6 Feb 2011 – Col de Rates

 

Unfortunately Jan and I had to miss today’s walk.   Jan was feeling poorly due to a “tummy bug”, and was confined to bed all day and much in need of a little TLC.  We felt very guilty, because we were supposed to lead to this walk.   But fortunately we had done a recce with David and Rosemary last week, and David was able to lead.   Thanks also to David for these photographs.

13 February 2012

Next week's walk will be Soldates from Gata.

Meet in the car park behind the post office in at 1000. 

3 Feb 2012 – Winter in Parcent

We woke this morning to find that the winter had arrived – snow on the Col de Rates.  

We still had breakfast on the naya.  One corner is a sun trap, and the morning sun was quite warm, though we did need a warm jacket

Looking down the valley towards Castells we could see that the heaviest snow was on Cocoll – where we walked last Monday.

Almadich – 30 Jan 2012

Jan and I had planned to do this walk last week with the CBMW, but were pleased to do it with our Monday Group instead when Peter offered to lead it.   Our group had not tackled this walk before.  We were a little apprehensive as Bob Stansfield’s walking book describes it as 17km with about 700m ascent.   It is also undulating, which means there are seven “ups and downs”.

Despite this daunting description 13 of us turned up at Benichembla on a very cold Monday morning.  Although we had a clear blue sky it was bitterly cold and most were well wrapped up – even if Barry did have his shorts on!

The walk started with a very steep climb up a proper road, which soon turned to the more usual narrow track.

We quickly gained height and by the first water stop had extensive views of the valley below and the coast. 

Despite the steep ascent, it was still cold enough for most to keep their jackets on.

This is looking back on the path we had just walked; fortunately it did not look so difficult walking

The path soon all but disappeared, and we were impressed that Peter managed to find the right one up, or indeed down, without too much trouble.

After a couple of hours we stopped for a banana break.  Despite the sun it was too cold to stop for long.   But the clear sky provided lovely views right to the coast

It was also a good opportunity for everyone to admire my new patch.   It had taken Jan about three months and a lot of reminders on last week’s walk, to attend to the tear in my walking trousers.   But well worth the wait!

The path was now pretty level for a considerable distance, and we were able to relax and look around instead of having to watch every step to avoid a fall.

Everywhere you looked were impressive rock faces and rolling mountains

Despite the sun there were dangerous patches of ice.   Han is pointing to a frozen pool of water thick enough to walk on.

Going down was much worse than going up, and we were grateful for our walking sticks.

We had hoped to reach the airfield at Cocoll for lunch, but by 1.30 it was clear we would not be able to do so.

We did find a sheltered valley, which was also quite a sun trap

And if the views were not the most impressive of the day, they were still quite pleasant

Half an hour later we finally reached the airstrip on Cocoll.   We were surprised to find a large herd of sheep grazing around the strip.   Fortunately there were no sign of any planes, and they were not at all impressed by our tired group of walkers.

The view from here was impressive, and it would have made an excellent picnic spot.

It was too cold to hang around for long, and we soon joined the well signed route back to Benichembla  

The walk had taken us just over six hours, and apart from two short breaks we had kept us a good pace throughout.  This would make it one of the longest walks we had tackled as a group.   Excellent and challenging walk, and one which I am sure we will tackle again.

Monday 6 February

Col de Rates from Parcent.   Meet at 1000 at the “chicken shacks”.   With luck the almond blossoms will be in full bloom to add an extra bit of colour to this old favourite.

23 Jan 2012 – Bolulla Castle

  It’s a long time since we did this walk, partly because of parking problems and partly because of extensive road works which made getting there difficult.   It was one of the first walks Jan and I when we started walking here six years ago, and we have always had a soft spot for it.

Like many of the castles about here, Bolulla is on the top of a steep hill with dominating views over the valley and nearby coast.   I could claim that this is the route we took up, but I would be lying.  It is a much easier climb on the other side!

We had a good turnout today; with the return of Sylvia, Ken and Tom we made a group of 13.   But there was nothing unlucky about the weather, a lovely clear blue sky.   Cool wind and ideal for walking. 

The walk started with a gentle pace on a very good path, just right for everyone to catch up on the news since we had all last met.  Our walks can be called a lot of things, but never quiet!

It’s not long before we start to climb, and breathing takes priority over talking.

Our first break was on the flat area with views towards the coast and Benidorm.   Wendy and Jackie are still chatting.

David and Rosemary find a quiet spot to sit and enjoy the views

Then its downhill on a narrow but good path to the castle

On the way someone spotted these unusual mountain goats.   We think they are part of a small group of Ibex which has been introduced to the area.   We were fascinated that they stood looking at us looking at them (we are easily pleased).   They were quite far away so not at all threatened. 

Then it was downhill again towards the dominating Bolulla Castle

Peter somehow managed to persuade most of us to climb up to the castle.   We had not intended to do so, as it is a steep climb and we had done it when we first did this walk.   But as more and more agreed to go we felt we had to do so to maintain our “street cred”.   Not at all sure it worked.

This photo of the fine group of climbers was taken some time after we reached the top, and everyone had recovered from the climb.   Beautiful impressive views of the area made it well worth the climb.

  Nice one of Jan

We had left our packs down below and were starting to feel hungry.   So we made our way back down.   Always more difficult than going up, and we each did it at our own speed

  Mike was one of the first to get back to his rucksack and soon perched on a handy rock to enjoy lunch.

It’s a long walk back, but no more climbing.   We were all tired but very happy after a very enjoyable walk.

Monday 30 January

Almadich is a new walk for the group.  This is one of the walks in Bob Stansfield’s Cicerone Guide and he describes it as” a most scenic walk and, for once, you do not climb to the summit of the mountain”.   He also confirms that it is 17km.  This is considerably longer than most of our walks.   We are really looking forward to it.   Meet at the bar in Benichembla at 1000.

21 Jan 2012 - Col de Rates

On our last Monday walk we offered to do a recce of Col de Rates to make sure that the path is ok.   From our naya we had a good view of the hill, and our proposed walk, as we had our breakfast.

David and Rosemary offered to join us for the walk, and their company was very welcome.   It’s always more enjoyable to walk in good company than on our own.

The path proved better than feared.   It’s never a good path at the best of times, but it was not much more overgrown than normal.

Half way up we join this road for a short distance, just enough for a break from looking down at your feet all the time.

It was gone 1.30pm when we reached our lunch spot.   We would have been in trouble with the Monday Club, who expect to arrive at the day’s picnic site at 1pm sharp!

As we had our lunch we had an excellent view of Parcent, with our house on the hill behind.   This is the reverse of our view at breakfast

 Thanks to David for this photo of us both.

The path back down to Parcent is much wider and drier, but still requires looking where you place your feet. 

The walk took us just over five hours, and we had no problems with the path.  So no doubt it will feature as a Monday Club walk in the near future