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
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