WW 27.09 2006 - Gack goes recruiting!

Gack demonstrating an advanced back-straightening (and bust enhancing) technique to a new recruit! 

The (Unwise) Prickly Pear Scrumper

Following the trend in previous blogs, Ian thought he would get in on the act!! Unfortunately I don't have photos of the after effects!! 

WW 27.09.2006 - Ameixial Adventure

Suggestions as to what "O.B." stands for are welcomed!

A report from David the leader of this walk has finally arrived on CD and is reproduced below in full

Walkers:

Two-legs:-Ian Wilson, John and Hazel Hope, Gack Mueller, David Littlewood. Photos from John and Hazel.

Four-legs:- Archie.

Location. Circular Walk from near Ameixial.

Distance: 12-14k.

Time:- Pace fairly leisurely, about 5 hours altogether.

Degree of difficulty – Moderate.

Maps: OS Sheet 580 Ameixial-Loule

Loule Camara Leaflet: Azinhal dos Mouros.

The route is broadly rectangular, and covers the villages of Azinhal dos Mouros, Corte Pinheiro, Vermelhos, Portela, Ximeno and Medronheira, west and south-west of Ameixial. Ameixial lies 20k north of Barranco do Velho on the N2 road going north to Almodovar and ultimately Lisboa.

The route is published in the set of leaflets put out by Loule Camara some five or six years ago. It is supposedly marked as a regional route with red and yellow markers, but we only found a few at the start and the odd one later on. It is basically a very attractive walk, with lots of high-level views, and some pretty villages. However, the original route has been spoiled by tarmac, and some additional research needs to be done to re-route some sections. The notes below give some ideas.

The story of the day.

DL met the walkers at the Ameixial boundary, and after coffee, we drove a few hundred metres north to the start-point where the Azinhal dos Mouros road leaves the N2 on the left. The road to Azinhal, where the circular actually starts, is tarmac, but after that a dirt-track leads to Corte Pinheiro. How long this will remain is doubtful, but there is an alternative path marked on the OS just north of the current dirt road for about half of the distance.

From Corte Pinheiro to Vermelhos, the road has been tarmaced. Again, there is an alternative track leading off to the west at about 0.75k south of Corte Pinheiro. From Vermelhos to Portela is dirt track not likely to be interfered with. Portela to Ximeno is tarmac difficult to circumvent. We left the prescribed route and walked up through Ximeno to find (eventually) a dirt track leading towards and behind Medronheira. We then descended to the Ameixial road, but after c200m we again left the leaflet route to follow a dirt track up onto the ridge between Medronheira and Azinhal. Following this north-eastwards, we came out onto the Azinhal road on which we had started out. We turned right to walk the c500m back to the cars.

Refreshments were taken at the café on the left of the main street of Ameixial going south (sorry, name not recorded). Very friendly proprietor and locals. Gack took on the role of treasurer for the day.

Not a lot to record in terms of errors or oddities. Ian picked a prickly pear and got the minute barbs all over his hands. Large medronho plantation very near the beginning of the walk, full of fruit, as were many of the olives we saw along the way. We ate lunch at Vermelhos, too close to one particularly persistent dog, who barked all the way through. Archie behaved like the true gentleman he is, and ignored it all. Close to the end, we made a wrong turn, and were very fortunate to discover the error after about 100m (mea culpa, leader).

Sad that so many WWs were injured or otherwise occupied. This is a long way from home for many people, but it is beautiful, and deserves more visits, I think,

DL

WW 20.09.2006 - The Fisherwoman

Janet about to try her Leki harpooning skills in the river! 

WW 20.09.2006 - The Pomegranate Scrumpers!

There seems to be a trend among certain WW's for a healthier though illegal diet when sugar levels are getting low! 

Top of Climb: WW 20.09.06

Was that a smile or a grimace? 

WW 20.09.2006 - Fonte Santa Follies

The responsibilities of Leadership sometimes weigh heavy

Leader: Ian S.
Present: Myriam ; Paul ; John ; Hazel ; Antje ; Ian W. ; Janet ; Gack.
Xana ; Tiggy ; Archie.

As a regular WW and a leader, Ian is known for his 'No nonsense' , 'Back to Basics' approach, and here in his own words is his concise account of his walk!! I have tried to match the colour of his scarf!

We were 9 on the 20/9, a warm and sunny day. Paul & Myriam, John & Hazel, Janet, Ian W.,& welcome returnees Gack & Antje, plus Ian S. leader. Initially we reviewed the progress on the Odelouca dam - "none", & then after various dog & ladies dress adjustment stops,completed an easy circular warm up before entering the beautiful valley leading to the Fonte Santa & were suprised by the volume of water in the stream which in all we crossed 5 times with not a murmur from our committed band.While elevenses were taken at the Fonte, Paul & Ian S. endeavoured to clear the trail above but it would not go due to dense cistus & brush growth although Paul claimed a white cistus marker sighting.The suggestion is that this track needs clearing from the top down.

Having sighted a new track further up the valley we lunched by the stream & then followed the new route which after an hour & reasonably strenuous climb enabled us to gain the Alferce road about half a click above the usual point.

