25 Sep 2009 - Iberian Settlements Walk

Its 14 weeks since our last “proper” walk, so it was lovely to get out and about again. We have had an extremely hot summer, and walking for pleasure has been out of the question. But 10 days ago the weather broke, we had heavy rain and storms, and the temperature just dropped. Today it was a pleasant 28c, just right for walking

Dave and Sue asked us to join them on a walk to the Montgo Iberian settlements. This is one of our old favourites, and being one of the less strenuous walks was ideal for our first walk since last June. Also in the group was their daughter Clair, two of their guests Paul and Jean and Steve a friend from Parcent. Plus of course their two dogs Charlie and Bailey.

On this walk previously we had been joined by a friendly dog, whose house we pass. And today was no exception. He suddenly appeared, and was welcomed by both Charlie and Bailey. During our first “water stop” he joined Jan and I. He was very excited and each time he shook his head we got “splatted”.

At one point we walk past the rear of some lovely villas with a very Moorish look about them. It seemed a good back drop to our happy group. The dogs had better things to do than pose for silly photographs.

We leave the marked track and head across country towards the hill on which the Iberian settlements were built.

Before long we reach both the settlements, or what is left of them, and our spot for lunch. Its so long since we were last here that I had forgotten just how beautiful it is here on the tail end of Montgo. And its such an easy walk for such lovely views of both the mountains and the coast.

Paul and Jean enjoy the view of Montgo and Denia. We were lucky today in that it was neither too hot or too cold, because there is no shelter from either at this open spot, just lovely views of the surrounding area.

On the one side the mountain ranges inland, on the other the coastal views from Denia to Ondara and on to Gandia. What a lovely place for a picnic lunch. And lots of space for the dogs to run around. While we had a well deserved rest, they had a lovely time exploring the rocky outcrops.

Having had enough of exploring, Charlie is ready to go home, and waits for us to catch up. Montgo looms in the background.

One of the nice aspects of this walk is that we go through two woods, very unusual for this part of Spain, where the walks are usually in open rocky terrain, often with high undergrowth but rarely the shade of trees. It always reminds me of walks in the New Forest.

Each time we passed a shaded spot on the way back to the cars, the dogs would lie down and give us a sad and imploring look which clearly said “just a little longer please”.

While we had lunch near the settlements, Jan found an interesting rock. We have a garden full of rocks we have picked up on various walks, but not often as big as this one. Jan’s idea to pick it up, but of course it traveled back to the car in MY haversack.