Day 1 Luz - Sagres
Prologue
A couple of months before this year's RTC, someone (I think it was Mike) suggested that it would be nice to attempt it in the reverse direction. We had only done this once before, in 2005, although the concept had been mentioned and rejected last year. Logistics were a concern this year, as we were a large group, originally 17, Terry's van was not available and so it seemed practical for us all to start at the meeting point in Luz, and rely on the attrition rate to reduce the numbers requiring collection from Carrapateira on the second day.
The T- shirts were ordered, proudly setting out our direction of travel.
A couple of weeks before the start date, someone (I think it was Mike) remarked that it was jolly windy from the north, and he wouldn't fancy toiling into the teeth of a gale all the way from Sagres to Carrapateira on the second day.
I am always open to suggestions, and monitored the weather closely on the Internet, until the weekend before it assured me that the winds would veer to the ENE, and so made the executive decision to go with the original plan. As my luck held we had glorious clear weather, cool enough to make it comfortable when on the march, and the winds were quite light and largely north-easterly. It was too late to change the T-shirt anyway!
Those that want to examine this track in more detail click HEREDay 1 Stats
Total Distance: 26.7 km; Moving Time: 6 hrs 50 min; Total Time: 8 hrs 12 min.; Moving avg.: 3.9 km/hr; Overall Average: 3.2 km/hr; Total Ascent: 1074 m.; Max Elevation: 85 m.
Day 1 Starters
Paul, Myriam, Mike, Rod, Andrew, Lindsey, Ian S. Terry A, David, Chris, Antje, Terry M, Maria, Kevin, Gordon, Andrew Mc. and Maddy and Rosie (until Burgau).
Hilke originally had signed up, but was stricken with a cold a few days before, and scratched as a precaution. Terry M. had emailed at length about his possible withdrawal, but Myriam diagnosed it over the internet as 'man flu', and he manfully recovered in time to start.
We were ably supported by the Administration Operatives (aka Bag Ladies), led by Jyll and enthusiastically helped by Marguerite, Dinah, Danielle, Hilary and John.And so at around 0745 am, 16 of us plus Maddy and Rosie, set off on a cool but sunny morning along the esplanade leading from Luz to points west. I was up the front, but before long I noticed that we had been joined by a woman and her dog. I at first assumed she was just a morning walker who had tagged on for some companybut as she reached Salema with us, I learned that this was Kathy, who in 2005
had invited herself and her then boyfriend along to walk from Sagres to
Luz with us! Apparently she had met Rod the previous week at a Gourmet
(or Gourmand) extravaganza, and under the influence of some extremely
fine wines, he had blurted out that we would be doing the RTC again
soon. He probably thought nothing of it, but she evidently took this as
an invitation, and had turned up as we left Luz,
complete with spaniel
and slick tennis shoes. Soon
after Salema, she was struggling, despite the encouragement of Ian S. in the rear, and had to be shown a red card!
I had been dissatisfied with the route through Burgau the previous year as the party had split with some opting to take to the tarmac early in the race for Kelly's Bar, because of the new building. Myriam and I reccied the link and found a nice new path along the narrow streets which led us out on to the cliff early. David had to meet Dinah and hand over Rosie in Burgau, as she is still a trainee, and with Terry for company managed to avoid the first hill.
It was nice to wind through the old part of the village and we were rewarded with some nice sea views from the terraces.
Further along after Burgau, we made a rare sighting of a polar bear - which goes against the current theories of Global Warming!!
Just past Barrancao, we found that the owner of the guest house had made an even more determined effort to block the cliff path, and we took the alternative down his fence and though the front part of the property.
A little further on we came to the Fortaleza and posed for the traditional photo on the wall, which was taken by Kathy with several of our cameras, causing not a little muttering in the ranks, in view of the time required to sit still!
At the very next (unnamed) beach, where Ribeira de Vale Barao reaches the sea, we spotted a major joint forces operation preparing for a pollution clean up in case of an oil spill at sea. Luckily this was only training, but the size of the force there was impressive.
When we reached the beach we were pleased to see that someone had provided some stepping stones to cross the river.
