AWW 19.03.2008 Rain Stops Play or An Exercise in Diplomacy

P.S 18.05.2008 Now, at last, Val's photos of that special walk. Thanks, Val

The Starters
Picota, bathed in sunshine!

The ravine

Lunch

Ian does the statistics

Welcome back

Talk about being passed a Poisoned Chalice! The C.B., unfortunately, has to go to the UK, so asks me to do the next blog. "No problem, Paul." Then the walk gets cancelled.... again "No problem"... no blog needed. But then I hear that a walk of sorts did in fact take place, by which time I was miles away; I begin to detect over the airwaves certain sussurations of offended feelings; and C.B. tells me that he still expects a blog. But how on earth can one blog about an event (or non-event) which one did not take part in and, what's more, without exaccerbating said wounded feelings? Well, here goes. Anyone wanting to sue may get my lawyer's name on application.



First, the leader's apologia:

"It was not one of my most inspired decisions to cancel the walk, but it was safe. Because I did not finally decide to cancel until there was clear blue sky, many walkers turned up. In order to avoid being lynched, I hastily agreed to lead a short walk for the 8 people waiting at the Foz. We did what Ian S. and I call the Medronho walk, a gentle 13 km with only 2 river crossings. We had fantastic views and no rain, and I can only apologise to the walkers who were told that the walk was cancelled. And also too bad for those who had decided not to walk. The rain, of course, did come, but long after the walk was finished."



Pictures, courtesy Val, will follow in a subsequent edition.



Statistics, courtesy Brian and his GSM, are:

Distance:13.6km

Moving average: 4.5k. Overall average: 3.5k.

Total ascent: 436m

Tilley Hats: 2.



Participants

Ian W. (leader), Val, Chris, Antje, Alex, Marcela, Hedley, Hilke, and Brian.

Canine support: Tiggie



No route map available on my system, but anyone wanting to scrutinise the area has only to consult map no.585 of the Cartas Militares de Portugal (of which more later) over, I would guess, the Cerro da Arriqueta/Castelo da Nave areas.



What do I think? Well, a leader's responsibility is to see that the halt, the blind and the lame (and I'm describing only myself here) walk out and return safely; the macho types can probably look after themselves. A huge amount of rain had been dumped on Picota in the wee sma' hours of Wednesday morning; several experienced walkers had already called off; the weather forecasts for the day were dire; so, knowing as he does how treacherous the downward tracks on Picota can be, I think Ian was right to call it off. He was not to know that Boreas, Zephyros and Notus (Peter will explain the mythology) were going to play silly b****rs among the clouds and contradict the forecasts. I was disappointed of course, particularly as I had been hoping to establish at first hand if there is any truth in the rumours that The Fantastic Fantonis (a.k.a. Peter and Janet) are about to turn professional on receiving a lucrative offer from Cirque du Soleil, following their gravity defying exploits of the previous week. (This is merely an excuse to introduce at least one photo, even if it is a repetition.)


Let's hear it for The Fantastic Fantonis

And now, back to the subject of maps. When we were told that the walk was off, Ian S. (the long-suffering leader of the previous week's Alferce Amble (his motto by the way is, pace Marshall McLuhan, "The walk is the recce" )) and I decided instead to follow up on an enthusiastic recommendation of Thyll's and to go in search of some maps in Faro.
First stop was the Instituto Geographico Portugues, Rua Sao Francisco, No.4, just off Largo de Sao Frncisco (free parking). They sell the Carta Militar de Portugal but, being a department of the Ministro do Ambiente, they are not at all commercial in style. Rather, the ambience is redolent of academia and administration. We got only one of the maps we were after there, but the staff were cheerful and co-operative enough and they gave us with the name and address of a bookshop as another source, which proved a success.
This shop is Livraria Simoes, Rua do Alportel, No.86-A, near Igreja do Carmo, Escola do Carmo and Largo do Campo da Feira (pay parking). It has a large stock of the maps which one can browse through. Cost per map: Instituto - euros 6.20: Livraria - euros 7.
Ian also found another bookshop which stocks the maps, Livraria Bertrand, Rua Dr. Francisco Gomez, No.27 in the pedestrian precinct area, near the Marina.
The scale of the maps is 1:25,000, and the Algarve is covered by something like 40 maps, each one covering 10km north to south, 16km west to east. The detail is good. Paths, contours are clear. In rural areas you can pick out individual casas, cisternas, mine entrances (but not WineMine's as far as I can see), windmills, ruins, etc, etc. Ideal for presumptive leaders and property speculators alike.
Thanks, Thyll.
So there we are. I suppose that, with 2 Tilley Hats featuring in the stats, the substitute walk has to count as an official one. C.B. may want to comment.