Keith, Alison and Sandra are visiting their home-from-home in Montichelvo this week and they love walking as much as we do. In fact it was Keith and Ali that first showed us a track up into the mountains of the Penyes Albas behind our village last year. So we decided to tackle Benicadell as a group, Caroline and I had made the summit before, in January, but it was to be a first for our friends.
We drove up to a refuge on the side of the mountain and started our walk from there. Moderate to hard going would be an honest description of the tracks that lead to the top but after an hour and a half of good healthy exercise we made it!
The scenery is truly breathtaking with 100 km views in all directions. We sat and ate our packed lunches at a comfortable spot just below the summit.
We were then treated to a fantastic display of ridge-soaring by two large eagles who came into view at a height lower than us, but soon swirled round and round in the gentle up-currents and moved away into the distance high above us – a very special moment and a great time to share with friends. (Click to photo for a larger view, although you may still not be able to make out the eagles – they are right in the centre, honest!)
When we got bored with the scenery (NOT!) we made our descent via a “Nevera” which is an igloo-like building built of stone for storing ice centuries ago.
Back in the car we called in at Beniatjar for a much deserved cold beer – a real “Ice Cold in Alex” moment, and the locals, not used to seeing strangers in their village, were entertaining to say the least…..
There is a wealth of information about Benicadell and the towns that surround it here http://www.valldalbaida.com/rutes/benicadell_en.php (this should show as a link that you can click on but,for some reason you will have to copy and paste the webaddress into your browser window to get to the website)
Posts
