12 November 2015 – The "Dead Dog" Walk

After excellent weather for our first three Thursday Explorer walks, today was overcast and grey.   Fortunately no sign of rain.   On the other hand we had a record nine walkers, including Dee who joined us for the first time.

Dee has not done a lot of hill walking and was a little concerned about the type of paths we would be walking on.   We started from the petrol station in Jalon and she had a gentle introduction with a short section on the road followed by a good path to the start of the climb.

Having a new walker was a good excuse to keep the pace down, and we had frequent stops to recover and admire the views

About two hours into the walk the sun appeared, just in time for our banana stop

With the climb done we now had an easy walk to our picnic site.   Last time we did this walk the path was overgrown, so David was prepared to cut a path if necessary.   Fortunately it was not.

There are very extensive views along this section, though the distant views were obscured by the haze.   Despite this the immediate area was well worth taking time to admire.

We have not done this walk for some time, because it is not a favourite of our Monday group.   We particularly like it, because it is one of the first walks we did when we arrived in Spain.   So it was nice to introduce it to some of the less experienced members of the group.

We usually aim to stop for lunch about 1pm, but that always depends on whether there is a suitable picnic spot.   I always think of this as a shorter walk, and quite expected to have an early lunch.  But in fact it was just 15 minutes early when we arrived.   Perhaps the pace was a little slower than previously, but we were all more than ready for a break.

There are extensive views from here, particularly of the Jalon Valley.   The haze has increased, making it less than perfect for photographs.  But it was still a very pleasant spot to eat our picnic lunch.

Most of us were quite contented to sit, eat and admire the view.  But Peter and Mike wanted to climb a little higher and explore the rocks above.   You can just see Mike in the background.

From here it is downhill back to the cars.   It is a long and winding path, and not the best surface.   I was a little concerned that Dee might find this part difficult, but she managed very well.

I expected that this would be a shorter walk than normal.   But in fact it was 3pm when we arrived back at the cars.  So it was in fact a five hour walk.   David records each walk on his satnav, and I was surprised to find that it was 10.5 km and 401 metre elevation.   As always the pace determines how difficult a walk is, and the moderate pace set by David ensured that everyone enjoyed the walk and completed it without too much trouble.

19 November 2015

Next week will be Bolulla Castle, another old favourite