Recce and Roll from Alportel Weds. 6th Jan. Epiphany

You know you get an idea, you think it's a good one, like an idea to pick an oven-ready walk from Wikiloc.  We agreed an area - Alportel, looked up to two possible routes, sent out the email, all met at the cafe on time, suitably dressed for the cold then NO SERVICE on the phone!!!!  Oh well, new year, new philosophy, old percurso route that was already marked.  An opportunity to use the walk as a recce for future AWW use. Sanity restored, it was off to the church for the photo.

L to R : Martin, Rapha, Jan, Sue, Julie.  Tony behind the camera  We didn't linger long as it was very chilly.

They like them big in the Alportel valley!  The old Burro trails never fail to impress and this tree was impressive.

Up to Cerro de Alportel.  A good climb up to get some views.

Martin shows Jan how he would have his own tennis court.  Rapha was not as keen as Jan to discuss court design.

Alportel from Cerro de Alportel

  

Oh no, we've strayed into Yorkshire!  Although it can't be Yorkshire as the sheep don't look worried (old Lancashire joke).  On the hillside above Alportel.

Yes it was a hillside and there was a climb off piste lead by Rapha.  Good job he had an idea of where we wanted to go.  We didn't!

Towards the top of the climb with Alportel in the background.

At last - a sign!  Always good to have an idea of where you are.

Impressive view - and the hills behind us aren't bad either.  I blame the photographer.

That's better - face forward.  Great views of the Caldeirao.

The old ruins.  Not us of course, the windmill in the background.

And a modern interpretation.

As an extension we decided to walk up and over back into the Corte valley.  That's one up hill done.

On the way down to the Corte valley. I'm sure we've been here before.

A short stop for lunch as it was so very windy and chilly.  Jan was desperately trying to keep warm or not freeze.

It is Yorkshire!  More sheep but no sign of pigs this week.

 

 At last, a warm drink.  We didn't see three men on camels but we had 5 wise walkers, the fragrant smells of the Algarve countryside for frankincense, mirth instead of myrrh and solid 24K gold company.

The stats:

From my watch and Martin's phone 17 kms, 3 hours 38 mins. out with 15 mins for lunch.

And then there were four!

 Franks Five - minus one 

Wednesday 6th January 2021

Fonte Tareja, near Sao Bras

Unfortunately Ros was self isolating having been in contact with a person with Covid 19 so we were down to 4 walkers, Miriam, Frank, David and Ken plus Bica and Jasper. It was extremely cold. Even the coffee machine at the café hadn't warmed up so we had to find another café.

     

   

We set off along a wide track, with hands getting colder by the minute.  We then passed Fonte Alto Bico and a farm where there were more old tractors than new, and even a snow plough.  It was so cold we thought we might need it!

     

Heading off down into the valley, the way became very muddy and it was obvious the Ribeira Algibre would be a little difficult to cross.

But not for our intrepid walkers.  Frank leading the way closely watched by the 2 amused dogs, everyone safely manoeuvred the crossing with only David's feet wet!  Ros, we needed your flip flops!

And then we started to climb for quite a while.  David even took one of his four layers off.

 Almost at the top and we spotted the pylon set amongst the dappled clouds. The views from the top were spectacular. Miriam told everyone there was only one hill.....but it proved to be not the case!!

Frank and David were at least socially distanced for lunch.  Bica and Jasper got a little closer!

      

     

After lunch we walked along the ridge for quite a while, taking in the views and of course a few more hills.  Then it was downhill all the way ( or was it?).  We wound our way down the hairpin path listening to the river meandering its way down with us.

Over another ridge and down a steep path through the cistus we arrived at the river bed again.  This time there were stepping stones to walk along but it seems only I used them!

                                                                  

Back to the café for a well earned hot drink. No cold beers for us today but cake instead!

Alone and Solely Loitering - along the Ligacao.

 The EAWW (FM) has become a little fragmented over the festive season. For different reasons, folk could not all walk on the same day, so there have been some solo efforts.

I decided to explore one of the linking routes that join the main towns and railway stations with the main Via Algarviana. The nearest to me is Ligacao 2, which runs from Loule Station to Salir. The first section involves walking through the industrial estate and Loule centre, so I opted to start north of this, on the northern bypass.

Wednesday was cold but brilliantly sunny all day, so I had ideal conditions for the job. Apart from the very beginning and one other point, the route is perfectly waymarked with the red and white international signs, so anyone can follow it. 

The route allows for some marvellous views. After the first few k, it follows various bits of walks that several AWWs have led. 

I started along a narrow road, almost unnoticed, that runs north from the bypass, immediately to the left of the Sports Centre car park. The first section is a stiffish climb up through the parish of Santa Luzia. The route crosses the back road from Cruz de Assumada to the Querenca road out of Loule.. Then the path turns due north again for a time before bearing east to come down almost to the Querenca road again at Malhada Velha. 