A short climb up the other side of the beach, through the security gate, and we neared the top of Gordon's Gully. Again I had reccied the descent, to avoid any incidents, and though this was an option (another path available along the cliff, down to a road at the top of Salema), most, especially Gordon himself) enjoyed the route down.
A short walk along the beach and we were ready for 'elevenses' in Café Solmar, although it was only just 1030 am.
At some stage in Salema we were joined by a
small stray dog, which set an example of behaviour which could be
emulated by our more regular companions. She kept quiet, stayed near
the front and never got under anyone's feet! Moreover she didn't beg
when later on the sandwiches were produced.
The next section was the famous 'wall of death' a good but vertigo inducing path round the cliffs.
There was a divergence of opinion after we climbed up and entered the pine forest. The path had moved since last year and led us deep into the scratchy bits. David made an early correct choice, but spoilt it soon after and made up for the hill he had omitted while going through Burgau.
A very steep descent led finally to Praia do Forno where it was time for lunch. There was a strong wind whipping down the valley from the north, so it was nice to have the 'ovens' to shelter and sunbathe!
After lunch it was a steep climb up, and everyone was going well.
Up on the top, where it was relatively flat, Antje relaxed her concentration for a second, and a small rock moved and grabbed her foot resulting in a nasty tumble which not only winded her, but easily put her in the lead in the bloodletting stakes. I wasn't callous enough to record the moment when she emerged bloodstained from the ruck, but Terry A whipped out his first aid kit, and she was soon plastered and ready to continue.
Note the 'claret' on her jerkin! Mike and Ian were quite jealous!
Soon the steep descent to Zavial was a test for sore knees, and Ian's back was beginning to complain.
A short and pretty transition up the cliff edge over to Ingrina, and we were almost there, except for the descent to Barranco, and the climb to the plateau of Peniche.
I was temporarily delayed by an international geocaching phone call from two Dutch geocachers who needed some coordinates, so dropped behind, and David led the group down the steep way. Having lost sight of them I followed my track from last year on the GPS and found I was there before them. Of course they claimed they had been waiting for me, but my route was definitely easier!
The next stop was the Quinta, where we normally pose on the steps with the morning sun on our faces while heading east. However the sun was well round to the west now, and we needed a non-traditional arrangement to capture the light. The Gorilla Pod came into it's own and all 16 of us are shown:
From here we could almost smell the beer, and hastened down to Martinhal Beach where the pace perceptibly quickened!
The credit crunch doesn't appear to have reached Sagres yet, as there
was a lot of building going on as can be seen by the cranes in the
above picture.Just over 8 hours after the start we were able to sit down out of the wind in Café Baia, where there was enough cold beer to restore our lost body fluids.
Myriam modelled the RTC T-shirt while the rest got stuck in, and were not really as gloomy as they look!!
There was plenty of time to relax before a welcome shower at the Navigator Hotel and pre- dinner drinks at the Pousada.
The Evening -refuelling!
Nearly everyone gathered at the Pousada bar - a doubt was raised over Ian S. when he failed to be first to the bar, and didn't show until almost time to move on to Vila Velha. He professed to have fallen asleep, but this unusual excuse made the more observant suspect that he was carrying an old rugby injury.
After Myriam had done the accounts, and extracted dues from all, we had precious little left to indulge in the Pousadas over-priced beverages. (Note to CB: We really must find somewhere else next time!)With the precision of a military operation the assembled throng limped over to Vila Velha to a warm welcome from Lia and her staff, and a very pleasant evening.
A selection of diners
Before the dessert, Rod made a short speech of thanks and encouragement to those continuing onward in the morning.The food, as usual was agreed to have been
excellent, and the wine certainly flowed well. Andrew M. had obviously
been sitting too close to the fire!!
The party broke up at a reasonable hour, as custom decreed that breakfast would commence from 7 am at Cafe Baia.
Day 2: Sagres to Carrapateira
There was a good turnout for breakfast, only Danielle having returned to bed after the early morning rendezvous at the luggage vehicles. Ian S. had made the decision to cede his place as Tail End Charlie, citing the after effects of a scrum in the under 15's, which he claimed Gordon knew something about.
