http://youtu.be/rWWVGyxvSCk
(click on that link and, if you are lucky, you may get some music. Then click the back arrow to return to the blog. Ed)
The sunlight gently warmed the southern slopes of Rocha de Pena as we passed on our way – on our way home after the walk was over, that is. It had rained when we cowered in the shelter of the café for the Starter´s photo at 9.00 am, it drizzled persistently all morning, thr R de P was shrouded in Scotch Mist throughout, and the tap wasn´t rurned off until 2.30 pm which, naturally enough, was exactly when we stopped walking. Terry A does pick his days! Or does the weather pick on him?
Those taking part:
Leader: Terry A
Followers: David L, Ben Millington Buck, Chris, Tina (who incidentally had not got stung last week), and a group of four septuagenarians Rod, Neil Carruthers, JohnO, and JohnH.
Dogs: Rusty,Tilly, Maddie, and Rosie.
The Starters
The Track
The Statistics:
Distance 19k Moving time 4:03:17 stop time 1:24:10 moving avg 4.7kph
The Leader´s Report
“Well I think nine of the more adventurous of us met in Salir on a damp and just a tad (sic) wet morning to participate in this week's walk, which I will call Rocha Pena on the flip side. We walked along the quiet lanes to Fonte Figueira where the local Camera are creating a Water Walk of local interest restoring the old Noras and erecting story boards and new foot paths.
Story board
“I kept to the lanes up through Almarginho, because the way I had intended going would have necessitated crossing the river three times, so that's the Leader being considerate for once. But I did not make a habit of it as, shortly after, we did have to dance across the stepping stones of the very fast flowing stream with Tina having a good wobble in the middle but alas not falling in.
Wobbly bit
After a pi(t)stop
“We then cut across the very wet grass to the next road and we walked along this a bit further to gain a better track to the ridge with the two ruined mills on.
“We were just under the cloud and the views were quite good (sic). I had rediscovered on a walk recently the path that contours along the north side of Rocha Pena giving fine views of the valley below, which is becoming difficult to walk in due to recent new fencing, so another walking area lost.
A cistus parasite (Parasiticus Carrutherii)
“At the end of the escarpment we turned left and gained height before swinging down to the road for a short distance before picking up a small track which turned into an old lane leading into Penina. We lunched in the washery-come-new-loos so we had a roof over our heads in case it rained again. (It wasn´t the rain drops that worried us in there so much as the droppings from the nesting martens.)
Enjoying the Good Life
After lunch we followed the main track back on the south side of Rocha Pena completing the circuit and staying high to avoid the red clinging mud of the valley, and back past the fontes to Salir.
On the South Side
Noras of interest
“We were all damp rather than wet so I was glad we walked, thanks for all who came. “
Back at the café, the weather had relented so that we could sit comfortably outside while several sub-committees discussed possibilities for a summer lunch and JohnO practised his photographic skills.
David reacts to the idea that a WW might be held on a Thursday
(image copyright RioArade photographics)
" Without tradition, art is a flock of sheep. Without innovation, it is a corpse." (Winston Churchill)
" Though April showers may come your way
They bring the flowers that bloom in May.
So if it´s raining have no regrets,
Because if it isn´t raining, you know, it could be bleeding snow."
(Sorry: couldn´t resist changing the last few words. Ed.)
As tads go, this one looks very wet indeed...
ReplyDeleteRefreshing to see the cool rain, as we sit in the sun at Plymouth waiting for the ferry. Been quite a heat wave here, and a chance to get our knees brown before returning!
ReplyDeleteI am glad we weren't there in the lunch shelter, as the (pine) martens (sic) droppings could have been quite messy!
Hopefully back Wednesday/Thursday so keep up the good walks.
House martins, of course. Good to see that lotus eating in the UK and retirement from the literary scene have not dulled Paulo a Pe´s critical faculties. Here´s wishing him plentiful ink in his pen.
ReplyDelete