Afterwards it was as they say all downhill by the usual road/track route.

The Ourique was open & refreshment taken & no grumbles heard,must have been a reasonable walk. A brief footnote of thanks to Antje& Myriam & all the others who helped the poor dog which has now been looked after.


Embellishments:
Far be it from me to disagree with Ian's "No Warts and Nothing" approach to Blogging, but I feel that the regular reader would have been left with a little hunger for more detail.
The loop to the Odelouca dam site was a good warm up, despite not even having the rattle of coffee cups from the numerous deserted work huts ( and not even having heard them at either of the restaurants near the meet location!!) to lend credence to the published information that work had restarted on the project.
Ian stopped off at the car to collect his Machête or Panga, in case either the flora or fauna should present difficulties. The only fauna we had encountered was a large red deer approaching us on the path back to the cars, which took off abruptly with Tiggy in hot pursuit about 100 metres in arrears, before those at the back of the group had a chance to sight it. On the way up to the Fonte we encountered a cheery group of senior citizens descending loaded with 5 litre bottles of the 'Holy' water. Happily Ian did not consider that they posed a threat and the Panga remained sheathed.
At the Fonte, while the troops relaxed and enjoyed various snacks, Ian set off up the old trail to the Alferce Road, but had not travelled more than 15 metres when he encountered some obstructive flora. The Panga was unsheathed with an audible 'snick' and Ian set to. At this point he realised that it would have been advantageous to have sharpened it before setting out. Some small progress was made, and I pushed on a little higher passing the 'Cistus' Way Mark before the undergrowth turned into secondary jungle that would have defeated a platoon of Gurkhas.
I have to report that when we returned to the group with the sad news that the route was blocked, certain members visibly brightened, and started planning their lunch in the shade at the river valley below.
This we did, and a spirited conversation on the tenacity and vindictiveness of horse flies was led by Ian W. who had recent experience. Instead of meandering back to the cars afterwards, our leader had done a short recce and pronounced that the newish path which led along the river "looked promising", and that there was still a little walking to be done.
The day was getting warmer by now, and after a short walk alongside the river, the new path turned inexorably upwards. The leader quelled an incipient rebellion by promising with great conviction that the near vertical path up beside a line of trees was not on his intended route. And so we climbed and climbed until we reached the top of the near vertical path, albeit by a slightly less vertical route.
Antje, Gack and Ian W. were on their first outing of the season, and performed creditably, with Ian S. whipping up the rear! Hazel's fitness is improving rapidly, and Janet had benefitted from bathing her feet in almost Holy water at lunch. John maintained a steady pace and was still appearing to be smiling at the top.
The climbing was over once we reached the vicinity of Mike Henshall's mountain residence on the Alferce Road, and as Ian noted it all went downhill from there!
The little dog mentioned by Ian was a local dog that we saw laying on a mat in front of Cafe Ourique.We commented that it was odd that such a dog hadn't noticed our own dogs arriving and welcomed them vociferously, and it was only later that we heard from the bar staff that an estrangeiro had found it on the road earlier in the day, and put it there in case it belonged to someone local. Externally it looked quite normal, but after a while it started howling, and proved to be unable to stand up. Antje gave it some water, and Ian decided that it should be taken to a vet, so Antje, with Myriam for company went to James cagney's practise in Odiaxere on the way home. Unfortunately the vet said that in view of it's possible internal injuries and concussion, it would be best to put it down, and sadly this was done.

WW 13th September 2006: - Romeiras Ramble

Hazards on the way up Cabeço d'Egua

NEW FEATURE: Bamboo Diagrams for this walk can now be downloaded here

Leader: Paul
Present: Myriam; Janet; Ian S.; John; Hazel: Terry A.

We have all discussed this shrinking world: faster, better communications and speed of travel. The ice caps going into meltdown, and inevitably, the effects of around 60 years of gravity reducing a 6 foot 2 inch strapping youth into a slightly wizened (but still active) 6 foot Wednesday Walker! Now the truth has really struck home, since my acquisition of my Garmin Foretrex 101 GPS. This walk, which we did last February, having been scientifically measured for the purposes of the Bamboo Diagrams, by my Mark II Pedometer, and advertised as being around 18.24 kilometers, has, through the miracle of GPS measurement shrunk to only 16.2 kilometers! This does not bode well for our dinner conversations - " Dashed off another 31 k's round the barragem today" might have to be reconsidered as 'Paul says we only went 25.3 k's today - b***** well felt like 31 though!"

Anyway the ulterior motive for my offering this wonderfully scenic walk at this stage of the season, was not only to update the Bamboo Diagrams with the GPS, but also for Myriam and I to lay out a series of stage caches for our latest geocache "Sudoku Symphony of the Serras" which can be viewed here Additionally during the summer, I have acquired the excellent HP Photosmart 3210 PSC which should enable me to scan the bamboo diagrams and load them somewhere on the Web for download by those who suddenly need a good walk!

