3 November 2014 – Bernia Circuit

We have two circular walks on Bernia, one through the forat (cave) and a longer one over the col.   This was the longer one, but in reverse.   It was the first time we did this route, and we were all looking forward to it.

The walk starts with a gradual climb from the car park to the fort, with impressive views of the mountains and sea right from the start.

It takes about an hour to reach the fort, but the tracks are pretty good

 

There was a particularly good turnout for this walk.   However three of the group would leave the walk here, and make their way back to the car park

The rest of us had a short water break and time to admire the view

or to top up on the sun lotion

Having spent an hour climbing to the fort, it was now downhill to the picnic site where we would have our banana stop

The track was still good, though not as wide as on the way to the fort

And it would soon get worse, including this downhill section on the shale

There was no path here and it was a matter of finding the least difficult way to get to the bottom

We soon joined a road section where it was nice to be able to stretch our legs and enjoy the view

Then came the walk through the woods, with its welcome shade and good walking surface

But it’s not long before we have to climb again.   We had expected to have to climb on the shale again, but Peter found a well established path which made the climb much easier

As we neared the top the clouds closed in and it looked like we might have a wet picnic lunch

We were relieved to find that the cloud was mostly on the Benidorm side of Bernia and that the sun was still shining on the northern side.

Despite the clouds it was warm enough to enjoy our picnic in shirtsleeves.   And we were very pleased with our new flask which provided us with hot coffee and tea

We were a little concerned that the cloud might bring the rain, so we had a short break and started on the long downhill trek

This was followed by a long, but gentle, walk back to the car park.   The walk took five and a half hours, which is a little longer than usual.   But an excellent walk and much easier than the previous clock wise circuit.

10 November 2014

Meet in Pedreguer at 10am for the linear walk to Castell de Axia