To walk with poles or not?

We have walked with all kinds of people over various terrain, with Poles, Scots, Americans……………..oh the old jokes - still the old jokes!

Seriously walking with poles, yes or no?

Well Poles seem to have become very popular in recent years and certainly here in the Sierra Espuna we see many people of all nationalities with them so what is the attraction?

Well on the upside they can ease the pressure on your knees - it’s been said by up to a third! - this is especially good news when descending hills at the end of a full days walking. They work by transferring some of your body weight from your legs to your arms this means that the effort of walking is now carried by your whole body, not just your legs (good news for that all over workout).

Poles are particularly useful if you are carrying a heavy load as they help to redistribute the extra weight as well as your body weight, this also aids balance, not just good for heavy loads, but also if you are on steep descents, parts of a path that you have the perception of being a little exposed or muddy sections (or as happened to us earlier this month when the path is a riverbed………what a nightmare that was!)

Poles however may not be all good news. The disadvantage of that weight distribution will be tired arms and shoulders at the end of the day making that well deserved pint of beer a little harder to get to the mouth. Wrists too, can suffer as a result of the pressure from poling down. In undergrowth or on not so well defined paths, the poles can become entangled, making more work to release them.

The poles themselves, are usually in sections, meaning they can be extended or decreased in size. This gives great flexibility for up/down hill and varying terrain. Longer is better for downhill sections extend so that you can reach forward a couple of feet below you to take some of the strain off your knees and legs. The section system also means they are easy to pack in your suitcase for your walking holiday or pop in your day sack if you decide your arms are getting tired! They are available from most good walking stores at various price points, so on balance I think I’d say……….

why not give it a try - I certainly wish I’d had them on the attached photo section of one of our trails!

It was our nieces’ birthday this week, so Happy Birthday Ali. Also this week many towns and villages celebrate the fiesta of San Juan a celebration that dates back to pre-Christian times and marks the arrival of the summer solstice. An excuse (not that the Spanish need one) to build fires, set off fireworks and Party until dawn.
This week we took a trip down to Mazzaron, about 30km away on the coast. With the benefit of the sea breeze, walking the coastline was a very pleasant excursion. We had the company of a local guide who was able to tell us much of the history of the area we were walking. We started at the “Enchanted city of Bolnuevo” or “Gredas de Bolnuevo” the strange sandstone shapes have been formed over a period of time, which is believed to have begun some 4 million years ago. We made out way along the coast past Mazzarons nudist beaches, out to sea was the “Ilsa de Cueva Lobos” a small island named after the sea wolf (fish) which were once plentiful in the waters around this coast, unfortunately they are now a sight rarely seen here.
We continued our walk along, part “road” ( I wouldn’t bring my car down much of it!), part coast path until we reached a quite little cove noted for several reasons……..a small port was built here to collect and transfer rock to the nearby town of Cartegena, the remains of which can still be seen, along with several large rectangular rocks which were left behind and on the beach is a deposit of concrete, pretty ugly really, but it is there to preserve some prehistoric bones of a dinosaur, half of which have been excavated and are now displayed in the archeological museum in Murcia. The remainder await the funds to be able to retrieve them so both halves can be reunited. To date they have been waiting five years or so, so lets hope they can join the other half soon.
After a pleasant rest watching the fishermen cast there lines we continued along our route through an area which has now been designated a national park by the Spanish government………great news as it means no building can take place. Historically the area was farm land with several owners farming various crops from tomatoes to lemons, but unfortunately for them the water supplies they had dried up making farming the land an impossible task and the last working farm ceased to operate around 12 years ago. Now the area is left to nature and it’s former pump station and farm building slowly and sadly crumble away. The only residents now the wildlife and in some parts Northern European tourists of a certain age in there campers on that retirement dream trip they dreamed of all those years (how do they find out about these unofficial stop offs?)
Finally after several hours walking, we return via the last part of the coastal “road” pausing briefly to cool of our hot feet by paddling in the clear waters…..nice….before making out way the café overlooking the beach for a well deserved ice cold drink (some had coffee, how mad is that!)

Well that’s another week flown by, I can’t even tell you how quickly the weeks go it must be an age thing hey? Summer seems to have arrived in the Spanish minds, gone are the coats and jumpers they have clung onto since October and out are the shorts and t-shirts, we expats have been in shorts since February, but the Spanish blood obviously takes a little longer to warm up!
Totana has been full of cars with loud speakers plugging the various parties for the European elections and signs adorn the roads wherever you go. Saturday was a day of reflection before the election so some peace (of the election kind) returned yesterday as no electioneering is permitted.
Forthcoming events locally include the San Javier Jazz festival. This is an internationally renowned event which takes place from June 27th until 25th July for more info the web address is www.jazz.sanjavier.es. I see Steve Winwood is on the bill. Ahh that brings back memories, of an American road trip with two friends when I was much younger, every radio station we tuned into in our oldsmobile - there was Steve Winwood, it seemed !

El Bosque to Augilon (the fang like end)

So anyway, what have we been up to this week………….we tried out a new route “La Umbria del Bosque” a circular route of 16.6km with some spectacular rock overhead for much of the route. It all started very pleasantly, after an initial climb through forest the walk was light and airy and meandered through high ground and the plateau between Morron de la Cabra (meaning ? Nose/snout of the Goat?) and the awesome rock walls of Umbria del Bosque. The track we walked was a wide open camino (bizarrely we passed a stretch that had a ‘men at work’ road sign, no evidence of men at work though! Well it was the weekend). Leaving the plateau we made our way back down to the valley to turn back towards the start point. The path then took a distinct turn for the worse. We were entering a riverbed for the final 4km………..not something that would generally concern in Spain in June, but we were warned it could be muddy! Well, it was interesting!!!!!!! Not a path I would advise people to follow, we did have to wade through pools on several occasions and fight with vegetation, including bamboo, several excursions from the riverbed to find an alternate route were abandoned but we made it, some two hours later we emerged from the riverbed and made our way home for much deserved coffee, cake and a relaxing swim in the pool. A route we will be doing again the scenery was both fantastic and impressive, but an alternative path back to the start will be an early amendment to future excursions on this route!!!!!!!!!!!!