17 Feb 2010 - What a difference a day makes

Some of you may have noticed that there was no blog for this Mondays walk. This is because there was no Monday walk. And the reason is because we have had some very wet and miserable weather.

To illustrate what I mean, this photo was taken at 3pm yesterday. Monday and Tuesday had been so wet that we were housebound. After two days we were almost climbing the walls, so we took advantage of a short break in the rain to take a very short walk. I took this photo to show what a miserable day it was, and how our col de rates had disappeared



We had not gone far when the rain started again, so we returned home



This one was taken when we returned home at 3.30pm, by which time Parcent had also disappeared behind the low rain clouds.



Fortunately today both the town and the hill had returned. We were relieved to wake and find the a blue sky and no rain. Not one of the most spectacular mornings, but an great improvement on yesterday and more than enough to decide us to join the Costa Blanca Mountain Walkers Wednesday walk.



The group met at the La Lloma restaurant in Benidoleig and there was the option of a menu del dia lunch for only 9 euros per head afterwards. So were quite surprised that there were less than 30 on the walk, and only nine takers for lunch. There were familiar faces from the Monday Club, namely David, Rosemary and Janet.





The walk starts with a short walk along the road back to Benidoleig, through the village and a steep climb up the hill behind. Due to the recent rain the tracks were either mud or slippery rocks. This was taken at the first “water stop”.



Brian, the walk leader, was supposed to be facing the camera, but turned at just the wrong moment! I dislike posed photographs, so this is something which happens quite often

We first did this walk in May 2006, when we joined the CBMW for their End of Season meeting. The weather was similar to today, cloudy but dry. However as we climbed the hill it began to rain and was soon very heavy. So much so that the walk was abandoned and a very wet group made their way back to La Lloma. However we were about an hour early for the lunch, and had to sit in our wet clothes sipping hot drinks until lunch was finally served. A memorable walk, and one we always recall when we repeat the walk.







As lunch was arranged at the end of the walk, there was no lunch stop. However we did have a “banana stop” at the old finca which is the most convenient spot to have the usual picnic lunch on this particular walk. Most walkers had removed jackets and jumpers during the walk, but it was quite chilly when we stopped and jackets were put on again.



It was not possible to follow the proposed route, as there were bulls roaming loose. The Spanish man in charge of them advised Brian not to find an alternative route. This may be the reason that we did not complete the expected route.

From the finca we joined the road back to Benidoleig. I believe that this was the same road we followed back in 2006 when we abandoned the walk, and once again we returned to the car park earlier than expected. The programme indicated that we would finish the walk about 2.30pm, but we were back just after 1pm. Despite this it was lovely to get out in the fresh air again after what seemed a very long time indoors due to the rain.