AWW 24.10.2007 Romeiras Rediscovered!

The only grey day for a month - the skies had opened overnight in Lagos, the forecast was for rain from lunchtime on -it looked like The Rainmaker had struck again. We arrived at Casa Pacheco in Romeiras for a cup of Dona Aldina's finest coffee, and the skies looked threatening. It hadn't discouraged the shorts wearers, as those that had been here before (see link) expected waist high grass and cistus, and thought it better to get their legs wet than their trousers! Last time, we had an outbreak of gaiters, but either poor planning or disenchantment with their performance meant there were less sets of gaiters than Tilley hats (1)

Rod deftly points out Ian's new 'NZ' hat at the start at Corgo da Fonte.

Hilke introduced two friends, Barbara and Volker on holiday from Stuttgart (I hope this wasn't to be the highlight) who were experienced walkers. Volker is a Doctor, and proved to be a useful man to have around as we continued on our walk in various states of physical well being! It was good to see Terry A. being able to take a rare Wednesday off to join us, and show that he could still 'cut it'.

Three potential 'customers' for Volker!
A stout rose between two mighty thorns!

The track of the walk - click to enlarge

Stats: Total distance: 19.9 km; Moving time: 4 hrs 24 min.;Total Time: 5 hrs 13 min.:
Moving Average: 4.5 km/hr; Overall Average: 3.8 km/hr Total Ascent: 687 m.; Max Elev. 352m.

Leader: Paul
Present: Myriam, Rod, Ian S. Lindsey, Andrew, David, Mick, Terry A., Hilke, Barbara, Volker.
Canines: Pooky, Shorty, Maddy.

After a warming coffee in Romeiras we drove to the start at Corgo da Fonte, where Ian proudly revealed his new 'All Black' Hat. Who says visiting New Zealanders don't have a sense of humour? At first the track is wide, but most were anticipating a lot of growth in the river valley heading north because of the rains since our last visit in February. However they did not know that as a conscientious leader I had arranged for José the JCB man to sweep ahead of us and ream out a three metre wide, flat earth path all the way to the top near the Marmalete Road!!! The amount of clearing on this side of the road is phenomenal, and whether the paths were for firebreaks or for replanting and using up EU Farming subsidies I can't comment. On one section however, Carlos the Caterpillar driver was operating very near the edge of a new terrace high above our path, and there were one or two anxious upward glances, and a discussion as to tactics should any more massive boulders be dislodged!

A 'nice' new path!!

Nevertheless, it made our progress on the 5km long uphill slog much easier, although there were the usual navigational considerations as to whether the JCB driver had followed the exact path I intended. As we averaged over 5km/hr on this section, I was wondering whether I would have to throw in a 'loop' so that we didn't reach the lunch spot too early!

A much changed landscape and a truck removing the evidence.

A short stretch of tarmac at the top, and some very black clouds hastened us to the turn down to Loiros where we were disappointed to find no 'Blondes'! The rain held off, and we again picked up speed on the wide track along the valley towards Azenhas and Zebro.
Shortly we were accosted by a local gentleman on his phut-phut motorcycle, who had left his house hastily in pursuit of us, evidenced by his unlaced boots and lack of hosiery!

Myriam - Negotiator!

Myriam took charge of the inquiry, as it appeared that Shorty, Mick's dog was identical with one belonging to a friend of his, that had recently gone missing, and he was asking whether we had found Shorty in the neighbourhood on our ramble. Myriam averted an International incident by reassuring him that Shorty was indeed known to us for a long period, and Mick hadn't abducted him while the owner was enjoying dinner in a nearby restaurant without engaging a dog-sitter! The old man was so taken with Myriam's elegant explanations that he offered her a lift down the hill on his trusty moped!

"A bicycle built for two!"

Who remembers that? I must have heard it from my Great Grandmother!

Daisy, Daisy!! Give me your answer true.
I'm half crazy - all for the love of you.
It won't be a stylish marriage - I can't afford a carriage,
But you'll look sweet - upon the seat

(All join in...) Of a Bicycle built for Two!

I digress: We carried on down the valley, reaching a point which was about half a kilometre from our final destination at Casa Pacheco, but I forgot to mention that, in case the faint-hearted might take the easy option. Besides we had only done about 10 km at this point - so we struck off up a rise towards Malhão and suddenly the views to Foia opened up. Again José the JCB had done a great job, and opened up our complete route - in fact he was still working on part of it as we shuffled along the newly cleared ridge towards Tojeiro.

