Where's Bertie? He's still enjoying a close view of the sea at La Azohía.
Weather: Poor air clarity today, but still cloudless and warm.
To the southeast side of the bay at La Azohía are these hills:
We walked across them today, on a route that could loosely be described as a figure of eight, like this:
Here's the top photo again, annotated (although I'm not sure in a meaningful manner!) with our route, as far as it can be seen from this side, and as far as it's possible for me to mark it accurately by poking a pointer at the screen of my phone:
We followed something akin to the orange dashes up to the ridge, then we disappeared behind the summit to the left of that point. Following the GR92 we went behind and past that hill, reapproaching it along the ridge from the other direction. We then followed the ridge the whole way along to the tower on the headland.
Here are a few snaps of the outing:
We had elevenses on the highest summit we visited (1200' ish?). That bun was bigger than my head!
From the summit with the masts we opted to shun both the GR and PR routes and instead follow the 'path' that runs along the ridge. It was definitely interesting going that way and at times scrambly, technical and/or like standing on plates of ballbearings. It's a wonder that we both managed to stay on our feet the whole time, although there were a few close calls and arm waving moments.
We resisted popping into the restaurant for another Menu del Dia on our way back to Bertie, but did nip into the Spar shop* adjacent to the parking area as ice cream seemed like a suitable end to our outing.
Mick has been campaigning for a swim in the sea since we arrived, so this afternoon we donned our swimmers and walked the 40m to the sea. There Mick did exactly as he always does when faced with cold water: he tippy-toed a few steps in and declared that there was no way he could swim in that. I did as I always do: I disengaged my brain and swam. It wasn't a bad temperature - no gasping or shivering. I did eventually manage to cajole Mick into getting wet, however, even 50m off-shore the water was still barely more than knee deep, so not ideal for swimming.
Forgot to post this photo yesterday. It's taken from Bertie's back bumper. This only shows a section of the area of wasteland that has become a temporary home for a veritable international gathering of motorhomers. We've found three other (much smaller) areas in La Azohía that are also being used for the purpose.
(*I often wonder what the residents of places such as this (although there aren't many around at this time of year; most properties appear to be second homes locked up for winter) make of the motorhomers who flock here and set up temporary encampments on every spare bit of land. However, I feel sure the businesses don't mind, as without a doubt the Spar shop (which only opens between 9am and 2pm each day) and the bars and restaurants are benefitting significantly from all of the visitors.)
Weather: Poor air clarity today, but still cloudless and warm.
To the southeast side of the bay at La Azohía are these hills:
We walked across them today, on a route that could loosely be described as a figure of eight, like this:
Here's the top photo again, annotated (although I'm not sure in a meaningful manner!) with our route, as far as it can be seen from this side, and as far as it's possible for me to mark it accurately by poking a pointer at the screen of my phone:
We followed something akin to the orange dashes up to the ridge, then we disappeared behind the summit to the left of that point. Following the GR92 we went behind and past that hill, reapproaching it along the ridge from the other direction. We then followed the ridge the whole way along to the tower on the headland.
Here are a few snaps of the outing:
From the summit with the masts we opted to shun both the GR and PR routes and instead follow the 'path' that runs along the ridge. It was definitely interesting going that way and at times scrambly, technical and/or like standing on plates of ballbearings. It's a wonder that we both managed to stay on our feet the whole time, although there were a few close calls and arm waving moments.
We resisted popping into the restaurant for another Menu del Dia on our way back to Bertie, but did nip into the Spar shop* adjacent to the parking area as ice cream seemed like a suitable end to our outing.
Mick has been campaigning for a swim in the sea since we arrived, so this afternoon we donned our swimmers and walked the 40m to the sea. There Mick did exactly as he always does when faced with cold water: he tippy-toed a few steps in and declared that there was no way he could swim in that. I did as I always do: I disengaged my brain and swam. It wasn't a bad temperature - no gasping or shivering. I did eventually manage to cajole Mick into getting wet, however, even 50m off-shore the water was still barely more than knee deep, so not ideal for swimming.
(*I often wonder what the residents of places such as this (although there aren't many around at this time of year; most properties appear to be second homes locked up for winter) make of the motorhomers who flock here and set up temporary encampments on every spare bit of land. However, I feel sure the businesses don't mind, as without a doubt the Spar shop (which only opens between 9am and 2pm each day) and the bars and restaurants are benefitting significantly from all of the visitors.)
Good to see you in the hills. Reads like you could have benefited from walking poles? There comes a time...
ReplyDeleteWe have walking poles in Bertie's boot and as we came down the worst eroded bit of slope there were comments made about how handy it would have been to have them with us.
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