10 November 2016 – The Green Horse

Even after ten years Jan refuses to accept that it takes less than three quarters of an hour to drive from Parcent to Benimaurell.   So, once again, we were the first to arrive.   I was impressed that most found their way there following my directions, though no doubt satnav helped as well.

We were blessed with ideal walking conditions for this our favourite walk.   A sunny day with a pleasant cool breeze

This is one of our shorter walks, so we were content to take our time during the climb.   We had a couple of short breaks to admire the views and a longer water stop to get our breath back.

It took an hour to reach the top, where we just had to have the traditional group photo

We also settled down for our banana stop

And to admire the beautiful view down the Jalon and Orba valleys and the coast beyond.

We then set off for the easy walk along the summit and from the constant cheerful chatter the pace was obviously moderate enough for everyone.

I was also distracted and missed one of the markings, though Jan was quick to put me right

In recent years this walk has been considered too short.  But that is because we walked too fast.   Today we did not make that mistake.   We had frequent short stops to admire the ever changing views.

We choose to have an early lunch whilst still on the ridge in order to enjoy the views

It was not quite 1pm, but no one complained that we had stopped too early

The only problem was getting them started again

We were surprised to pass two groups of Spanish walkers.   This is a very popular walk with ex pats, and we have done it about twenty times.  But I can’t remember meeting one Spanish group, let alone two.

This photo perfectly illustrates why this has long been our favourite walk

The path where we start to come down off the ridge has a short but slippery section

Many years ago a good friend slipped and left the path in a very undignified manner.   Fortunately she was not hurt, and we always remember her and the incident when we pass this point.

The path down from the ridge is easy walking, and the track good enough to admire the constantly changing views.

Despite our moderate pace and frequent stops to admire the scenery, we still reached the finger posts early.

So we opted to extend the walk to the rustic Venta Del Collao restaurant

Easy walk back to the village on a good track with excellent views down to the coast.

We arrived back in Benimaurell just as the church bells were ringing 3pm.   Plenty of time for a very welcome drink in the bar.

It’s been a difficult week for Jan and I and this very pleasant walk was just what we needed to cheer us up.  Thanks to everyone who joined us for the walk and made it so enjoyable.   Thanks also to David for taking this photo.

Walk Stats

Thanks again to Nick for the stats.   Hope this will become a regular feature of the blog.

The walk of almost 8.5 kilometres from Benimaurell car park at around 530 metres above sea level reached a high point of 825 metres and included a total ascent of about 460 metres.   Including breaks and a lunch stop it lasted for 4 hours and 57 minutes at an average walking speed of 2.8 kilometres per hour