The descent towards the lunch spot at Tojeiro

For the last and steepest path he must have gone for lunch too, as we had to contend with a minor amount of cistus and some slippery shale. Andrew reenacted a moment of drama for the photographer!

Ian makes it look easy while Andrew 'hams' for the camera!

And so to cries of 'About time too!' we settled for lunch near a small group of ruins at the bottom of the hill.

The lunch spot

Lunch in the 'shade'

The sun had broken through by this time, despite the pessimism of the forecasters, and a few of us migrated to one of the few trees left standing in the area. The ladies had to range far and wide for privacy for their 'ablutions'.
After lunch we did manage to find a few paths which had been untouched by machinery, and conquered several gentle 'undulations' but I spared the group the loop up Cabeço da Égua, as Mick was beginning to suffer a little from Walkers Gloom. I had envisaged visiting the former lunch spot on the Romeiras Ramble (see here ) from the earliest days of blogging, and famous for Stan having left a treasured Leki pole at the lunch spot and failed to recover it, despite going back with Elaine - whose fault it obviously had been! However, this proved to be unnecessary as I was confident of getting close to my predicted 20km without embellishment, and Mick had rallied slightly and didn't require a Field Procedure from Volker.
At 1430 hrs Portuguese time and 1530 hrs in France, the appointed hour for Ian Clark-Simpson's funeral we reached what had been a Five-Way junction and was now an Eight Way junction, and I called a halt to read Pam's tribute to Ian. After, we reflected in silence for a minute on what he had meant to each of us that knew him. (See Blog Epitaph here )

Reading the Tribute

From here it was a straightforward, mostly downhill path to Romeiras and hence Casa Pacheco. Once there we raised a glass to Absent Friends' and warmed down after an invigorating walk.

To 'Absent Friends'

"Don't walk in front of me, I may not follow;
Don't walk behind me, I may not lead;
Walk beside me and just be my friend."
(Albert Camus)

Ian Clark-Simpson R.I.P.

Ian Clark-Simpson (20.09.1943 - 20.10.2007)

Following last week's Blog on Ian's Carrapateira Walk, and the note of his terminal illness, I report with great sadness that Ian Clark-Simpson passed away in hospital in France on 20th October.

His funeral was held in France at 1530 hrs on Wednesday 24th October 2007. Pam wrote a tribute to Ian which she read at his funeral. As is our custom, a group of Algarve Wednesday Walkers were out walking at that time and we paused at the same time, and I read out a copy of the tribute, which is set out below, and we held a minute's silence to remember Ian and what he had meant to us.

Lindsey had arranged for some flowers to be sent to the funeral on behalf of the Wednesday Walkers, and Pam extracted one yellow rose and threw it in the grave.

Pam and Ian AWW 01.03.2006

Pam's Tribute to Ian.

I was in my late 40’s when I met and married Ian – that shows you what a very special guy he was – I waited a long time for the right man. He had all the qualities I had been looking for: he made me laugh, he had a great zest for life, he wanted to travel, he wanted to sail and he had a lovely smile.

He gave me a hectic 11years of togetherness. We bought and sold four properties, bought 5 and sold 4 boats (there is still a dinghy in Arcachon), bought and sold 4 cars, bought and sold a caravan, and latterly bought a campervan in which we had planned to explore France, our new home country. We’ve lived in three different countries where Ian’s warmth and openness made us many friends, many of whom have given me invaluable support during the past difficult months, and all of whom are thinking of you now, Ian. During the 3 years that we were liveaboard boaties on our favourite boat, called Happy Daze, our exciting long distance sailing travels took us into the Mediterranean, to the north coast of Africa and out to Madeira and the Azores in mid-Atlantic, meeting some amazing people along the way.

Now that Ian has finally found peace and tranquillity after his 11 months of suffering, far too early in his life, my lasting memories of Ian will be 11 years of happy days.

Pam has been in touch since , and after the funeral back at her home, 220 euros was raised for cancer support by raffling off a frozen leg of lamb that had been sitting in Pam & Ian's freezer for some time!

We all wish her the best for the future and would like to let her know that she will always have friends in the Algarve, particularly among the Algarve Wednesday Walkers, and perhaps some day soon we will meet her again.

Obligatory Trig Point Photo March 1st 2006

AWW 17.10.2007 Ian's Carrapateira Reconstituted.

