Monday April 25th Moli l'Abad to Ulldecona

There is almost nothing to say about the walk today apart from the fact that I finished it.

Had a vague notion that having done much of the walk yesterday I would get to Ulldecona by lunch-time and then pressing onto Amposta in the afternoon gain myself a day. As it turned out I was suffering from the 54 kilometres I did yesterday, it ended up being a 20 kilometres road walk today, and by the time I got to Ulldecona at about 2.30 my feet were burning. Instead of walking on I found a nice hotel, the only hotel, had a nice lunch and then marinated in a bath for an hour or so.

Was supposed to find the GR 8 at La Senia, which was about 5 kilometres from Moli l'Abad. Well I'm sure it's there but I couldn't find it. There were some really good plans and signs outside the town hall but no reference to the GR8. There was an Olive Trail which took you to Ulldecona, which might have been the GR8, but given the rain and the mud I was happy to go with the road. Today was always going to be a transit day and I'm writing it off as that.

After constant mountains for the last two, almost three weeks, you might think that walking through some flat country would be a nice change. Well the pleasure was short-lived. Flat country around here means olive trees, citrus trees and pig farms, lots of pig farms. Not a lot happening in Ulldecona, nice castle on the hill outside the town, but the town itself a bit nondescript. The most interesting thing for me was the huge quarry just outside the town, was amazing to see how many different coloured sandstone you can dig out of same hole.

Tomorrow looks better and I have even worked out where the GR 92 is. Have a small mountain to climb and then it's a coastal trail all the way to Tarragona. With any luck it will stop raining and I can put my waterproofs away again.

Sunday 24th April Morella to Moli l'Abad

The plan was to stay at El Boixar but there isn't much accommodation there and sure enough when I tried to book on Saturday it was all gone. This was a real pain because just after El Boixar, at Fredes, things navigationally get a bit more complicated. So far the E4 has followed the GR 7 but at Fredes and it heads down to Ulldecona, near the coast, on the GR8. Couldn't find any accommodation at Fredes and the only accommodation I could find was at a place called Moli l'Abad which looked about 15 kilometres to the east of El Boixar. So I decided not to go to Fredes but go direct from El Boixar to Moli l'Abad, stay there for the night and then try and find the GR 8 again next day and continue to Ulldecona.

By the way the GR 7 carries on all the way to the Pyrenees. The E4, which travels along the coast to Tarragona, and through Catalonia to the Pyrenees ends up almost in the same place. I must admit I'm sorry to be leaving the GR 7 not least because I had the route well defined on my GPS. My E4 GPS route is very messy in Catalonia so I'm bound to get lost.

So I was a bit fed up when I left Morella, fed up about having to contrive a route and fed up about the weather which continues to be poor. Spending my time trying to find accommodation last the night (fortunately I had an internet connection) meant I missed the supermarket and all I had with me food wise was the last bit of my birthday cake and a lump of cheese.

After about 4 kilometres I left the road and headed up along a farm trail where I met a farmer who was rounding up his cows. Everything was very wet and I started to gingerly cross a stream. The farmer, who was in the middle of his cows and associated mud, and was wearing bedroom slippers, kindly pointed out the stepping stones.

The route follow the stream along a valley and then climbed fairly gently to the top of a ridge. The stream included some brilliant natural swimming pools. As you got higher you had some great views back to Morella spoilt a bit by the murky weather. The ridge walk itself went on for 2 or 3 kilometres before eventually descending through an oak wood, which has just come into leaf, to the town of Vallabona. It was now pouring with rain and at just before one o'clock I decided to stop for some lunch.

Lovely Swimming Opportunity

Spring growth

The next stage of the journey was up along a bottom of a dry river bed heading north. Although the heavy rain had gone it was still drizzling and didn't stop until just before El Boixar. Again a lovely trail which as you approached the top started to open up. It was uphill nearly way and by the time I reached El Boixar at about 5. 30, I had walked 35 kilometres and climbed over 1000 metres.

El Boixar

The sign to La Senia, at El Boixar, said 23 kilometres which I must admit was a bit of a blow much further than anticipated. Setting of and just outside the village I took the first left rather than the second and had gone about 2 kilometres before I realised my mistake. There were no GR signs to follow. To get back on track I could go back or head straight down the side of a gorge, through trees and get on the right route the direct way. I went with the second option and had to survive some very wet, very steep bushwhacking.

Once on the right road it was just a case of walking as quickly as possible. They told me I would need to be there by 7.30 to guarantee the room but it was nearer 9 by the time I arrived. This was the first time I had had to walk on the road in a prolonged way since Andalucia and my feet were very sore at the finish. The signs to La Senia were now reading 5 kilometres so I had walked 53 kilometres in total.

Saturday April 23rd Benasal to Morella

After a week of really good walking, Christine has gone back to the UK and I'm on my own again. It's been great going from mountain town to mountain town and unfortunately she is missing the best one, Morella. The only consolation for her is that the weather continues to be bad.

