Last time I was writing from South America. I am home now, but I have not personally been on any of these walks, but the group always has plenty to say on our Facebook page which helps me get a sense of the walks.
This will be the penultimate article this walking season. Next time there will be three WARM and one SWARM walk to write about before our break. Normally we only walk until the end of April, but the temperatures this April have made some of the walks hard going.
There have been some fascinating and diverse walks stretching across the region of Murcia.
On 19th March, Carla and Douwe led a 15.3km walk in the Sierra de Ricote and one of the walkers said “Great company and free beers at the home of our walk leaders Carla and Douwe. Perfect weather. Life is good.”
On 25th March, George and David led a walk near Cehegin, with beautiful blue skies and vibrant almond blossom and the chance for a swim as well. It was a low level walk close to Cehegín through woods, open countryside and alongside a stream. It also crossed a spectacular Roman aqueduct.
The SWARMers were out in force on 29th March in the beautiful village of Abaran. A very friendly group of 16 enjoyed a gentle riverside walk on the banks of the river Segura.
On 1st April Jess and Martin led the group on a new walk at Mount Arabi, close to Yecla. “Superb walk this morning organized by Martin & Jessica. So many different things to see & amazing views.” The richness of both natural and man-made features in this small area, make it unique and precious within Europe and its UNESCO World Heritage status. You can see from the photo how different and stunning it is.
On 8th April there was a walk in another new area for the group. It was led by Juan and assisted by his friend and local nature lover, Pedro. It was interesting area that WARM had long neglected. El Salmerón is a very small village in Moratalla, situated near the border with Castilla La Mancha. The river Segura passes close by the village. It is mainly known for its extinct volcano and sulphur mines. Our walk organiser Martin said “An interesting tiny village that has sulphur ovens, mines and rocks with naturally occurring sulphur, not forgetting a 7-million-year-old volcano and a more modern (early 20th century) water wheel.” Everyone then enjoyed a meal afterwards in the village of Valentin.
Our final walk was a repeat from earlier in the season from the abandoned village of Gilico on the road to Calasparra. Allen, Sue and Jane managed to combine a WARM and SWARM route and despite it only being the 12th of April, the WARM walkers certainly felt the heat on the last 2-3 km.
We will be walking again late September early October so look out for the dates in the August edition.