The original version of this walk was led on 29.04.2006 by Ian just prior to his and Pam's move to France. The occasion is recorded in the Blog (click here)
Ian has since succumbed to ill health, and the most recent communication with Pam reports that he is in hospital and heavily sedated with a very poor prognosis. Our thoughts were with them as Chris and Antje reconstructed this route.
It was also one of the first occasions that I used the Bamboo Diagrams to record the route, as with their imminent exit from the Algarve, we did not want to lose their walks. I would like to say that the bamboo diagrams led us round the complete route without a hitch, but in certain sections, progress in the form of firebreaks, and newly widened paths to allow hunters to access the interior without leaving their 4x4's, has rendered the original paths indistinguishable. The upside was that the walk was much easier on the new paths as they circumvented the tricky path through the reed jungle and the steep overgrown climb to the TP. It was also almost 2 km shorter!!

The first TP above Carrapateira - some shrinking violets hiding at the rear!

Leaders: Chris and Antje

Present: Terry M. David C. John; Hazel; David L. Mick; Thyl; Paul; Myriam; Rod; Hilke; John H.; John O.; Ian S.; + 2

Dogs; Tiggy; Shorty; Pooky; Maddy.

The track - click to enlarge

Stats: Total Distance -17.4 km: Moving time - 3 hrs 55 min.: Total Time - 4 hrs 50 minutes
Moving Average- 4.4 km/hr.: Overall Average - 3.6 km/hr: Tot Ascent - 430m.: Max Elev. - 136 m.

Here is the Leader's report, with photos from 4 snappers skilfully inserted!

Attracted by the prospect of a bracing cliff walk along the West Coast, and also a favourable weather forecast for a change, 18 hardy souls assembled at the appointed hour at Cafe Bravo in Carrapateira. What promised to be a comfortable stroll in the sunshine soon changed into a more rigorous prospect by the joint leaders decision to incorporate the bamboo diagrams for an extended route that had been prepared following Pam and Ian's walk, that they had led on an earlier occasion. A timely reminder of them both, and an opportunity to remember those happier times before we received the news of Ian's illness.

A macabre find soon after the TP was this recently deceased mongoose, which did not appear to have external injuries! Perhaps an encounter with a more experienced local snake!

A stiff climb up to the proverbial trig point was followed by a rapid descent to the Carrapateira valley, where after crossing two dry fords the first parting of the ways took place. Ian Scott, pleading the need to divert rapidly to a nearby surfer's beach with his Antipodean guests opted for the soft option, perhaps more in keeping with the inadequate footwear being displayed, which warranted their speedy return to the bars of Carrapeteira. In his haste Ian quite forgot that he was also accompanied by his loyal hound Maddie, who by this time had decided that she preferred the company of the other WW's and their dogs. After a slight delay this omission was noticed and Maddie was persuaded to heed her master's plaintive calls.

Ian (looking rather dressier than usual) and the two girls ready to turn back to the flesh pots of Carrapateira.
Note the 'cistus' waymark on the post. This is part of the alternative end to V.A.

The rest of the party then proceeded to tackle the arduous slope that commenced soon after the recently refurbished village of Vilarinha. To everyone's surprise a new wide path had appeared, making the ascent to the trig point a piece of cake. Further new tracks had replaced the previous overgrown ones, and rapid progress was achieved through the valley and on the climb up to the legendary electricity pole number 8. These efforts were subsequently witnessed by a passing motorist, none other that the aforementioned Ian S. and party still trying to find their way to a beach.

The second TP at Monte Queimada was a much easier ascent than before

Given the rate of progress, an executive decision was taken by the leaders to delay the lunch stop until we reached the beach at Amado. Predictably, a mutiny occurred at the first sight of a shaded spot well before the intended target. In the interests of harmony it was agreed to make this earlier halt, as certain members of the party were already unpacking their lunch boxes.

A shady lunch spot and some nice pines to scratch one's back!

Two G.O.M at lunch! (enlarge by clicking)

After lunch a pleasant downhill through the pines.

A rapid descent to the beach then followed, where the group split for the second time, some preferring to take the higher route to a vantage point, the others heading towards the nearby beer bars on the beach.

Some followed the lower path.....

.....and some the higher one!

We took the low road! The hardy group can be seen on the skyline.
Even the Updulator was seduced by the easy route to the beach!

Discipline was maintained by the efforts of the leaders, but only until the ascent up to the cliff path commenced, when a serious confrontation with disorderly walkers took place. An apparent need for some to be in the shady comfort of a bar in time for a football game between England and Russia (we lost ! ), complaints of heat stroke. GPS divergence, dire exhaustion and serious de-hydration caused a substantial breakaway group to head directly towards the comfort of Carrapateira.

