WAGS 04.03.2020: They walked among Untrodden ways.....
They walked among Untrodden Ways,
Beside the Arade dam,
A TM with one slice of cheese
And precious little ham.
A Leader who knew every path,
And gave them all a try,
But of the lunches didn't care,
And left us high and dry.
Now this is a generalisation. The verse is not in particular about this outing, but about priorities and perspective.
To Rod said the keen-eyed Detective
"It may be my eyesight's defective,
But are not these Humps
Exceeding WAGS bumps
Or is it the faulty perspective?"
We WAGS have come to expect a certain stability in our walks: - Rigid parameters,- 10km - 3 hrs, < 200m of ascent - and most importantly a good feed and drink as a reward at the end, have been rarely achieved recently.
Rod has always enjoyed pushing the limits, walks at the upper end of the spectrum, but unfortunately he, despite his navigational abilities, Pigeon-like sense of direction and a prodigious memory for tracks, has a Sword of Damocles in the form of a commitment to a date night on Wednesday, which involves copious amounts of belt strainer at a local gourmet establishment, and formerly involved The Grape, (but not so much now!). This makes him reluctant to blunt his appetite with a Prato do Dia or a massive Bifana and chips . However the converse is true of many of the WAGS; they enjoy a satisfying replete feeling derived from the Apres WAGS indulgence, as it means they do not have to prepare dinner or venture out into the night air to forage for food.
Almost anything can part the horse hair suspending this Sword, the list being too long even for a rambling blog, but on this occasion, at about 1335, long after we WAGS are accustomed to be sitting in a local hostelry, photographing the food on offer, Myriam's phone rang. She answered it, and without any niceties, a voice thundered down the phone, "Are you still walking?" Expecting it to be either a PPI tout or a double glazing salesman, she was a little stunned, but realisation dawned and luckily Rod was close by, so she handed the phone to him, and we will draw a veil over the following conversation for those of a sensitive disposition. Needless to say after a hurried departure the Remainers were left driving to Retiro dos Pescadores, who had not been prepped by an uncaring Leader, and whose stocks had been pillaged by hoarders preparing for a long siege with the Corona virus. This compelled some early retirements , Yves and Dina fled, as did Hilke. Terry and Jill decided to take their chances with a stop for a TM on the way home. Myriam and I were of a similar mind, but Maria came to the rescue, took command of Fernanda's kitchen and started mass producing Sopa de Feijao and Tostas Mistas with tomato, from a hitherto concealed supply. Dish of the day had been Cabidela which would have gone down a treat, but only 10 portions were made and were all spoken for, as we hadn't given sufficient notice.
Anyway, no doubt, more riveting details will emerge later in the blog, and as I have a newly arrived Leader's Exculpation we will start with that.
We arrived at Arade and the monument to the hydraulic system, subscribed by Salazar very soom after 10 am for the starter photo. Time for a pushing contest! Came in useful later.
L-R: Yves, John, Rod Maria, Hazel, Myriam, Hilke, Paul, Dina, Terry, Jill.
Rod writes:-
Lured by the billing (brevity of course covers up all the pitfalls) of a WAGS walk of guideline limited proportions, Paul & Myriam, John & Hazel, Terry & Jill, Hilke (good to have her back again), Maria, Dina and Yves joined Rod, leader of the day, gathered at the Retiro dos Pescadores for the now usual pre-walk caffeine shot. So punctual were they all that we were actually able to depart for a short drive to the Barragem do Arade some minutes before 10.00 am.
How Green was this Valley
The walk started off conventionally enough for the first half hour. And then occurred an object lesson in why it is generally advisable to recce a walk ( an object lesson which for better or worse this leader is never likely to learn!). Our leader set off up a path which he recalled from a considerable while back, as being his intended track.
Rod having interrogated the owners, heads to recce the potential route, mindful to conceal his identity from CCTV
This passed a dwelling, which for many decades had been a ruin but was now being restored, clearly to a limited budget, by a local couple ( that being, as one has to clarify these days, a male husband and a female wife). The husband was initially a little concerned about this invasion of his privacy, but soon became agreeable enough when he understood us to be but itinerant pilgrims slightly off course. He said, following the occupation of the ruin and much bulldozing in the area as a result of fires, there was no track but waved in the general direction that we could probably get through. At this point a most attractive young vision appeared, clad in elegant pink night attire overlaid with a voluminous white dressing gown and revealing pom-pom decorated slippers.
