Bright and sunny, though a little cooler than of late. An ideal day for our walk from Lleus to Pinos. Eleven of us today, just about right for a friendly walk. And nice to see Tom back again for the first time since May.
Its three years since Jan and I last did this walk. I was not too worried as I knew that Lleus was signposted off the mountain road to Pinos. What I did not know was that the second turning was signposted to a restaurant and not to Lleus. After an exciting tour around the ever narrow tracks we spotted Lleus church on the other side of the valley and finally found it.
We were not prepared for a herd of ostriches in a field by the side of the road. They were very timid at first, but soon got used to us and allowed us close enough to take a photograph.
First sight of Pinos, our destination. But though it seems very close across the valley, it would take us another hour or so to reach it.
“Hear no evil, see no evil and speak no evil”. A nice shot of Sylvia, Pat and Rosemary.
This is a very varied walk, with lovely views of both the Bernia Mountains and the sea at Calpe. It starts with quite a steep climb, but that is followed by an easy walk through lovely scenery.
Just as we settled down for our “banana stop” a lady invited us to come to her house for our break. We thought that she was Spanish, but in fact turned out to be English. She lives in a house right in the middle of the campo and apparently relies on a well for her water and a solar panel for hot water. Unfortunately we did not take up her kind offer as it would have been interesting to see just what her house was like.
The last part of our walk to Pinos was along the dry river bed, with its dramatic rocks. It appears that the water has washed away the soft stone leaving these large rocks apparently balanced above the ground – very strange.
We also visit this river bed on another of our walks in the area, so we have seen it half a dozen times. It has always been very dry, except after very heavy rain. Even then the water soon dries out leaving the ground completely dry.
Part of the path was very overgrown with undergrowth. David was unwise enough to confirm that he had a secatares, and Pat soon had him clearing the whole path. The rest of us offered support, but very little assistance.
At the end of the dry river bed there is a steep climb up an overgrown track leading to the Pinos road.
Throughout the walk there are constant views of nearby Bernia Mountain.
We had lunch in the square outside Pinos church. All of the buildings have been renovated and painted recently, and the church itself now contains an art gallery. It was closed today, but there appeared to be an art class for a group of “Brits”. After lunch Pat described next week’s walk.
As we leave Pinos we pass this attractive finca.
Before we join the downhill path to Lleus there is time for one last group photo with Calpe and the Ifach as the backdrop.
Next Week’s Walk
The Fig Tree walk is another one which we have not been able to do for a long time, due to the Castell’s road being closed. Now that the road is open again it will be nice to do it again.
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