The slope up from Amado before the mutiny!

However five hardy souls heeded the leaders call and proceeded to complete the planned cliff walk section, enjoying the superb sea views, and arriving some half hour later at the Cafe Brava, to be warmly greeted by the remnants of the WW's still recovering from the effects of what was in reality one of our easier walks.

The Carry On Five

Comment: I think only Antje and Terry did the full route, the high route to the beach and the end loop. My excuse for missing the end loop was to follow the Bamboo Diagram as in April 2006 to the end!

We had a superb day for the walk unlike the previous occasions that Chris and Antje led this walk, the most recent of which was curtailed and only achieved 11 km. Also the newly formed paths made it rather easier, and more user friendly, though no doubt Mike would have bemoaned the fact that there were not enough thorny bits to draw blood.Café Bravo produced some chilled glasses for the caneca drinkers which were most welcome, though there was some muttering in the ranks when Myriam in her acting capacity extracted the full amount from those that had already enjoyed their beers, and were caught with insufficient change.

That hits the spot!

A lot of 'business' calls on our return though John H2 shows remarkable dexterity in handling the phone and the beer bottle simultaneously - or is it a Beer Phone!

Remember:- Who walks the fastest but walks astray, is only furthest from his way.
(Matthew Prior)

AWW 10.10.2007 Bravura Bravado

A fine sunny morning in the car park at Bravura - the long shadows even at 9 am demonstrate that it should be approaching winter! The dogs certainly look ready to go. But Rod receives a plaintive phone call!! Guess who!



Leader: Rod

Led: Paul, Myriam, Mick W., John, Janet, Terry A., Mike P., Vitor, Dina, David, Lindsey and Mike (?)(on his debut)

Dogs: Oscar, Nandi, Pooky and Shorty.

Stats: Total Distance - 22.2 km; Moving Time - 5 hrs 19 min; Total Time - 6 hrs 19 min.; Moving Average - 4.2 km/hr; Overall Average - 3.5 km/hr; Total Ascent - 679 m.; Max Elev. 254 m.

The route: compiled with great difficulty and Ingenious Interweb Cooperation, between Rod and CB. owing to the GPS Track not having been switched on until 1 hrs 30 minutes into the walk! Click to enlarge.

Here is Rod's report:-

Met at The Recanto de Bravura at 0900.  Beautiful sunny day, 

temperatures in the upper 20´s, touching 30 in the valleys.

The threat of a longish walk caused some mental aberration to

one Ian S who managed to turn up, apparently on time certainly, but at the wrong dam....and too far away, as luck would have it for him, to be rectified, so numbers were cut to a rather ominous 13.
In the event no disastrous bad luck occurred but certain wilting became apparent over the final kilometers.

This had to be investigated, in case Ian had rushed to intercept us. John reported that minor restoration was required, but it asks the question "How do they get cars in remote places like this - and Why?"

We set off round the southern shores of Bravura  with gorgeous view north over the water towards Monchique. This was only slightly  marred by a car that had somehow been recklessly parked upsidedown in a virtually inaccessible part of the mato ( one has to admit it wasn´t necessarily a female driver). This was followed by a gentle climb which took us to the mandatory photo stop at Alamos trig point.

The sun wasn't in the best position for this pic - probably just as well, as the heat was rising and the ascent was long!

The leader had a few perspiration problems!!

"He used to sweat so much that he could keep two fish alive"

I am not sure if the WW Funds will run to a statue of him, but perhaps he can experience the 'Lynx Effect"

If you are baffled see here
(many thanks to Oriana for the special effects!)

From there a few short sharp ascents and descents got the cardio vascular systems working and a plaintive effort by Myriam to get an invitation for a coffee and brandy from the Schroeders, whose house was conveniently below us, fell on stony ground......and so too did we nearly!

A tricky descent

We wound our way round the back of the Serra de Espinhação do Cão and plodded up a long hill up the back of the ridge.  Looming up close to the west is  a new wind turbine which ominously looks as though it may be the first of a whole row along the Espinhação do Cão ridge....a splendid enhancement to the
western Algarve skyline.

The "Lunch Pine"

Lunch, a fairly leisurely affair in the heat of the day, was taken in the shade of an enormous pine tree conveniently located at the high point of the day. The post prandial stretch was a gentle down hill amble followed by a long flat valley. Given it was really quite hot by then this was no bad thing.

