23 April 2014 - Vall D’Ebo

There was a good turn out when we met in the car park in Jalon.   Perhaps because it was another lovely spring morning.  More likely because Gail had promised a Menu del Dia at the end of the walk.

This was our first walk in this area.   We had heard horror stories about broken car suspension on the minor road, so we wanted to take the main road.   Fortunately others felt the same way, and we had a guide for the longer route via Pego.   It took about 40 minutes to reach the starting point in the village of Vall D’Ebo.

It’s a very attractive area, and the walk started with a nice easy ramble through the woods.

Although the Wednesday Wanderers are meant to offer “easy” walks, we were soon climbing hills.    In fact the pace of these walks are very similar to our Monday group.   The walks are shorter, but just as enjoyable.

The walk was described as approximately 9k Green (easy) walk to Els Tolls and the Vall D’Ebo entrance to the Barranco del Infierno.   A short section of river was described as Red (more difficult) so sticks and boots were advised.   The description proved pretty accurate.    The going was good, but boots and sticks were required.

As I do not know the area, it was a little difficult to keep track of where we went.  But this wooded gorge formed the main part of the walk.   

As we neared the village we paid a visit to the local tourist attraction, “the caves”.   A small number paid the required 4 euro to visit, the rest of us found somewhere to sit and wait.   Gail led us to this delightful picnic site nearby.   It would have been ideal for a picnic lunch, but we had not brought any because of the planned lunch in the village.

The caves must have been quite small, because we were soon on our way again.   The last stretch was downhill with this pretty view of the village.

We had an hour before lunch to walk to the entrance to the Barranco del Infierno.   Unfortunately that was not long enough to reach it.   So we had to abandon this final stretch of the walk in order to get back for lunch.   It was a shame, as we were quite looking forward to seeing the Barranco from above.   Our walk with the Monday group ends as the bottom.