26 January 2017 – Pedreguer Castel d’Aixa

About half of the group met at Alcalali, the rest made their way to the start point in Pedreguer.   For almost all of them this was the first time they had done this walk, and I was quite impressed that they all found the start ok.

There were 18 of us for today’s walk, one of the largest yet.   We worry that if the group gets too large it will lose some of the friendly feel, but there were no new walkers today, and all mixed in as well as ever.

This is the most difficult walk we have done since the summer break, when most of today’s walkers joined the group.   It was not the longest, but at 525 metres it was one of the highest.  In addition some of the group were walking for the first time since the Christmas break and found it a challenge.

We choose this walk because we hoped it would be least damaged by the recent heavy rain, and also it does not have a dry river bed to cross.   We were pleased to find that the tracks had not been damaged at all.

It took us almost two hours to reach the banana stop.   This included a gradual climb from Pedreguer for about an hour.  Everyone was ready for a rest, even though we had two or three short stops and an easy pace.

The weather forecast was for a cloudy day, but in fact it was clear but cold.   And throughout the morning we had quite a bit of sun.   It was really great to be out in the open again after the miserable few days spent indoors watching the rain pour down.

Everyone reached the cross roads ok, and were given the option of climbing up to Castel d’Aixa or taking their lunch at the base of the hill.   Three opted to pass on the hill climb.

The rest of us set off up the gradual climb, which soon becomes a not-so-gradual-climb.

Again we set an easy pace, and had a couple of stops to recover when the constant chatter gave way to a determined silence.

The weather forecast had promised rain by midday, but the sun was still shinning as we reached the top of the hill

This has got to be one of the best locations for our picnic of all the walks we offer.   Certainly it is a firm favourite with Jan and I.

Only two of the group had done this walk with us last year, and the rest were seeing the wonderful views for the first time.  Unfortunately it was a little hazy for good photographs.

Because we had left three of the group at the bottom of the hill, we did not spend as long on our picnic as we usually do.   Despite the exposed summit there was no wind and there was a warm sun throughout our stay.

The climb back down is more difficult, and the walk back to Pedreguer quite hard on the feet, but I am sure that everyone enjoyed the walk

Thanks to Helen for this photo of Jan and I at the summit