As you can imagine, Maddy wasn't exactly keen on the idea of losing her walk, and her eyes showed it as she looked towards the walkers while restrained!
Preparations were made for the group photo and we hoped to get a good one to print and present to the Café owners, so we had engaged a professional photographer.
The photo was taken with Andrew showing immense understanding of the technology, and the result was this - one of a selection of 5 auto timer pix., none of which had everyone present and looking at the camera!
(Click the map to go to a version that can be enlarged)
Day 2 Stats
Total Distance: 28.8 km; Moving time: 6 hrs 38 min.; Total Time: 7 hrs 54 min.; Moving Avg.: 4.3 km/hr;
Overall Avg.: 3.6 km/hr: Total Ascent: 621 m.; max Elevation: 160 m.
And so we set off through the outskirts of Sagres towards the Torre de Aspe which was the first stop.
There was no sign of the little dog which had followed us from Salema the previous day, but unbelievably, as we were leaving Sagres she appeared in the road ahead of us and dutifully fell into position.
We successfully found the lovely path through the pine forest and before long the Torre appeared on the horizon about 8 km away.
We made rapid progress and the wind was light, although it was very cool, and soon we were posing at the foot of the tower.As we had made such good time on this first section, and because David still had to hand Rosie back at the nearby crossroads, we decided to take the Coastguard House in as well, as the views would be magnificent!
And the views were magnificent, and Dinah took a couple of pix after she arrived to collect Rosie.
From this point the 'middle way' descent gives great views if you can raise your head as it is very steep. Everyone coped very well, although some were much slower than others, but it didn't matter because a coffee stop at the Castelejo Cafe had been allowed in the schedule.
After this welcome break, and every one had relaxed it was time for a bracing stroll along the beach. The walk dates are calculated round the tides to enabl us to have an easy 3 km, instead of having to go over several more cliffs if the tide is in.
About three quarters of the way along, Rod met a couple of friends.
After the beach we took the easy but longer option of a looping track back up to the cliff top. Then it was time for lunch as we had been on the go for about 4 hrs 30 min.
After a leisurely (by AWW standards) lunch there was another steep descent .........
..............or two or three or more, and despite trying to pick out the best path up the next climb during each descent we (I)! did get it wrong at least once, resulting in much trampling through gorse and cistus where there should have been a nice clear path!
There was a minor panic on one of the last descents when a glimpse of the beach revealed that the tide was coming in. This descent ended in a gully much like the one that drops down into Castelejo, and in the past I recall having to encourage the slower descenders to make haste before the sea cut off the narrow access to the next climb. However when we reached the beach there was plenty of sand still available for walking on and we made the entrance to the climb easily.
Reaching the top after this climb we could see Praia d'Amado which was where we would leave the coast to go inland to Carrapateira, and I received a phone call from John enquiring whether we would be 'in time for tea'. I was sure I reminded him that "Mine's a Bohemia", and that we were only half an hour away, but when we got down to Amado, he and his camera were there, and so was Marg, and Maddy to welcome the conquering heroes home.
Thanks to John and Brian for coming to Carrapateira to augment the official Bag Ladies Transportation Section. As I sit writing this some 11 days after the event (well it takes some time to sort out 300+ photos) I am amazed at our continued luck with the weather - if we had attempted the walk during the cold and heavy rain of the last two days it would have been a completely different story!
Our extra canine companion, who did the whole walk with us from Salema was lucky that Dinah had some spare dog food with her, as she really deserved a good feed after her efforts.
Unfortunately, no one was willing or able to adopt this lovely little dog, so she may well still be In Carrapateira.
Perhaps she will join us next year!
I had a large number of photos sent in to add to the ones that Myriam and I took, and I have put some of the best ones up on the web unsorted but available to view HERE
"Forgive me my nonsense as I also forgive the nonsense of those who think they can talk sense." - Frost, Robert
This, then, is the test we must set for ourselves; not to march alone
but to march in such a way that others will wish to join us.
Humphrey, Hubert H.
