26 November – Thursday Explorers – Jalon Valley Walk

We had planned Bolulla Castle for today

But a forecast of rain caused us to change to a valley walk 

The plan was walk to Alcalali and see what the weather was like

Then towards Jalon

And if all went well back to Parcent along the pipeline 

It stopped raining just as we left the house

It was cloudy, but remained dry through the walk

There were eight of us on the walk 

Including Jo who has recovered from her foot injury

It was not one of our usual sunny walks

Though it did improve during the walk

And it was much better than sitting at home looking out at the weather

I was glad that Jan persuaded me not to cancel the walk

Time taken – 4 hours

Distance – 12 km

Temperature – 14-18c

23 November – Monday Ramblers – Jalon to Parcent

 

Eight on the walk today due to change in numbers allowed

It makes it much easier now that pretty well anyone who wants to walk can do so

It always seemed very unfair to have to pick and choose who could walk

Gus joined us for the first time today and fit in very well

 You will see from the stats below that it has turned much colder lately

However as always it soon warms up when we get walking

 This was the first time that we have done this particular walk

And I had expected it to take at least four hours

So I cut a few corners off to make better time

Then we found the path between Parcent and the Ermita closed

There was major work going on to lay cables

And they wouldn’t even allow walkers through

Fortunately we managed to cut through a few fields

The work finished just before the Ermita

So we were able to have our picnic there as planned

We finished in less than four hours

Which has encouraged me to try slightly longer routes in future

 

Stats

Time taken – 3.5 hours

Distance – 11 km

Total Ascent – 100 metres

Temperature – 12-18c

19 November – Thursday Explorers – Col de Rates

 Eight of us today

Jan missed this walk

She is still recovering from the reaction to her flu jab

The maximum number has increased to 30

But we will stick with our usual maximum of 12-16 on each walk

Overcast and cold wind at the start

OK whilst climbing

But too cold to sit for long on our banana break

Lovely to see David and Sabine again

It was stlll overcast when we reached our picnic spot

But the sun came out just as we finished eating

Jose sent Jan regular WhatsApp updates and photos

So she could keep up with our progress

It was warm and sunny as we started on the return journey

I gave Jan a ring half an hour before the end of the walk

And she was waiting for us when we got to the cooperativa

Very enjoyable walk, despite the less than perfect weather 

Time taken – 5 hours

Distance – 10 km

Total Ascent –470 metres

Temperature – 16-20c