This was my first Monday walk since before Christmas. Jan was not able to walk, due to her knee
and foot injury. Despite the clear and
sunny sky it was quite cold at the start, which is obvious from the heavy
jackets worn.
Peter led this walk, as he did the two previous times. It is about two years since we last tackled
it, and the path was rougher and more overgrown than I remembered it.
This walk is not as well marked as some we do. And the first time we walked it we had some
problems finding the correct track. Last
time we found it ok.
After about an hour we had done most of the climbing and
had reached a distinctive broken wall, which was also marked as part of the route. However the path then disappeared. Peter knew where he wanted to get to, but
could not find the track which led there.
After a thorough search, and finding that the going would be very
difficult, he decided to abandon the walk.
A very wise decision in my opinion.
We had little trouble finding our way back, despite the
lack of any clear path. And, as is often
the case, the track downhill was even
more difficult than the earlier climb.
As we retraced our steps we passed a couple of Spanish men
with a dog, who were apparently looking for two lost bulls! Must have been very determined bulls to find
their way up this difficult terrain.
When we got back to the road we could see them heading in the same
direction we had followed, but too far away to see if they had found the path
or not. And no sign of the missing
bulls!
Peter now had to decide whether to find an alternative walk, or to
simply make our way back to Tormos. He
had previously walked in the surrounding hills, and had a faint memory of a
walk which ended coming down past the Stations of the Cross into Tormos. So we made our way back to the village to
try to find the track in reverse
We were already tired from the earlier climb and
disappointed not to have found the track to Font Centella. So it was not a very happy bunch who struggled
up this steep road, which we hoped would lead to the Stations of the Cross.
Peter was always confident that he would find them, but
some of us had our doubts as we started walking downhill again towards the Orba
road. So we were quite relieved when we
reached the start of the uphill track past the Stations.
This area was new to all of us, except for Peter. And he was not sure where he could find a
suitable spot for our picnic lunch. So
we struggled uphill again behind our determined leader.
This path was much better than the previous one, and we
made good progress. There were also some
interesting rock formations, and lovely views towards Tormos and Orba.
And finally we did find a suitable spot for lunch. We were all much warmer after our second climb
of the day, but the wind was very cold and we had to find a sheltered spot to
eat.
Fortunately it also had lovely views over the Orba valley
and the coast beyond. It had been
something of a “magical mystery tour”, but Peter did well to salvage what could
have been a disappointing abandoned walk and to find a pretty good alternative
lunch spot.
Monday
25 January 2016
Sue is leading a new walk next week, starting at the sports
centre in Murla. She did give us a
description of the walk, but I didn’t really understand. It started with a climb, and ended at Fontilles. But I am not sure what happens in
between. It is always nice to have a new
walk, and I am sure that it will be very enjoyable. Meet at 10am.
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