11 December 2012 Arenas del Rey to Jayena

The path down to Jayena

Last week conditions for our GR7 walk were dire, visibility was down to 50 metres and it rained most of the day. This week there was not a cloud in the sky all day.
Our route was to be from Arenas del Rey to Jayena, the Cicerone guide said 15 km and the other said 17 km. I thought it would be a good idea to have an easy day of it, do the 15 km and spend the afternoon in a bar having a few drinks and tapas. Mike wasn’t having any of this, if we walked there and back, we would get to the magical 30 km. A long time ambition of his, we have come very close in the past, but the GPS has never actually recorded the mystical number.
Eight of us set off in 3 cars, Rene was not going to try for the record as she had to get back for her granddaughter, like me she would be happy just to do the section once, leaving her car in Jayena we continued the drive to Arenas del Rey.
It was chilly in Arenas, the puddles had a thin layer of ice on them, we had hats and gloves on. There were plenty of signs to follow as the path headed out of the first valley and up a gentle  hillside, just what we needed to get ourselves warmed up. This section of the walk was never going to achieve any great height, just a progression of hills and valleys to ascend and descend. I know some of the group thought I had played a mean trick when we came to the first stream that we had to cross. Well, in actual fact at the place where we had to cross it wasn’t a stream, it was of more of a river. In my defence I thought we had discussed the possibility that there might be a shortage of bridges on this walk. There was no alternative, we were going to have to remove our boots and paddle across, well, there was one alternative, you could put some plastic bags over your boots, if you had some. I did. It was at this point foul play was mentioned. By all accounts the river was freezing, I did not think it was that cold, because if it had been frozen we could all have walked across on the ice, or maybe it was because I still had my warm boots and socks on.
Setting off again we headed up the next hillside in the direction of the Resinera, once the centre for the processing of the Pine resin, it is now a tourist information centre with a nice garden where we stopped for a quick snack.
Setting off again spirits dipped when another river came into view, but they soon recovered when a footbridge was spied. We now set off alongside another river and confusion set in when the route did not follow my guide, but it was OK with Kees’s guide. The strange thing  was we both had the same one. With the confusion cleared up, and Kees awarded even more Brownie points, we continued along the track until once again we came to a river crossing, this time without a bridge. By all accounts this river was a little warmer, or maybe they were getting used to the cold. I must say the plastic bags were working really well. Again we climbed out of the valley up to Jayena Airport, I kid you not, an airstrip in the middle of nowhere. After walking around it the path heads steeply downhill and to another river. The girls were now starting to get a bit fed up with all this footwear removal malaky, and this time were determined to get across without getting wet. We left them to it as they threw boulders in the river to make stepping stones. Once they were safely across, we followed. Five minutes later we were having lunch in Jayena, in a little plaza with comfy seats. How I spoil these guys.
It was now time to say goodbye to Rene and for the rest of us to make a decision about the return trip. We had clocked up 17.5 km, this would make a round trip of 35 km if we went back the same way. We would also be walking in the dark by the time we reached Arenas. The option would be to take the road back, only 11.5 km and with a few short cuts we could reduce it further and besides, this way we kept our feet dry. The plastic bags were beginning to take water and I did not relish paddling across the streams. I had said that any wimps could go back with Rene. With the exception of Kees nobody wanted to be a wimp and he changed his mind when he found out what it meant.
We set off on the road to Fornes, 4 km away, where some very nice men directed us onto the shortcut we wanted over the hillside. then another road section, another short cut and we were back onto the GR7 we had walked on in the morning, half an hour later and we were in the bar in Arenas.
Another good walk but how I escaped not getting stoned to death, I don’t know.

On the walk On the walk Kees, Mike, Rene, Ray, Plym, Dave, Julie, Old Stuart.

Distance walked on the route today 17.5 km  Total distance on route 62.5 km
Distance walked today 27.8 km Total distance walked 72.8
Height climbed today 773 metres Total height climbed 1962 metres
Distance driven today 100 km Total distance driven 386 km