April 26th Section 9 Fuente del Espino

Our big adventure this week was 105 km away in the Alpujarra, in an area unknown to any of us. The path was part of Section 9 from Fuente del Espino to Mirador, high above the villages of Mairena and Júbar. The guide book talks of this section having been a hideout for the Mudéjar bandits and thieves, leftover from when the Christians cleared the Moors out of the Alpujarras in the 16th century.
We set off early for the drive, but by the time we got to Mairena one and half hour later, Kees was desperate for a coffee and Graham for another breakfast. Now normally their requests for bar stops are ignored, but the walk was not a long one and there was still a 10 km off road section to drive before we reached our starting point. So feeling magnanimous we decided to stop and refresh ourselves, on sale in the bar were a large selection of knives of various sizes and prices which reminded me of this weeks invitation email in which I mentioned the need to bring weapons to ward off bandit attacks. Rene’s weapon of choice was a spoon, yes, a dessert spoon, what on earth was she going to do with a sodding spoon!
The drive up to the Mirador, our starting point for the walk, was true 4X4 country, we were tossed and bounced about like James Bond’s Vodka Martini (shaken not stirred) as we made the journey up to the 1900 metre line. The weather was perfect with blue sky and temperatures just right for a serious walk. The sign post and the guide book had the distance to Fuente del Espino listed as 10.5km and we set off at a cracking pace on what was a very easy path through Holme oak and Pine forest. Now Graham claims to have spotted Pine Marten and Hares on the path, I saw just one tail, so the sightings go uncorroborated.
We made the Fuente in double quick time, but then, checking the GPS, we discovered we had only covered 8.7km but we were definitely there, the sign board said so. The only thing missing was the Fuente, a bit of plastic pipe in my opinion does not constitute a Fuente. The weather was slowly deteriorating and the clouds were closing in as we stopped for a quick lunch.
Which reminds me, Graham suggested, while we were walking, that we ought to change the format, that we should go out for 5 day stretches and stay up on the 2000 metre line overnight. When we pointed to the sheer impracticality of carrying all the food he said he could survive on a tin of Sardines a day! Have you seen how much he consumes? He would need a pack horse and then he would eat that after 5 days.
We had only just started on the return journey when the rain came. and by the time we arrived back at the car we were well and truly soaked and in need of refreshment, so following a different track back we stopped in Valor for a drink. A very enjoyable day out and I will look forward to doing another section in this area.

The walkers Mike, Kees, Rene, Graham and myself.
Distance walked on route today 8.7 km. Total distance today 17.4 km. Height climbed today 108 metres. Total distance walked on the Sulayr path 56.7 km. Distance left to do 243.3 km. Total height climbed 4019 metres. Total distance walked 138.2 km.  Today’s record breaking speed was 5 km per hour.