Acting on a mistaken belief that the WAGS had gone into temporary abeyance with Rod stuck on a Danube sandbank south of Budapest, yours truly invited a select few to come on a recce-cum-walk with Hazel and himself on Wednesday 31st October, the idea being to explore a few of the hitherto-unknown tracks in the hills behind Pedreira which had become open to view following the Monchique fires in August.
In the event, Rod had apparently avoided the riverine sandbanks and, for reasons I am currently finding it hard to follow, had also escaped also the clutches of the Neapolitan Mafiosi, and did return to advertise a WAGS walk but, alas, that was only after my limited invitation had been issued and accepted.
As it happened, three charming ladies then dropped out at the last moment for their own private reasons; and so it was that only Yves turned up, somewhat hesitantly it must be said, on a rather damp day.
It was in fact damp enough for most of the local work force in Pedreira to have taken refuge in Retiro dos Pescadores where they were busily engaged in knocking back the odd aguardente or two while surveying the weather, and they looked on in amusement or amazement ( it was hard to tell which) as the three of us donned our rain gear and set off into the early morning mists.
A new track was found and successfully ascended. What is more, we found that it soon linked up with other well-known routes. One or two pieces of the jigsaw remain to fall in place but I guess that I now have a reasonably new variation of a route for APAPS next year, or maybe even for the more energetic WAGS this season.
We were heading into the far north, going quite well, when the mists descended with a vengeance and we decided that we should not go on where we could not see.So we turned for home.
In the event, the three of us covered 13.5 kms, and that was only because I missed a key turn off point on our route home – blame it on the weather – and then had to back-track; but it should be a 10 km track with not too much of a climb when finalised.
Total time:- 3 hrs 59 mins
Moving time:- 3 hrs 20 mins
Average moving speed: 4 kph
Ascent:467 metres.
No umbrellas were unfurled on this walk.
But never mind the details, back at Pescadores, hot coffees,sopas da feijãoa and double medronhos more than compensated for our having been out in the rain. And the expedition had given Yves ample opportunity to practice his monsoon photography skills and indulge in a bit of photographic licence as well:-
And for those of a disturbingly statistically –fixated turn of mind, here are a few key numbers summarising the 2018 APAPS season, (2017 equivalents in brackets).
Aggregate of walkers 134 (115)
Total ascent 2826 metres ( 3229)
Distance covered 89.98 kms (87.78 kms)
Aggregate of breakfasters 139 (121)
Number of eggs consumed 348 (303)
Rashers of bacon 417 (363)
Buttered toasts 556 (484)
