15 Mar 2010 - Parc Natural del Montgo

Today’s walk started at Javea harbour, or at least it did for eight of us. Pat led the walk, and had agreed that those who wished could meet us at the monastery an hour later, and four had taken her up on the offer.

We normally start the walk at the far end of the harbour, but the road had been closed due to a serious landslide. We were able to walk to the start of the walk, but not take the cars. The landslide was worse than I had expected, and some of the houses above looked to be in a very dangerous situation.

It was not long before we reached the start of the walk, and began the climb uphill to Cap de San Antoni

The first part of the climb is very steep, and we were glad of a short break at the first view point.

It was quite surprising how far we had already climbed in about 15 minutes.

It took us about an hour to reach the top, so we only had a very short break as we were clearly going to be a little late to meet the second group at the monastery

This area is a natural reserve, with lots of parking and picnic sites. There is also a shaded path running along the side of the tarmac road, and this is where the group became two!

The second group was waiting when we arrived at the monastery, and realised that Barry and Ken were missing.

The figure in the distance is Barry, who arrived after a few minutes – but no sign of Ken. The road we had used is straight and there was no sign of Ken, so some of the group went back to look for him. At this point he turned up, having taken a path which runs parallel with the main road we had used.

With everyone present we were soon on our way across country to the tower overlooking Denia at the far side of the nature reserve.

We reached the tower too early for our picnic lunch, but we did have a short break to admire the views along the coast to Denia……..

…..and in the opposite along the coast towards Javea, the next stage of our walk

From the tower we followed the path downhill to join the path to The Cave.

And then a steep decent to the coastal path

We leave the path and scramble down the rocks

Through the undergrowth

Making use of the rope where the path has fallen away

We eventually arrived at our lunch spot, which is where the path leads down to the cave.

Behind us as we ate was the path leading steeply uphill back to the nature reserve again.

This is one of those climbs where everyone goes at their own pace. It is very steep, but fortunately not too long.

At one particularly difficult part a chain is attached to the rocks to help scramble to the top

The climb is quite safe, and not too difficult in dry conditions such as today. But it can be difficult when the ground is wet, as some of our group discovered a few months ago when walking with the CBMW.

It was now not very far back to the monastery, where we bid farewell to those who had opted for the shorter walk.

It would take the best part of another hour to walk down the road to the harbour and the cars. It was 4pm when we reached the cars, at six hours a longer than normal walk for us. But the weather had been excellent and the walk very enjoyable.

10 Mar 2010 - Castell d'Axia

We have walked quite a bit in the Pedreguer area lately, but never on our own. Much as we enjoyed exploring the area with David and Rosemary, and then the Monday Club, we wanted to try it on our own as this is really the only way to remember the area. Today’s walk was from the car park below the church (marked 1 on the map) to Castell d’Axia (marked 5 on the map), using the yellow, then green and finally blue paths.

The car park is on the outskirts of Pedreguer, so you are immediately “off the beaten track”. However this walk involves a steady climb right from the start.

Within half an hour we had already climbed a considerable height, the buildings in the centre distance are Pedreguer. This photograph was taken at the point where the yellow path joins the green one (marked 8 on the map)

To me all flowers are either white, yellow, red or pink – or a combination of one or more. However there are more educated walkers in our group, and one of them is Rosemary. So this photo is just for her. I had walked past without seeing it, but Jan called me back and suggested I take this one for Rosemary. Apparently it is a Bee Orchid. I say “apparently” in case Jan has got it wrong!

The green track shown on the map involved a short, but particularly steep, climb. This photo was taken just as we joined the blue track.

The next half hour is quite flat, and covers an area which was cleared by a bad fire about two years ago. By coincidence we had visited a nearby view point on the day of the fire, and it was quite frightening to see how quickly it spread. Some local houses were evacuated during the fire, but none suffered permanent damage as far as I know. The fire cleared the undergrowth, making this an easy section to walk. Though sunny the distance views were not very clear, but you can just about identify Calpe Ifach, Olta, Le Cau and Bernia in the distance

The next section was very exposed, and the strong winds were bitterly cold. It was a lovely part of the walk, and very easy going. But we were both glad that we had come prepared with lots of layers of clothing, gloves and hats.

This part of the walk was on the opposite side of the hill, with views over La Lossa below and of Col de Rates and Parcent in the distance behind the village.

It took us just over two hours to reach the bottom of Castell d’Aixa. We were tempted to climb to the top, but were not sure we had sufficient time to do so. Wednesday is also the day Jan has Spanish lessons. So we had to be back home early enough for her to change and get ready to go to Jalon by 5pm. We had never climbed to the castle before, and were not sure how long it would take. So we decided to leave it until next time. So this was the nearest we came to Castell d’Aixa.

We climbed the nearby rocks and found a nice “sun trap” to have our lunch. This is a popular walking area, and we watched two groups of walkers on the paths below our lunch site, including one group coming down from the castle.

A lot of walkers dislike “linear walks”. That is walks that use the same path our and back. We have never really understood this dislike, as the views are completely different on the return journey. This is particularly true on this walk. On the outward journey there are views of the surrounding mountains. On the return journey the views are mostly of the coast from Calpe to Valencia. The alternative circular route involves descending on a very difficult path, which we had done with David and Rosemary some weeks ago. Today we enjoyed the return walk much more.

We were quite surprised to find that there are still almond blossoms in bloom. Most of them in the Jalon valley have now faded, but were still bright here in the hills. Not quite as full as last week, but still very attractive.

It has been too cold on the outward journey to have a “banana stop”. However on the way back the wind had dropped, and the sun was warmer. So we had a short stop to admire our view and avoid having to carry the banana back home.

This was our first view of Pedreguer on the return journey. It would take another hour to reach the cars, but downhill all the way. We reached the cars just after 3pm, and the whole walk had taken four and a half hours. So Jan had plenty of time to get ready for Spanish. We could probably have climbed Castell d’Axia, but having to hurry would have made it less enjoyable than this walk turned out to be. And, of course, there is always next time!

1 Mar 2010 - Font d'Aixa

This is a new walk, and a new area, for our group. However we had done a recce of this route a week earlier with David and Rosemary, who lead today's walk. The walk starts from Pedreguer and follows a well sign posted circular route to Font d’Axia.

The walk starts on a good path, but not for long. We soon leave the main path and head downhill …..

….but it is not long before we start climbing again

We started the climb in the shade, but we soon emerge into the sun with views of Pedreguer and the coast behind.

Having completed the first climb, and finding ourselves in an area well covered with almond blossoms, it seemed an ideal spot for yet another group photograph.

This area is particularly well supplied with both finger posts and yellow and white route indicators painted on rocks and even trees.

I took this photograph to illustrate the impressive mountain ranges, but also because it provided a good view of last Monday’s walk on El Cau. The mountain on the left is El Cau and Bernia behind.

We then follow this road for a short distance

Although we have only done a short climb, the views of the surrounding mountains give the impression we are actually much higher than we are.

You are never far from pine trees in this area

As we make our way downhill towards Font d’Axia we pass a small group of climbers.

We have a short break at Font d’Axia, but climb back uphill for lunch. The Font is a good place for lunch, but it is not much fun tackling a steep climb immediately after eating.

Having finished lunch it is off again, still uphill but not so steep now

We soon reach another view of the almond blossoms. Though a circular walk, we return on another path through the same area.

Yet another view of the ever present Montgo. Its hard to avoid a view of this striking mountain when walking in this part of Spain.

Just one more climb, and then it will be downhill back to the cars.





Everyone seemed to enjoy our first walk in this area, and I am sure we will be back again before very long.