Back to the Romeiras Ramble then. The Magnificent Seven (mostly) made it to the Casa Pacheco for a convivial heart starter coffee at 0800 hrs, and we set off with a spring in our stride as the air was cool and fresh. All vents were set closed in my Rohan Dallol Equatorial Outfit, to avoid unnecessary chillblains in the morning air. Hazel's first walk of the season and she was sporting new boots. Apart from that, it was the same old gear, but Ian claimed to have dug out a fresh set of his School rugger shorts for the new season.

The highlight of the first part was the short sharp push up Cabeço d'Egua, (Janet was heard to mutter "We're not REALLY going up there are we?"), but we all made it in good order, particularly Terry who bounded up just like a man who had recently cycled 450 miles from Penrith to Inverness, (which he had) and was like the proverbial Butcher's Dog!

On the route down through the river valley, Ian gave a passable impersonation of Errol Flynn in swashbuckling mode, with his vigorous onslaught on the brambles which hindered our progress. I knew he would find a use for his Leki one day! Lunch was on the same ridge as last time and we reenacted Stan leaving his stick behind as a real life drama, but managed to contour on our way with all sticks firmly secured. There has been further slashing and clearing of fire-damaged eucalyptus in this area since February, and at least they have cleared much of the debris from the paths. The last climb of the day was accomplished without too much wailing and gnashing, although it was getting slightly warmer by then. I achieved optimum climbing temperature by opening my inner thigh vents (L & R) by7 and 4 cm respectively to allow for the angle of dangle. You really do have to concentrate with this Technical Clothing.

Magnificent views of Foia and Monchique appeared on cue at top of climb. Janet had a 'moment' on some loose scree on the descent, but as she herself admitted, she was reasonably well protected in the area that made contact with the ground. As we arrived back at Romeiras, and were crossing what used to be a significant stream before the summer, I made a facetious remark, on seeing the village cows lying down, that if they were English cows it would be about to rain, but Portuguese cows probably lay down all the time anyway, and thought nothing of it until at around 5:30 pm the heavens (most unusually) opened and soaked the ground for a full ten minutes! I apologise unreservedly and will never make snide remarks about Portuguese cows again.

T.O.T.P.S (The Obligatory Trip Point Shot)

Holding up well after the grunt up Cabeço da Égua (only 255 metres)
Nick-named R & BT!

Dona Aldina and the (mostly) Happy band of WW's

Swelling the coffers at Casa Pacheco- Hazel found some Marmelete Roasted whole peanuts in Dona Aldina's bar, which were enjoyed by all.

The orange scrumpers!

And another one!! - the orange mist has descended!!!


Definitely caught orange-handed!!

Top of Climb!

Rod was unusually caring on this first walk, and the only hill we scaled was the one behind his mansion. The idea had been to drop Pookie off inside (which was done) but she outthought Rod, and appeared in time for the obligatory group photo near the Trig Point. Please note the inner thigh breathing slots on my Rohan Essential Hot Weather Trousers. A cooling zephyr in the nether regions during a hot climb does wonders for morale!

The sunny side of the street!

Not as tired as we look, despite the early start, but we all took the no-alcohol option (it was before 11 am) and felt much better for it!

9th September 2006 - First walk- Silves Saunter by Rod

Leader: Rod
Present: Paul, Myriam, Lindsey, Janet, Mike, John and two guests of Mike's, Michael and Alison
Pookie and Oscar



First outing of the season, and as the temperature had been above the mid-30's for a week or so, Rod imposed an 0730 start from the Bar Casinhas, which is only a yawn and a stretch from his mansion, but a 45 minute drive from my mid-town apartment! The turn out was better than expected for a predictably hot day, but our ranks were augmented by two of Mike's guests, who were dragged untimely from their beds to join us.
I had chosen this auspicious inaugural walk to introduce the Rohan New Season tropical kit, consisting of a Dallol lightweight shirt, and lightweight trousers with inner thigh zipped breathers, and tick-proof knee vents. The assembled company marvelled, especially Janet, who appeared to be having a hot flush!! or was it the weather. I was so cool, that I almost regretted not having brought my lightweight kagoul (anorak to you).
The walk was a pleasant 13km and 3 hours, which served to limber us up for greater things to come. A slight overcast helped though the sun did come out enough to warm things up towards the homeward stretch As usual we discussed all the proclivities of those who were not there, new wines at Wine Mine, and all the nice places that certain people (Rod - Italy; Lindsey - another part of Italy; Mike - trekking in the rain (UK) then Croatia, Janet - Australia) so it would be a good idea if those that stayed in bed this week made an enormous effort and joined in, otherwise the WW fund will not be enough to pay for Lindsey's next luxury portered hiking trip!

New Season - Old Faces

The first walk of the season is imminent. Rod to lead a shortish one to get us tuned up. Won't need much warming up as it has been 35º for the last couple of weeks! Lindsey's email does not seem to have had a huge response, but none of the winter birds have flown south yet, so it will be the die-hards that turn out! We had a huge turnout for Mike's Sparrowsfart Walk, but the incentives were in place. Only two months to the projected Round The Corner 2006, so some serious fitness training is required for those applying for inclusion!