Set off on a 35 kilometre walk having seen Christine go at 9. The weather was already looking poor which some heavy rain clouds to the south.

Having climbed out of the village the sky was clear enough for a short time to get a view Penyagolosa, the second highest peak in the Valencia region, as well as some great views back to Culla.

Penyagolosa

The first target was Ares de Maestre yet another hill top town. You could stay here it you had a more leisurely schedule, or just stop for lunch. It looked like a great place with lots of visitors on Easter Saturday.

Ares del Maestre

The main issue for me was how far I would get before it started to rain and sure enough it was pouring from about 1.30. It wasn't the end of the world. With the rain, the dry stone walls and the more open scenery you could easy have been in the north of England. In addition to the stone work there was livestock out and about, and for the first time since the early few days of the walk I was amongst grazing cattle, cows with suckling calves.

Another storm

Another feature of today's walk were the wonderful ancient caminos, old cattle trails which in this part of the Spain have not all been turned into local roads. I guess the nearest equivalent in the UK is a green lane but here they are much more widespread. Some of them today, with the dry stone walls on each side, and bedrock running along the bottom were particularly impressive.

Camino

One picture I would have taken if I had had the nerve was that of the bull standing astride a particularly deep camino about 20 yards ahead of me. I've been told that bulls with cows are not dangerous but wasn't going to test the theory, even less ask him to stand to one side, and within seconds I had climbed over the wall and disappeared.

Morella

Got to Morella at about 6 by which time it had stopped raining. It really is the jewel in the crown of the wonderful mountain towns along this part of the route. It still has it's city walls as well as usual brilliant location. Had a good look round, not least because it was packed and finding somewhere to stay was not easy.

The past six days have really been excellent. If it wasn't for the schedule it would have made sense to walk at a much more leisurely pace and take 8 or 9 days to cover the distance. As it is, because I can't get accommodation at the next planned stop, Boixar, tomorrow is going to be a big 40 kilometre day.

Friday 22nd of April Vistabella de Maestrazgo to Benasal

Last night we lay in bed and listened to the rain pour down. The weather forecast was bad and it seemed unlikely that Christine, without full waterproofs would be able to do today's walk to Benasal. We started thinking about alternatives when we saw the sky start lightening from the South. By half past nine it looked good enough to set off, especially as a kind fellow guest in the Casa Rural had let Christine have her spare poncho mack.

Cloud clinging to the hills

The first part of the walk was a continuation of the upland plain which we had walked through in the rain yesterday afternoon. A strange feature, perhaps the bottom of an ancient glacial lake. Along the track a local farmer had found a new use for empty coke bottles. After about 3 kilometres we turned east and contoured along the side of a pretty gorge gradually gaining height.

Noisy fence

We were walking quickly because we didn't trust the weather and wanted to get to Culla for a late lunch. Despite this we enjoyed a quick sandwich break at the abandoned Ermita de San Bartolome. After more contouring the path dropped down, through some beautiful ancient pasture, to a dried out river bed.

Ermita de San Bartolome

Abandoned village - Casa del Capote

The last stage before lunch involved a 500 metre climb up to Culla. The smell of pigs as you approached from the southwest was sickening and we were thinking we had made a mistake to rush. As usual when you arrive you can't see anyone and you can't believe there will be a bar, never mind somewhere to eat. Actually there were two and we dived into the first as the clouds gathered.

Climbing up to Culla

The restaurant was full of young Spaniards with their children and Christine, who is expecting two grandchildren in the next few months, couldn't stop staring at them. Had a great meal and didn't notice that it was pouring with rain outside until the postres arrived. Tried to stretch things out with extra coffee but in the end we had to go, another hour or two's walking to get to Benasal.

Just as we had finished climbing into our waterproofs the owner of the restaurant asks where we are going and offers us a lift. Seemed unfair to put Christine through 90 minutes of torrential rain on her last day on the GR7 so we accepted and he kindly took us directly to the door at the Hotel la Piqueta.

Tuesday 19th April Montan to Montanejos

Another lost blog. The common link is the dodgy wifi at Montanejos; lovely walk, nice town, great hotel, but dodgy wifi and two lost blogs.

Anyway, let's try a 2nd time..... Tuesday was a relatively short walk. Had plenty of time for a quick look around Montan before we left, particularly the monastery which our hotel was attached to, wonderful building currently being restored.

Montan

Climbed up the road just outside village and then off road and down into a valley. Nothing out of the ordinary but very pleasant.

After climbing up the other side you start to get glimpses of some dramatic cliffs to the north through the trees. After a few kilometres the forest road peters out and turns into a trail. You're then taken around the side of gorge, half way up, on the most dramatic path of the E4 so far. Perfectly safe as long as you're careful but you need a head for hights as your sense of perspective struggles to handle the sheer cliffs above and the huge drops below you. Brilliant scenery.

