16 May 2011 – Bernia East

 Only eleven of us this week, its that time of year when Spring walkers return to UK for the start of summer.   And who could blame them with the low clouds and chilly wind.  More like UK than sunny Spain.

 This was a new walk to our group.   We do have a regular Bernia walk, which is the standard one along the base, climb to and through the forat (cave) and  then back the opposite side to the fort.   But this one is a longer circuit.   Peter, who led, estimated 14 km and 5-6 hours.

The first two hours were quite easy, but involved a lot of going down followed by a lot of going up!   However not as steep a climb as our usual route.  

The view is just as impressive as our usual first sight of Benidorm, and we didn’t have that difficult crawl through the cave to get to it.

Then the most difficult part of the walk, a steep descent on a very poor track.  It was much more difficult than it looks on this photo!

 Then a lovely level walk through the trees towards our picnic lunch.   By now the sun had made an appearance, and it looked just like a walk in the woods back in UK.

Except of course that we had constant views of Bernia above us

 This part of the walk was new to most of us, and the path was so good that we could look around and enjoy the views for a change. 

We were impressed to find a proper picnic site, with tables and chairs and even a proper loo.   But we were more impressed that we arrived at exactly 1pm – the regular time for our lunch stop.   Being such a small group we could even share a table.

 As always the views were impressive

 Immediately after lunch it was a steep road climb up Bernia….

 ….followed by the scree

And finally we arrived at the fort

 Then a gentle walk downhill with wonderful views

And finally the real highlight of the walk – the bar

Next Week
Meet at Tormos on the Orba to Sagra road.   Pat was not very clear what the walk will be, but will involve Campbell and Fontiles.