What passes for 'an attractive young vision' in the Algarve Untrodden Ways
Quite unfazed by the gazes of 11 foreign bodies, well the 5 male ones anyway, she opined that there was absolutely no way through. We took her husband´s (well actually that was never ascertained) advice and we attempted a number of ways through. We were eventually obliged to realize she was right (aren´t they always!) and, with great loss of face for our leader he felt it prudent to admit defeat.
"Not particularly steep"
Well of course there was a plan B; this required ascending a lengthy but not particularly steep track; one which indeed had been ascended a few times in previous years. As it was heading 180 degrees away from the start there were soon the inevitable grumbles, the loudest emanating of course from the same source that had led us up a much steeper, indeed almost vertical track the previous week.
( Mea Culpa - but in my defence it was a mere 10 minutes of pain, and only 2.6 km uphill on that walk whereas this one had 4.63 km uphill! QED)!
On reaching the top and swinging back towards home, peace was restored and the rest of the walk passed without incident.
A break from the ascent!
To escape the derision and wrath of the assembled company our leader fled the scene without sustenance, only to walk into the wrath of his Memsa`b for being late for their drive up to Lisbon. Ah well you can´t win!
It should however be noted after all that, the overall walk, despite the alarms and excursions, was within WAGS normal sort of parameters...so there!
Rod
The last sentence above is worthy of Trump at his pithiest - and demonstrates the perspective that if you assert something loudly and long enough it becomes true.
As the statisticians will note, distance was 12.2% above par; Total time was 20.5% in excess; ascent was a massive 94.5% higher than a WAGS body is designed to go AND we were over an hour late for our sustenance by the time we got to Retiro. It could have been worse - some of us could have been with the AWW!
Time for some colour commentary by way of pictures. Hazel decided to take some shots of a few birds we met.
Possibly a White Orpington - but what do I know?
......and by John with his trusty but dated Sony enhanced by Adobe
In his own well-researched words:
Probably a Spanish Festoon, in other words:-
Order: Lepidoptera.
Family: Papillonidae.
Genus: Zerynthia.
Species: Z. Rumina.
Binomial name: Zerynthia Rumina
We also happened on a dead but rather nice looking large dog in a ditch.
Possible victim of the COVID -K9 virus - we hastened on without an autopsy.
Myriam was into squashed toads:
A bit of cobbling and it would have been just right for a new foresole
Another untrodden way
On the Algarve Way for a short section
Long uphills - some on good paths.....
.....and some not so good.
Maria 'Accessorising'
Arade view
A reasonably easy walk back to the car park, with only one 'hump' (Rod's words) to get over to the barragem path, to find Dina's car had had it's personal space compromised by a Fiat parked on her front bumper. The pushing practice at the beginning came in handy and she was extracted without contact.
Rod took off like a scalded cat for his trip to Lisbon, and the rest of us minus Yves, Dina and Hilke headed back to Retiro dos Pescadores. Confusion reigned as we were late, and the cabidela was long gone. The Cerveza Sem Alcool had not been put in the fridge so they tucked a couple of mini bottles in the freezer for me. John was happy with his shandy and the ladies with their tea. After Maria had woven her magic, 5 of us sat down for a light lunch of bean soup, oranges, olives, bread and very soon, TM's.
Reasonable effort. Note to Maria - Needs doubling up on fillings and longer under the grill - and a dash of oregano for the gourmets.
Happy Days!!
The Track and Stats
From John's GPS
ViewRanger
Walk Profile
Truth be told, even though the bare stats only show the aforementioned breaches of WAGS criteria, I felt pretty tired, as did Myriam, at the end of the walk. The next day I suffered from a flare-up of the lower back pain I thought I had conquered - so much so that I only managed 769 steps the next day compared to 15,903 on the Wednesday walk.
Another feature of this first walk since Corona Virus gained prominence. was the mode of greeting, with attempts to avoid intimate contact - very alien to some WAGS. Myriam favoured the foot tapping method originating in Wuhan, and variations sprang up faster than a virus.
Although it seems that a Frenchman (hopefully not Yves) has come up with a compromise version that retains some intimacy and fun without the danger of skin contact!
That one might even bring Ingrid out of retirement!!
And finally, a new Theme song for Rod sung by the inimitable Barbra Streisand with Jamie Foxx.
That's All Folks.
I have climbed every mountain (in the Algarve) with this leader, and yet he is still full of surprises!!
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