Barranco de la Maimona

More Barranco

And more Barranco de la Maimona

The path finishes all too soon and it's a short walk down into Montajanos. We stay in the Casa Palacios, a nice hotel built around a Moorish tower next to the church. From our room you had a view of the river which has natural swimming pools amid beds of reeds. Strolling round the town later we saw a fabulous skinny bridge-cum- aqueduct which could take you off on a different GR trail to the South East.

Guest blog by Christine

If you have walked in Europe you will have come across signs giving you an estimated walking time to a destination. If you have walked in different countries you may have noticed that the basis for the estimation varies. The variation is down to the flawed implementation of the EU Walking Time Directive. A brilliant concept, realisation of the vision would have allowed citizens from any member state to plan walks both in country and across borders on a standard basis. Not only would this have promoted walking as a hobby it would also have fostered European solidarity.

It's easy to forget that it was the UK who originally pushed for this piece of EU regulation. British civil servants believed that walking was an English invention and saw the Directive as an opportunity for orderly adoption of Naismith's Rule across the continent.

The French of course had Hercule's Convention. Although this was only used in France, parts of Canada and Polynesia, they insisted that this was adopted as an alternative. At this point English newspapers, in particular the Daily Mail, ran a scare story that British walking would have to be speeded up if it was to comply with Europe. The Minister of Walks denied this was the case but the John Major Government panicked and negotiated a British opt out.

The rest of Europe continued to develop the Directive without the solid basis of Naismith's rule. Perhaps the most damaging intervention came from an alliance between the Dutch and the Danes. The so called "flat land standard hour" meant no account was given to any variation in altitude.

The resulting Directive was duly implemented in all member states but experience reveals the following:
- Spanish walking times are regionally specific
- the French erected signs with dual walking times depending on whether you had eaten the plat de jour
- the Italians had a special time for walkers wearing lycra and designer glasses
- the Greeks doubled walking times
- the Germans doubled walking speeds (triple on the autobahn)
- Austrian walking times speeded up in the afternoons and failure to maintain the pace meant denial of access to mountain huts
- the Irish wrote a song about it.

Perhaps the only country to have realised the vision of the early Directive pioneers is Switzerland which of course is not in the EU. Using permanently positioned satellites the Swiss constantly monitor average walking times and recalibrate signs on a daily basis to ensure that times accurately reflect evolving walker capabilities.

I'm personally a devoted European but the troubled history of the EU Walking Time Directive shows the distance that can sometimes exist between vision and reality.

Christine

Location:The EU Walking Times Directive

Thursday 21st April Villahermosa del Rio to Vistabella de Maestrazgo

So we watched the first half of the Copa del Rey game last night and went to bed. There was a lot of noise later on but it was difficult to know who won. When we came down for breakfast for the first time since arriving in Spain the television was not on. The owner of the hotel was a Barcelona fan and in mourning. We make a fuss about football in the UK but it is nothing compared to Spain, albeit that it feels like there are only two clubs here. It really is wall to wall.

Christine's birthday and a nice 20 kilometre walk to celebrate, unfortunately the weather was not going to help.

Started by climbing up into Villahermosa and dropping into the bread shop. Full of superb extras for Easter.

Easter baking in Villahermosa del Rio

The first part of the walk was brilliant even if it was a little bit cloudy. It was along a valley with a stream in the bottom. Sometimes you were walking next to the stream and sometimes higher up the valley side. Like the walk a few days ago the stream formed natural pools which on a warmer day would have made a great spot for a swim. We even see some wildlife including deer high up the cliff and staring down at us.

Following the gorge behind Villahermosa del Rio

Being watched

After about 6 kilometres you have to climb from about 800 metres to 1200. The path is brilliant typical of the ancient mule paths which have been such a feature of the walk through Valencia. We gain altitude without noticing the effort. All around are tiny abandoned villages, some clinging high up on the side of the valley, which, particularly as the weather was now getting worse, made everything feel extra remote and wild.

Abandoned villages in the drizzle

It was now drizzling so full waterproofs for the first time in a least three weeks (Christine had decided to leave her waterproof trousers in the UK). Visibility was poor which was such a shame as we were walking along the edge of a huge gorge at 1200 metres.

Eventually the really dramatic scenary comes to an end and we arrive at Sant Joan de Penyagolasa. There is a well restored hermitage and amongst other things a restaurant. Lunch isn't served until 2 and that's not for another hour and I'm a bit nervous about the number of people Easter has attracted into the mountains as we have still to find accommodation in Vistabella de Maestrazgo.

The last couple of hours walking is easy (because its pretty flat, despite being high up), and really fast but it's now raining heavily and very unpleasant. When we get to Vistabella de Maestrazgo it's a typical mountain town in the rain, water everywhere and without anyone in sight. Eventually get the directions of a bar that might have accommodation but it turns out to be full. They see the mess we are in, ring around and find somewhere for us to stay. The bar has a restaurant and as it's still only three we have plenty of time to sit down and have a really nice meal. Chicken for me and braised ox cheek for Christine, washed down with lots of red wine. As we eat and dry off other cyclists and walkers come in steaming from the rain and we feel very much at home.