Lunch under the pine tree

The leader allowed a fairly generous lunch break by the standard of previous weeks, and it is possible that our Senior Member just drifted off behind those dark glasses!

Over the ridge in the direction of Pincho someone has rather possessively fenced off a rather large tract of land with the very clear intention of keeping something in, or out. In the absence of anyone threatening around, this presented no challenge to WW ingenuity ( although some opted to climb over barbed wire when there was a perfectly good gate!) 

Another property had made an attempt to scare travellers from using what had been a right of way for centuries! On this one the word 'Proibida' had been defaced (not by us!)
This photo leads me nicely in to my weekly Tilley comment. There seems to have been a bit of an 'Anti-Tilley' backlash recently, and they probably require the services of Alistair Campbell in the short term, but it has amazed even me that certain people are prepared to look completely ridiculous in their alternative millinery. What price dignity! Also notice the historic 'blue blob' which Mike is pointing out.
Earlier in the walk we had also encountered one of David's 'Cistus' markers which delineated an alternative part of Via Algarviana.

From there the final few hills seemed a tad higher and further as the 20 k mark came and went.  Everyone got back more or less in one piece and mercifully the bar was open and we were greeted as usual there by the effusively monosyllabic, charmingly expressionless,Dutch couple who run the place.  A good warm up for the RTC which hopefully might not be quite so warm.

Comment: Yes this was a good testing walk, with temperatures as high or even higher than those earlier walks this season which we had abbreviated to pre-lunch and early start. Those that walked rose to the challenge, and generated a higher than usual thirst. Several ran out of water before the end, and this should serve as a reminder that even at this time of year, an adequate supply of water is required. the leader even filched some of his dog water, but fortunately the dogs found plenty of muddy ditches to lark about in.

The welcoming shady verandah of the Recanto.

Apart from Mick who lost his prescription sun glasses above Fonte Santa last week, we have been incredibly fortunate so far. On an earlier walk this season, my new digital camera was extracted from it's pouch on my waist by a vindictive thorn, possibly disappointed at not having managed to snag Mike's paperthin skin. Luckily Antje was about 30m behind and saw the camera hanging on the thorn, and returned it to me, just as I realised it was missing. This week something similar happened to John, and this time Myriam who was close behind saw his camera hanging on a bush. Being Myriam, she said nothing and waited for his dismayed reaction when he noticed. John in his usual phlegmatic way, noticed the loss and he too said nothing (perhaps in case someone said he should go back for it!).
It was not until she started taking pix of him with his own camera in the Recanto, that he twigged and was mightily relieved.

"I had a camera just like that!"

Just remember - Once you are over the hill you begin to pick up speed!!

AWW 03.10.2007 Fonte Up and be Counted.

False Start - at the Café Ourique car park

Leader: Ian S.

Co- or Proxy Leaders: Rod; Paul; Myriam; Mike; Chris; Alex; Andrew;
Lindsey; Dina; Vitor; Tina; Janet; Mick; David; Hazel; John ; John O'

Lead Dogs: Tiggy; Oscar; Nandi; Maddy; Shorty; Pooky.



Stats: Total Distance : 14.1 km; Moving Time : 3 hrs 35 minutes;
Total Time: 4 hrs 30 minutes; Moving Average 3.9 km/hr;
Overall Average; 3.1 km/hr. Total Ascent: 560m; Max Alt: 319m


Tilley Count: A disappointing '1' (guess who!)



We met at the Café Ourique, which regrettably was not open.
There was some debate as to whether the inability to get the café open
was due to Ian's having stood down as the Local Laird, having sold up
his property holdings, or because he hadn't cleared his 'slate' when he
left! In the absence of an organised group photo (this being a meeting
point rather than a start), the above photo of several walkers milling
around and looking for signs of leadership, will have to suffice.

Thus the group with perilously low caffeine levels set off for a point
near the Fonte Santa path, in the minimum number of cars.

The Canine walkers were extraordinarily well represented this week.
I like to think that it was the power of the letter published in last
week's blog that prompted this volte face.

The track - click to enlarge

The walk was basically to be a figure of eight with a steady climb to
start, towards the new barragem, which only shows as a river on the
antiquated map above, and a circuit round a couple of peaks back to
the cars.

The only photo I have of some of the earthworks, is this one below,
rather marred by a group of walkers who had been instructed to
"Look at the Sun" by Snapper Myriam, whose shadow appears in
the bottom right corner!

Look at the Sun!!

