!

The view to the south was as breathtaking as ever. 

Then it was on to the very clear but steep and rocky descent from the eastern end. Surprising that none of the group other than the leader had ever wandered that way. Down past the twin windmill bases (one now partially collapsed) and all the way down to the tarmac road we ambled, already aware that our pace was somewhat slower than the usual AWW average.

After the crossing the valley floor we walked through the rather shambolic and less than pretty hamlet of Casas Martins Anes, full of dogs of all descriptions and conditions, and up to the N124. Warning: do not stand inside the bus stop here, as the stone wall forming the back is about to collapse outwards. Local attempts at repair are not comforting.

    A very old alfarrobeira was spotted at this point. Incredible root system.

Leaving the main road after a short distance. We climbed over the low ridge and down into the next valley, joining the route of the Via Algarviana as it winds its way through the wilderness west of Salir. It was decided to lunch at the top of the rather formidable climb out of the valley towards Benafim, so the ascent began. Russell was determined to overtake a small party of walkers glimpsed halfway up the slope, and according to his report, he and Linda did so – but the rest of us did NOT see it, as we were at varying distances to the rear. (Photographic evidence required).

    Aftermath of the second climb. 

Lunch was taken at the track junction at the summit of the climb, in hazy sunshine and a cooler breeze than of late. Then on, with Russell repeating his counting task of two or three years ago, to locate the turn-off some 500 metres along the broad moor-top. (John tells me that the actual distance to the turn is over 1k, which I dispute!) We missed it first time, and had to retrace our steps, luckily not too far, before locating the start of the descent at a small cleared area. The drop down to the valley was then straightforward, if a little uneven underfoot.

Having crossed the wide valley floor, now aiming back towards our start-point, we made our way by degrees up the less steep hillside to the 124 between Pena and Benafim, crossed it and again using slightly overgrown tracks and ploughed areas, finally located the winding path down into the valley below the Rocha. While five of the party followedmeleader along various different pathways, more ploughed areas and sunken donkey tracks, John opted for the tarmac back to Penina, accompanied by Russell. The larger group were rewarded by finding various hanging fruits along the way.

    Harder than we thought!

Fortunately, the café was open when we got back to the village, and the usual refreshments were taken. All agreed that we had been slow, (something like 4.75hrs) but the walked had seemed quite hard for only 14.4k. Our moving average in the end was a little under 4k, so maybe we did a lot more stopping than usual! Maybe some of us (me included) need to get out more!

    The Track, showing the Wall on Rocha da Pena.