Spurning the tarmac, the route turns north again, to climb to a trig point at the suitably named Altura, in the Cerro Guereiro, before returning for a third time to the main road at Charneca. Then followed another eastward detour and a descent to the valley of the Ribeira de Merces before climbing most of the way up towards Querenca

Turning left downhill instead of heading up to the village, the route leads down to the car park for Fonte Benemola, and then along to the Fonte itself, before continuing on into the valley beyond and then up the long climb to the plateau above. This leads to Corcitos and a descent to the area of the seven fontes.

The final climb is up into the Cerro da Corte, followed by a walk along Vale das Alagoas, where I found my two stream crossings of the day and finally got my boots wet. Just beyond this, the Ligacao meets the main Via Algarviana, which proceeds by way of several twists and turns to Salir. I left the route here and walked up into Palmeiros, passing Casa Otter, and shortly afterwards was rescued by my ever-loving from the task of climbing back to Covoes. An absolutely splendid day, to be repeated!

I did around 21k in around 5 hours, with about 830m of ascent. As I don´t have a selfie stick, my photos are all views plus dog!

        Early Doors at Santa Luzia

                        Off the tarmac, going towards Malhada Velha.

                               Looking back to Loule.   

 

                                                        Altura.

                        Looking out towards Tor and Benafim

                                This bloke kept eating my lunch.

                                Querenca through the trees.

 

                                Interesting use of cavity foam

                                Fonte Benemola. Good to see.

                        Cerro da Corte. 3k from the end, he wants to turn back!  

                             Spring flowers - before New Year.

                                     The Offending Stream

All Trails Map of the Route.

  

 

Coronawalk 51 – Clun to the Cefns

 

Two wise men met at Clun Memorial Hall car park for an impromptu journey. The third one couldn't make it as he'd been placed in Tier 4. Instead they were joined by four batty old women (their words, not mine) – Linda, Beryl, Maggie and guest Jane. They all set forth barely an hour after sunrise with no fixed route in mind, thinking they might send Beryl ahead so that they could follow yonder star(r). But Beryl was having none of it and so they used an ancient Viewranger scroll to guide them.

 

 

Their mission was to seek a newborn, not realising that the lambing season hadn't yet begun. Their task was to deliver gifts, but as Aldi had run out of frankincense and myrrh Linda stepped in with some seriously delicious home-made mutton pies (as a thank you for leading earlier missions over the hills).

 

These were gratefully received and carefully packed away for consumption later. Being a typical product of one of the provinces in the north, where the people speak with a strange dialect, they were to be heated over a fire and served with a fresh topping of a certain variety of bean that had been baked in the juices of tomatoes.

 

 

Little did the company know how arduous the journey would prove, with many obstructions to conquer …...

 

 

…......... and many other untold difficulties to surmount. Fortunately the men of the land knew about these difficulties and with emperor Boris's blessing they dispatched gangs of workers who toiled ceaselessly to facilitate the passage of weary travellers, ensuring that all paths remained open to them.

 

 

The group marched tirelessly over hill and down dale in places unknown to man.

 

 

Occasionally they encountered artefacts of ancient civilisations......

 

….. whose peoples erected prominent markers to help travellers find their way ….......

 

This ancient land had suffered recent rainstorms which made the going underfoot particularly arduous, but the women were made of stern stuff and shrugged off such minor considerations with gay abandon.

Being of educated stock the party read the clues left there by nature, surmising the correct whereabouts of some three gates and two crosses, but signs of a partridge in a pear tree there were none.

 

 

There was great jubilation when a main route was met, knowing this would now take them all the way to their destination. Sadly, though, their excitement was short-lived on discovering that shepherds had been that way first.

However, with the end in sight the plucky group pushed on undeterred, stopping only briefly to nourish themselves with their meagre rations behind a wind-swept bush.

 

 

 

 

The route still had a few obstacles up its sleeve, necessitating frequent diversions to avoid wet feet.

 

As the end point hove into view one of the wise men could stand the womens' talk about knitting no longer and sought solace in a quieter path through the turnips.

 

 

 

 

 

The wise men turned their attention next to the vexed question of why children cannot be persuaded to eat their greens, when sheep have no such qualms.

 

We were on the final leg now with nothing between us and the finish.

 

 

Except water !

 

Linda bares the after-effects of mud wrestling.

Bob tries to get his head round the concept of a young elder growing inside an old alder.

The epic trip lasted nearly 5 hours and covered 8.92 miles and a staggering 1447 feet of desperate climbing.

 

It was a wasted journey, however, as a plague had caused the inn to be closed and the only alternative accommodation was an air B&B in a nearby stable, which had had its licence revoked.