8th January 2013 Nigúelas to Lanjaron

A picnic at the Lecrin Alberque

After last week's debacle with the buses we decided to dispense with their services this week, so four of us went to Lanjaron first thing in the morning and left three cars and returned to Nigúelas in the fourth to meet up with the rest of the group.
There were a lot of us this week, 13, the biggest Tuesday walk ever on what was a very frosty morning, at least it was in Nigúelas. No wonder it is referred to as the coldest village in the valley.
After standing around for a while getting cold we were all eager to be off. The Cicerone guide gives directions for the route out of the village, I don’t know which village the author was in when he wrote it, it certainly was not Nigúelas. I left the guide at home, we knew the route anyway.  
To start with the path heads up out of the village and then down to the Rio Torrente, not much of a river but a magnificent flat bottomed vertical sided valley. The path then carries on through Almond groves towards Acequias before heading steeply uphill. This is where most of the height for the walk is gained and we were soon shedding our warm clothing as our temperatures started to raise with all the effort.
Whilst the locals were happy enough to shed a coat or hat, Danny, who had just arrived from the UK, was down to his vest, we shuddered as we looked at him.
Eventually you join up with the forest road which you follow all the way to Lanjaron. This was a good opportunity for little Stuart to get some much needed extra practice in for his 100 km walk in May. The idea was a bit like taking the dog for a walk, he was going to walk up and down the road chasing a virtual stick while we ambled along behind him. His enthusiasm for this soon passed and it wasn’t long before he was walking with us again.
Our designated lunch spot this week was the Lecrin Alberque. A very pleasant place to stop for a sandwich. With its picnic tables, it just can’t get any better for Dave. Because of the size of the group we could not all fit around one table, the group naturally split with some heading for the upper table while the rest squeezed on to the lower one. A parody of life really, a few looking down on the many.
We had now reached the start of the long descent into Lanjaron. We still had 5 km to go and we had already exceeded the advertised three and half hours for the walk. My, those guys who planned the route must have been fit, or more likely they had a guessometer.  
Danny Parr deserves a special mention at this point, he joined us on this week’s walk but I am afraid he has been disqualified for cheating. He had the audacity to go from the rear of the group to the front by taking short cuts on the corners. This might be acceptable in Bristol, but here in the valley if you want to get to the front you do it the hard way, you must be fitter, stronger, and faster than the guy in front, not sneaky. This was not the way he was brought up, what a shocking example to set his new girlfriend, Kelly. I just hope his dad never finds out.
We made good time coming down, it must have been the thought of the bar at the end of the walk that was driving them on. Unfortunately the bar was closed but, undeterred, we drove round to one that was open and we all enjoyed a tasty tapas. Then it was back to Nigúelas and another beer at Migúels and more tapas. Life gets better the older we get.

On the walk Kees, Mike, Rene, Ray, Mark, Dave, Julie, Martine, Jan, little Stuart, big Stuart, Danny and Kelly.

Distance walked on the route today 17 km    Total distance on route 125.6 km
Distance walked today 17 km             Total distance walked 138 km
Height climbed today 514 metres Total height climbed 3312 metres
Distance driven today 35 km             Total distance driven 499 km