24 November 2025 – Lliber River Walk

Jan is feeling much better, but not quite up to a 9km walk

But at least I could walk this week

21 of us walking today

And another 10 unable to walk for a variety of reasons

About 20 seems to be the norm now

And that is more than enough

After almost a week of sunny weather it was cloudy but dry today

It indicates how spoilt we are here in Spain that many, including me, were disappointed that it was sunny and blue sky

    Despite the sun the temperatures have fallen over the last week

It was a little warmer, but everyone had an extra layer on

And for the first time no one removed any layers

We had two new members today, Yvonne and David

Their good fortunate that so many regulars were miss and we could fit them in

It was also the last walk, for now, for Pippa and Brian

We shall miss them, they were great company

I had a fall just as we entered Lliber at the end of the walk

I fell badly, hit my nose and scratched my glasses

The village policeman was opposite, and quickly came to my assistance

Helped by Pierre they cleaned me up and I was able to join the rest of the group at the bar

A spectacular and embarrassing end to a lovely walk

 

Temperature – 18c

Time taken – 3 hours

Distance – 9km

17 November 2025 – Alcalali to Jalon

 

I had planned a walk from Alcalali to Jalon for this week

However Jan went down with a particularly nasty tummy bug

It started on Friday night and by Saturday it was obvious she would not be able to do the walk

By Sunday she was still in bed all day, and it was not clear that I would have to miss the walk

Fortunately Pierre offered to lead a walk from Alcalali

So I did not have to cancel the walk

It was a lovely day, and I wondered which walk he had done

Tina sent me a load of photographs on Monday evening

I recognised the walk as one we normally do from Jalon via the picnic site/play area

We normally class it as one of our “more challenging” walks

This is because there is a more ascent than normal

And even from Jalon it usually takes about 4 hours

From Alcalali it would take another hour

I have no idea how long it took today

I recognised most of the route from the photos, but not where they cross a chain barrier

Apparently this was due to an unexpected “extension”

Also on Monday evening I received a link to the photographs Jim had taken

So I had enough to start work on the group Facebook

Just as I was about to post, a link arrived from David

So I ended up with more photographs than if I had actually done the walk

In fact I had too many, and had to choose from the three collection

I am assured that everyone enjoyed the walk

And indeed they seem to have had a great time judging from the photographs

I am hoping that Jan and I will be able to walk next week

Providing I do not catch the bug from her before then

10 November 2025 – Jalon to Alcalali

 

 Another sunny day

Appreciated all the more because of two recent unusually grey and overcast Monday's

26 on today’s walk

Jan blew her whistle to draw attention to this novel tree support

It was lovely walking through the trees, with the sun shining through the branches

 

Jan took this artistic photograph

We had an early water stop to ensure we could do so in the sun

Explaining the option for climbing Col de Rates from Jalon

I had been asked which is the best route

I made the mistake of asking Jenny if she would do it again

Her reply may well have put off anyone considering doing it themselves

Claire is taking a photo of a couple of butterfly’s

I was too late to get a close up, and everyone else had taken a short video

These two came expecting food and were not very happy to have to make do with a photo

Distant view of Parcent, showing the valley at its best

As always we had our banana break at the hermitage of Sant Joan de Mosquera

Thanks to David for these portraits

He has a real gift for catching people at their most natural

Something I never seem able to do

After a 15 minute break we set off back to Jalon

Before we started we warned bar Claudia that we would have a large group

And they agreed we could use their balcony upstairs

We can spread out and do not interfere with their other customers.

Temperature – 15-22c

Time Taken – 3 hours

Distance – 9 km