Some AWWs think that there are too many hills on the walks; others seemingly can´t have enough of them. But whichever side you are on in that particular little debate, Geoff of that ilk´s reports of his explorations are always worth keeping, and so your Occasional Blogger has been at work with the preservative once more .Let´s hope that posterity is grateful for this and that Geoff forgives the play on words. His report follows, in the black text.
AWW 22 February 2017 : Montes de Cima
I was getting a bit anxious when barely half a dozen had declared an interest in walking by the Sunday evening, but I needn’t have worried as 15 eventually turned up on a lovely sunny Wednesday morning, along with Rosie and Sacha, and we all posed outside the Honey Café:
Back row :John H, Manuela, Hazel, Geoff, Kim, Ros, Pam, Frank ,David, Jim, Nick, Russell
Front row : Jan, Maria, Antje, Sacha, Rosie
The walk was a new one, though parts of it had been done by some as an appetiser in December before the Christmas Lunch ( see http://hopejandh.blogspot.pt/ 2016/12/aww-7th-december-2016- christmas-lunch.html) .
We commenced with a surprisingly steep hill ( “Is this what’s called a Hill start” quipped David), before we heard the sound of the dreaded Algarvian bees ( that’s why it’s called the Honey Café, after all) only then to think it sounded more like hornets : actually, it was racing cars from the nearby autodrome where Kim’s other half was marshalling.....we looked, but couldn’t see him though:
The evidence of the fire damage was plain to see, but I think John took these next two in B&W to accentuate it!.....fortunately, the burnt cistus we had to walk through seemed to have lost most of it’s charcoal coating and legs were unscathed.
We stopped for Manuela to have a banana break, but something was lost in translation it seemed, as the banana looked suspiciously like an orange....yes, she conceded, it was indeed an orange, but the banana was too buried in the backpack to be reached. This seemed strange to someone, like me, who travels light, but Jan quite understood...spare trouser legs, socks, shoes, goodness knows what else was apparently in hers!
Onwards and ever upwards, we passed into new territory for those who had covered part of the walk in December, but had to pass some bees...real ones, not the distant roar of cars this time. One took a liking to poor Antje’s face, but nurse Jan applied anti-sting cream , but could find no trace of the actual sting.
Onwards and upward again, with about 20m of off-piste scrambling to do , with gentleman Russell assisting the ladies:
We eventually came to The Hill...not as bad as David’s, Russell’s or even Ros’ hill, but tough before lunch nevertheless:
Anyway, a well-earned lunch break followed at the top:
Note the green shoots of recovery sprouting up amongst the scorched bushes/trees.
Maria says she had some black charcoal on her hands from the burnt cistus and accidentally rubbed some on her face, and then thought she’d even it up a bit.....I reckon she was practicing her Red Indian ( sorry, Native American) make-up in preparation for Carnival, the coming weekend. Whatever, it gave John licence to create this award-winning photo;
After that, it was plain sailing, all downhill, past the cows and puddles, and back to the Honey Café for a very welcome drink:
But before that, Rosie had to try out a water-filled ditch for size:
before deciding that muddy ones were best:
though Sacha preferred a cleaner pond:
John had decided to drive the rest of the way to the café
where some cooled off inside, whilst others rested in the sun:
My thanks to all who came.
Selected statistics:
according to John :
Distance: 14.8 kms. Total climb: 541 metres
Total time: 4 hrs 32 mins. Lunch break: 15 mins
and according to Nick:
15.3 kms
Total time 4.24 hrs
Time moving 3.20 hrs
So, take your pick!
And the 4 loop track:
Geoff
PS Thanks to Russell, Linda, Rose and Sue for helping to recce the extra loop so successfully (....and trying in vain to extend it further), and to John for most of the photos and the track map as my camera batteries have died.
And with that Geoff duly filed his report and promptly left the country.
“Unto the hills do I lift mine eyes and cry ´O Lord, not another one.´”
(with apologies to the Psalmist)
