5 February 2018 – Lliber to Parcent

It should have been Lliber to Senija, but once more heavy rain on Sunday night decided us to opt for the better tracks through the valley to Parcent.

This week we detoured to have a look at the impressive Bassa del Sepena, a large water storage construction to prevent flooding and water the surrounding fields

There were eight of us this week, but five of them on their first Monday Explorers walk

John, Kevin and Sue walk with us on Thursday and wanted to do an extra walk this week.   Catherine and Doug have joined us for their first walk with our new Monday group.

From last week Barry and Linda have returned to the UK and we expect to see them again when they return in a couple of months.   Kevin has returned to the UK for a few days and Dave is suffering with blisters.

This is very similar to what happened when we started the Thursday Explorers.  For the first four months we were not sure whether it would continue.   So many members live in the UK that numbers and faces changed from week to week.   It was only when membership reached the high teens that we could be certain we would have a reasonable sized group each week.

The Thursday Group is now 30 strong, though we never have them all on the same walk.  But we regularly have 15-20 which is about as many as we would want on one walk.

So we are confident that membership will gradually increase for our Monday group

The weather today was similar to last Monday, but the almond blossom was much more in evidence

This is not the route we will follow for our Almond Blossom walk on Thursday, but it did pass through the Jalon Valley and we had some lovely views of the blossom

The morning started with very thick mist, which thinned through the day but did not disappear entirely

The effect was impressive as a background to the blossom

Once again we were unsure at the start of the walk whether it would rain or not.  That is why we choose this walk, because we could easily abandon it and make for the nearest village if it did rain.

In fact it remained dry throughout the walk, though it did start to rain as we drove back to Parcent at the end

It was however very cold, making it more difficult to have rest breaks.  We also walked at a faster pace to keep warm, but no one seemed to have any problems

We had our lunch break at the font in Parcent again.   Colin, another of our Thursday group, arrived to collect some water as we were preparing to leave

I was surprised that we did not see more people walking through the valley.  This is the main week for walking groups to visit for their Almond Blossom walk.   But perhaps the dire weather forecast had put them off

Despite the forecast the day turnout to be perfect for a brisk, though lengthy, walk through the impressive almond blossom of the Jalon Valley

The distance of 18 km was the same as last week, but we completed the walk in just under five hours, about 20 minutes faster than last Monday.   And we sat inside the bar for our after walk drink rather than outside