The day before April Fool’s Day, so there was some concern that Rod’s estimate of ‘3 – 4 * on the richter scale but more like 4 * in ups and downs’ was a spoof, but 15 of us took the risk and joined him at a new venue - ‘Retiro dos Pescadores’ in Pedreira which was indeed open for coffee as advertised, complete with affable host.
The spring flowers are well out now, and there was the opportunity for some GM Cistus spotting. This is a rare example of the Lesser Five Red Spot variety in full bloom. On exactly the same date last year we were on Day 5 of the Via Algarviana, walking from Benafim to Pedreiras (‘The Day that Maddy ate the Poisoned Ear!’ but not the same as Pedreira where we started today) and we had found the record breaking 9 spot Cistus. That episode can be seen HERE We are hoping for a ten spot before the blooms fade, so keep your eyes open.
Leader: Rod
Present:
Mike , Janet, Hilke, John & Hazel, Bob , Tina & Andrew, Terry A, Jon O’, Paul & Myriam, Dina, Celianne, Yves.
Dogs:
Misty, Maddie, Amos, Alfie, Rusty, Harry
John’s annotated track (you will need to click to enlarge to read the captions!)
Stats:
Total Distance: 21.9 km.
Moving Time: 4 hrs 58 min.
Total Time: 6 hrs 15 min.
Moving Avg.: 4.4 km/hr.
Overall Avg.: 3.5 km/hr.
Total Ascent: 690 m.
Max Elevation: 298 m.
D.o.D.: ****
Average Age: 65 yrs 8 months and 30 days
(new record)
Herewith Rod’s report :
Met up at a new venue ( Retiro dos Pescadores) in Pedreira near Silves, which somehow or other everyone managed to find.
Starters (apparently John thought the BMW was necessary to include the bar name – I would have edited it out to use in a future Bar Identification competition!)
A cool and fresh morning but at least dry for a change.
We set off through the village of Pedreira and, leaving the tarmac, gained height quite sharply. First stop for a puff was under an electrical pylon carrying the loose ends of cables, marking the spot where the combined efforts of Almargem, Silves Camara and local residents had managed to defeat the might of EDP forcing them to reroute the line.
Quite an achievement except we don’t know quite to where it will be rerouted !
Trig Point Picões
From there we ascended to the first of the inevitable trig points (Picões) with great views of the Arade valley. Then we descended sharply towards the Barragem do Arade, the valley floor still being very wet and the track virtually a stream. We ascended again up a long gully along a little used trail that took us up to a ridge joining the Via Algarviana route.
Follow the Yellow Brick Road..
Ladies to the Left…. Gents to the Right!!
We followed this for a while before making a necessary diversion to arrive at the second trig point (Açor) with splendid views of the Barragem de Funcho and Arade.
Açor Trig Point – they could all do with a coat of paint!
From there we took the track leading down to Funcho Dam. Along this we were accosted by a pick-up whose occupants were gesticulating rather animatedly at us. This was evidently indicating we should keep away for as we approached them they reversed away onto a side track yelling there were bees around.....indeed they had a hive on the back receiving some sort of attention with bees buzzing all around. Despite a number of them buzzing around our heads, somehow or other no-one got stung. (I understand John H. and Bob were stung as was Misty)
Recovering from this it seemed like a good time to have lunch, which we took on the track side overlooking the Dam.
Lunch on the scree
Afterwards we wandered over the dam; fairly full it was but they have kept the level well short of the overflow spill-way.
Funcho Dam
We descended below the dam along the Arade track which was on the Algarve Way route.
At the point where this turns to retrace our steps up the valley we came down near the start of the walk, a very short sharp descent got the better of Bob who made a quite spectacular plunge towards a pond at the bottom.....saved from a ducking only by a few shrubs!
No pride shown.. but just before a fall!
Hope he’ll remember that when he’s back there on his epic Algarve Way Charity Walk next month!
Health and Safety – honest there was nothing on the way in!
Little else of note occurred as we made one final ascent before winding our way down the valley back towards our start point and the usual revivers at the Fishermen’s Rest...must remember to enquire why it is named thus, being a considerable way from anywhere to fish!
Café Photograph………
……and photographer
The walk definition as being in the 3* to 4 * range was suitably vague for the final statistics to be incontrovertible !
CB’s Comment
A couple of wildlife items that Rod missed (and so did I) being at the front. One was a sighting of what appears to be a fallow deer (I stand to be corrected) of which several photos were taken by John and Myriam, but it was a long way off and this is the best of them.
Click to enlarge – the antlers are visible
The second was the ceremonial disbursement by Tina of Easter Eggs after lunch ….
…entitled ‘Easter Bunnies’ by John.
There was also a rather obscene looking motorcycle track as we left the ZIF (Zona de Intervenção Florestal) which the purer among us thought looked more like a snail!
Snail tracks!
On the valley round the Arade there were a few landslides on the path widened to accommodate the heavy lorries building the pumping station, and also a red mud pool which the dogs found!
These boots were made for walking!
In the event, fears of yet another underestimate of a walk length were unfounded and Rod stayed fairly close to his admittedly vague prediction. As he said, “I could have easily made it a 5*” but I think we were all happy enough to finish before dusk!
“He who hunts for flowers will finds flowers; and he who loves weeds will find weeds.” Beecher, Henry Ward
“Sitting quietly, doing nothing, spring comes and the grass grows by itself.” Saying, Zen (adopted by Ian S.)
PS. There is still time to enter last week’s Bar/Café Identification Competition. Ingrid has done her homework, in between building duties, and scored 5 out of 8 points…. and she doesn’t drink!
I thought the BMW was one of Paul´s collection of jalopies. And, ouch, yes, the bees did sting.
ReplyDelete