Climbing in the Sierra Espuna

We've got some great walking in the the last two weeks. This week whilst out walking we saw some climbers on the wall's of Leiva the park is said to be one of Spains best kept rock climbing secrets. Not sure Climbing is for me....to much weight to lift with my puny arms :0) but I have to say standing below and looking at the tiny figure half way up this HUGE rock wall I have to admire their commitment to there sport! It would have been nice to sit a while and watch them reach the top...I say that, but 4 hours later when coming down the other side of the valley we could still hear them (not see) on the rock. I found a you tube video of the same are and you can see from this just how awsome the rock is....we were on the track you can see on the valley floor when we first saw them.  Rock climbing on the walls of Leiva
Fiesta time is back again, it was "fathers day" here in Spain last week. This is a huge fiesta and begins the next round of "bank" holidays which will be pretty constant now until summer. One person in the town we live is having a particularly great holiday season having just scooped €15,000,000 on the once lottery....lucky peeps ;0) Not checked my Euro millions yet, so i still live in hope!
This week we're hoping the better weather holds out as we've got plenty of walking planned and quite a bit of high level so clear would be good to get the views!
Until next time Hasta Luego!

Spring has sprung???

Well, the last month has had pretty much everything in terms of the weather….rain, snow, heat, wind, sun, cloud. I must say when we moved to Spain 3 years ago we didn’t expect to see more snow than we’d seen in England for the last 20 years! And I was a little shocked when a blanket of snow was covering the ground when I got up one morning this week!! Still at least here you know it won’t last for more than a week or so and in the case of this weeks snow, it was gone before I’d had my second cup of tea….the sun was shining and in the sun it was very pleasant.
Despite the intermittent weather, we have managed to get in some great walking. We have been searching out some new routes, always fun with Spanish maps….oh for OS maps! As well as the new, we took in some old faithfuls including the summit of Morron de Alhama, a high route in the Espuna, great for far reaching views. The camino Albuznel a forest track wending its way into the Espuna with  rock formations and dramatic buttresses that appear as you make your way around the hillside. To mention just a couple.
We have seen some great wildlife (and some not so great…caterpillars!) out there including the first snake of the year!
Paul is gearing up for his May 1st trail around the Espuna…….is he training enough???? Well only time will tell. I don’t think he’s doing as much as my cousin who is currently training for the London Marathon - Good luck Jo!
Well with the weather hopefully improving now and Semana Santa (Easter) just round the corner things are certainly getting busier and the Spanish are venturing out more…..it’ll be summer and we’ll be complaining it’s too hot before you know it.
To find out more about walking in Murcia, Spain have a look at our website www.vistaverdetrails.com