19 March 2013 Juviles to Lobras

Our lunch stop above Juviles

Once again we have missed a few weeks on the GR7 because of bad weather, all this rain is starting to get to us now. It’s got so bad that this week, even though we knew it was going to rain, we were prepared to go out and get wet. Admittedly we thought we would only get a spot or two of light rain on the way back.

The route was going to be from the Trevelez area to Lobras, I say area because, like the last section into Trevelez, we have done the section out of Trevelez as part of the Sulayr path. So we thought we could give this bit a miss.   

The easiest way of doing this section was to drive to Lobras and walk along the GR7 towards Trevelez until we got to the part we had done before, and then turn around and walk back. A big advantage of doing it this way was that all the 1000 metres of climbing would be on the way out in the morning.

Lobras is a small sleepy village tucked away on the side of the Alpujarras, so sleepy in fact we saw no one either in the morning or when we returned in the afternoon.

We left the village on a newly restored path running alongside an acequia that the signboard said was the direct route to Timar, the next village along our route. The great thing about acequia paths is that they are virtually level, falling gently so that the water always flows downhill. We had only gone a couple of hundred yards when the GR7 and the acequia paths diverged, which was a shame because the GR7 path descended down into a steep sided valley. This only means one thing, a steep climb out of the valley, but hey, I had advertised the walk as having 1000 metres of climbing, so it gave us a chance to get a few metres knocked off. The sky were clearing and the temperature was raising and we thought we might be in for a decent day´s walking at last. The problem was we were only looking forward not behind us. Shortly afterwards we arrived in Timar, another tiny publeo nestling in the hillside. We stopped here so Plym could buy some buns from the local bread man and it was then that we noticed that the sky behind us was not the same as in front of us. In front we had blue sky and sunshine, behind the sky was black.

We had only been walking for 1 hour and nobody wanted to turn around yet so we decided to press on to Juviles, where we could find a bar and sit out any passing shower. The path was steep and rocky but it looks down into some spectacular deep valleys, well worth the effort and we did stop to help Plym eat some of her buns.

In Juviles the weather had not deteriorated any further so we decided to continue with the walk, all the time climbing. After another hour it became obvious that the weather was taking a turn for the worse, the temperature was falling and it was starting to rain and, ominously, the cloud cover was creeping down the hillside. A decision was wisely made to turn around and head back the way we had come.

We did manage to vary the route slightly, especially the way back from Timar where we managed to find the start of the acequia. This was a great way back to Lobras and it was on a path spotted by Kees, We had been walking down a campo road, when we came to a river flowing across it. The river was too wide to jump across and it was looking likely we would have to take our boots off and wade across, when Kees mentioned he had seen a bridge 20 metres downstream. I thought Kees deserved a Brownie point for this magnificient find if only for the fact that it kept our feet dry (well, I was OK because I had some plastic bags), but there was some disagreement within the group as to whether such a prestigious award should be made for finding a bridge, and this came from some of the ones who were going to get their feet wet. It just shows whatever you do someone always has to grumble. In the end it did not matter because it started to rain and we all got wet anyway, we just made it back to the cars when the heavens opened

   

On the walk Kees, Mike, Plym, Julie, Dave, Little Stuart, Stuart.

Distance walked on the route today 7.3 km    Total distance on route 171.4 km

Distance walked today 14.6 km          Total distance walked 217.7 km

Height climbed today 792 metres Total height climbed 7100 metres

Distance driven today 120 km             Total distance driven 793 km

p.s I am unsure whether Kees gets a Brownie point or not, so can you please vote on it. Bearing in mind he already has more points than anybody else anyway.

I have received a number of votes regarding the awarding of Brownie points but the results are inconclusive.

Votes countered so far

1 definitely yes

1 definitely but has not decided yet whether it is definitely yes or definitely no.
1 definitely yes from Kees, we might have to have a vote on this, because I think he might be biased.

This is not like voting LIB/LAB/CON

Your vote really does count and will make a difference

Hi

I know you are all eagerly awaiting the results of the vote but first can I say a few words about how I have complied them.

It was a bitterly fought campaign and the recriminations will linger for a long time. 

We had a spoilt ballot paper when someone voted for everyone to receive a brownie point. I think there must be a bonding issue here.

The bewildered has still not definitely decided. You can just imagine him keep switching lanes at work and before you know it the race is over.

One person voted twice, fortunately he did manage to tick the same box each time. This is not Africa where someone gets elected with 110% of the vote. So I have torn up one of his ballot papers.

Someone voted for himself, vote disallowed.

One unassuming person in England voted yes and got upset when someone said he was not allowed to vote

One little guy voted no and complained about outsiders being allowed to vote. 

One person voted yes and said it was down to Kees that she did not get really, really wet.

So with the votes countered we have an overwhelming 3 to 1 vote in favour of Kees receiving a Brownie point.

Thank you to everyone who took part in this truly democratic process.

Stuart

It now appears Kees was not entitled to a Brownie point at all, it was Dave who discovered the bridge. Kees has been striped of his award.