Bright and sunny, but quite cold, as we met
at Kilometer Seven on the Castells to Tarbena road. It is often a few degrees colder at Castells
than Parcent, and today was no exception.
Most arrived in shirt sleeves, but quickly donned jackets or jumpers.
Ken and Sylvia joined us again, after a
break of two weeks to entertain visitors.
They brought our numbers up to a respectable eight. After a recent incident when a walker with
the CBMW got themselves lost, that group introduced a rule that everyone should
have whistle. Our merry little band was
quick to demonstrate that whats good enough for the CBMW is equally good enough
for us.
It is just over a year
since we last did this walk, and everyone was quite pleased when it was
suggested. It’s a long drive for some
of our group, but the beautiful scenery makes it well worth while. It is
not one of our longest walks, but it is one of the most enjoyable
The warm sun and cool breeze made it feel
quite like walking in UK, and the profusion of spring flowers provided ample
opportunity to stop, admire and photograph.
Thanks to David for this one. It is well known that I am no expert on
flowers, but he informs me that it is an orchid. If not, all complaints to David please.
We set off at a good pace, and it was not
long before we had a short break to remove jackets and jumpers. It was one of those days when it was a
little too hot in the sun, and a little too cold in the wind. It was very pleasant to be able to walk without
overheating, which will soon be a problem in the coming weeks.
We made very good time, and arrived at the
foot of the castle hill just after midday.
Pat is a stickler for not eating until 1pm, but was overruled
today. This is by far the best place to
have our picnic. Lovely views, lots of
good seating area and the opportunity to climb to the castle for the more
energetic. Today only Peter fell into
the latter category. The rest of us
were more than happy to settle down for an early lunch.
This is typical of the paths we followed
today. On such a lovely day they look
so inviting, like a photograph from one of those glossy walking magazines.
As I mentioned earlier, there were a mass
of spring flowers throughout the walk.
This is a good example of what I mean.
The good paths also meant we could look
around as we walked. In sections it was
necessary to watch where you put your feet, but mostly it was ok to admire the
view. This photo demonstrates why this
is such a popular walk.
David led the walk, and he and Peter pushed
ahead at one point. As they waited for
the rest of us to catch up I took this photo of the “old men of the mountains”!
Monday
4 May 2015
Next week will be Col de Rates. Meet at the tourist information in Jalon at
10am
