Saturday 2nd April Venta Roman to Pinosa

Nice steady walk today, perhaps a bit low key, but maybe what was needed to get my ankle back on track. It's still a bit swollen but I'm not worried about it any more. What the "injury" has brought home however is how tight my schedule is, how vulnerable it is to anything going wrong, and how fed up I would be if anything did go wrong. I really want to do this walk.

Apart from being the perfect walk for my ankle the walk did not provide a lot to write home about. Miguel kindly took me back the petrol station at Venta Roman and had made me a great pack lunch. Weather was nice, not as hot as yesterday, good weather for walking. 26 kilometres to Pinosa, a very gentle climb, then across a wide valley, another gentle climb, and then a walk down into Pinosa. Just before you get to Pinosa you cross the border from Murcia into Valencia.


Heading east from Venta Roman




The boundary with Valencia

After my last attempt to point to what I thought was an unusual plant, which two people then dismissed as a daffodil, I'm a bit nervous about highlighting what looks like a cross between asparagus and a lupin. Is this interesting or just another display of my ignorance?



Lupin?

Almond and other fruit trees have to a large degree given way to vines which have still to emerge from their winter slumber. Given what they have to produce by September/October then they really have to crack on.




Vines in April
Pinosa is a small town (circa 1100 population) a significant proportion of which are British. The Bed & Breakfast I'm staying at, just outside the town, is actually British owned and the landlady is currently standing for election to the local council. Evidence of the collapse of the Spanish property market is everywhere in Pinosa.


Pinosa

Endless empty flats

The really big news is that for the next couple of weeks or so I have a walking companion, Christine Durrant, and logistical back-up, provided by Christine's husband John. Some of the walking in Valencia is a bit remote, accommodation difficult to find, so this should work really well.

John was able get the Tottenham Wigan game on his laptop, given the game on Tuesday, 0-0 was entirely predictable.

6 comments:

  1. Looks like Lupinus luteus, widely used for forage.
    The lupin genus is native to the Mediterranean and lupin seeds are very nutritous apparently if the tough outer skin is removed (not suggesting you try ).This particular one doesn't look very exciting but you"ll probably find other blue and mauve Lupin species as you head north.

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  2. Saw the same flower last week 27th March don't think it is a Lupin trying to identify it!
    You are probably in Elda tonight - ?Pension Carrizo great place. recommend Hotel Jose in Castalla trifle expensive room but superb 10euro dinner with wine.
    Good walking coming up in the national park,excellent visitor centre with cafe at Fuenta Roiga.Try and find the ridge walk on the west into into Alcoy - great views. The Barranca going north from there looks exciting.
    The weather has been hot - sorry I've returned to UK on 1st April - just missed you. Keep up your excellent progress and will follow your postings with interest. John Proud.

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  3. PS the 10 day forecast for you is dry and warm.

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  4. Do Lupins emerge directly out the ground witth flower preformed, I didn't think so, which is why I thought it had the same underground structure as an asparagus type plant. John you have to watch out however, Christine is seldom wrong.

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  5. sorry i missed the subtle fact that it's sitting on the soil and has burst out in prepack form.look forward to further diagnosis

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  6. John, you are doing great. I hope your swollen leg has really calmed down. Are you (now crossing the border from Murcia to Valencia) walking according to schedule? I hope so!
    Menno

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