Thus the prologue was completed, and back at the cars with
some cursing that they could have left their rucsacks behind
if they had known, we prepared for the second part and the
Triple Crossing of the Ribeira de Monchique. One week ago,
possibly when Ian was doing his notional recce, one may have
crossed all three in flip flops withoutgetting one's toes wet,
but, alas, we had had three days of heavy rain,(for the Algarve)
since the weekend. Janet had mentioned this in her email
about the walk " There could be swollen stream crossings so
bring bin bags or a towel for wet feet." but thisappeared to
have been overlooked by all but a hard core of hydrophobes.
There was some technical equipment in evidence, but this was
mainly for comms and navigation, although Andrew was
sporting a rather limp looking pair of gaiters.

Sticks and Gaiters

Count the gadgets quiz!

The snappers were eager to capture pix of the ingenuity (or perhaps the
fallability) of their fellow walkers in fording these crossings, and the
best efforts are posted below.

Route 1 !

A variety of approaches

The Leap of Faith!

RiverDance

Bog Wallah!

Build it - and they will cross!

These socks really soak up the sweat!

We failed to snap the Leader crossing, though he allegedly took his
boots off and had a mud and cow pat poultice early on, to soothe his
feet. Only he and whoever washes his socks this week will know the
truth! Still only another half kilometre and we would be able to take
the Holy Waters of Fonte Santa to dispel all ailments real and
imagined. It was only after lunch when we passed the pig farm
directly above the Fonte, that doubts began to creep in!

Porco Preto

Once the river had been negotiated for the third time, a process which
set our 'Moving Average' back significantly, the narrow path up to the
Fonte had been cleared by pilgrims in the summer and was relatively
wide and bramble free. It had even had a lick of paint in places and the
rubbish had been cleared in the main bathroom.

The queue for the 'Bathroom?

Our leader requisitioned the seat left by pilgrims, and started seeking
alms. He managed to persuade John that there was an entrance fee!!
Mike made a half-hearted attempt to grab the Fonte Santa Geocache
which was within about 50m of the Fonte, and climbed to within 25 m.
before selflessly turning back so as not to inconvenience his comrades!!

Spare a Quid Guv !!

The real test was yet to come. Earlier in the year, Ian, David and
Terry had spent a day clearing the route onwards and upwards from
the Fonte as it was part of The Algarve Way. Luckily (or did he
plan it?) Ian was armed with a pair of secateurs, to snip off the
few remaining strands of luxuriant bramble growth that he had
perhaps missed on his virtual recce. Mike also weighed in with a pair
of secateurs, while Paul and Chris maintained a running commentary
on progress with the 'walkie-talkies' proving their worth beyond all
doubt! It was a long hot grunt to the top, but helped by some newly
cut firebreaks which had all but obliterated the path that was
formerly part of the Algarve way. We arrived at a suitable altitude
just before midday, although we were slightly uncertain of position,
and found a tumbledown house where the leader declared lunch.

Dog's Breakfast!

After a generous lunch break of almost 20 minutes we set off
- first to the east, which ominously started heading downhill
- then to the west, which was almost back the way we came,
until with a cry of relief, our Leader spotted two abandoned
cars slightly higher up the hill, and with a tremendous show of
detective ability concluded that there must be a road or a wide
track there - and he was RIGHT. Just a short push through the
undergrowth, and round the perimeter of the pig farm which
was well secured with double fencing and a low electric fence
to dissuade wild boar suitors from calling, and we were up on
a track which led to the tarmac, just on the Alferce side of
Fornalha. From there a quick stride along the road to our
descent point down a stony track back towards the cars,
which we reached at about 1330 hrs.

Ian receiving the news that his "15-18km" was only '14'

Eventually we all arrived at Café Ourique which, this time, was
open and had a well-earned beer, Ian for once was last, as he
had taken the opportunity to drop Maddy off at his temporary
home, and exchange his wet muddy boots for a pair of Official
England World Cup flip-flops.

A rival to the 'Snake Shoes' for best Après Walk Footwear!

A pleasant beer and sub-committee meeting was held beneath the
luxuriant wisteria canopy beside the café. I am confident that major
decisions were made, but since Myriam and I will not be here for the
Christmas Lunch, I failed to note them!

Athletes at ease

All in all this was a very nice walk, with the best weather of the
week so far, and a cooling breeze at the top. The dogs loved it,
as there was plenty of water and mud to splash in, although they
were perhaps a little disappointed at the lack of largesse shown
by the lunchers. Shame it was ONLY 14 km or perhaps I would
have earned an extra beer!