WAGS 2024 04 03: Exploration of Trilho da Parra

Paul had recently alerted all of us to an announcement by the ICNF (which is the Instituto da Conservação da Natureza e das Florestas, as I am sure you know) that they had established a new public 6.5 km  trail in the Herdade da Parra, just  north of Silves. Their map showed a starting point, marked in red but it was not immediately clear how the public were to reach the starting point.

The Archive

 Herdade da Parra is of course an area some of us are quite familiar with. Rod used to lead walks there before the Odelouca dam was built when  we would cross the Odelouca River down on the valley floor and then visit one of his old friends who was a supplier of medronho and other types of hooch. As these pictures from 2007 show,  Antje and Janet will have happy memories of the place 

and that was also where Antje would do her Julie Andrews impersonation of the "The Hills Are Alive."

Back to The Present

 So we thought that this week we would go and suss this new Trilho out. And Janet too reappeared after some considerable time away so it was her turn to be wished a Happy New Year. We ordered lunch at Para e Fica and then drove north..

Eight Starters: JohnH, Janet, Maria, Hazel, Antje, Tanja, Rod, and Myriam.

No sign of the new track or how to get there at all, at the start. We ducked under the usual chain barrier to the old track (no car access permitted) and walked downhill 1.5 kms to the Park Wardens Cabin where there was, finally, some indication of the new trail.

Fortuitously one of the Rangers turned up just then together with his partner and gave us more information.

Rod queried the lack of notice at the top of the hill and we were advised to contact ICNF and tell his boss. He showed us a new sign, showing that the whole project will eventually be a 15 km trail..

while Myriam peeked inside the cabin. 

  Not too shabby.  Then off we went downhill, passing a well-conceived little picnic area.

and a petrified forest, residual of when it was swamped when the reservoir filled up 6 or 7 years ago.

 Gentle walking at this stage.

Down at the current levels of the water in the dam, there was a very passable dirt road which seemed to the Leader to be the obvious way to continue, but there was a somewhat ambiguous blue arrow pointing to the right, up a steep hill. And it was there that Rod, pulling rank as Emeritus AWW Leader  for 30 years or so, set off that way, despite it not looking particularly inviting, and despite JohnH saying No.

Three intrepid souls (Antje, Maria and Tanja) went with him, while JohnH, accompanied by Hazel, Janet and Myriam, went unadventurously along the road, and then we sat and waited and waited. We could occasionally catch sight of the break-away group inching along the hill side and it did look at times to the four of us that the Splinter Gloop might have to back-track.

 But no ! Credit to them, they eventualy made it through the Mata Grosso and re-united with the Feeble Four on the main road, only to be met with some light-hearted criticism.

Rod´s point, well-made and justifying his break-away manoeuvre, is that when the dam is full the dirt road which the four conservatives guys had followed is completely flooded and impassable, and that the  track over the hillside and through the forest is the only and indeed the correct route.

The downside to this is that that hill route is extremely slow-going and, with a lunchtime deadline to meet, that causes us WAGS  problems. Any way, here´s to the Splinter Gloop; because of the time they took, we cannot call them the Sprinter Group.

Then, for a spell, the dirt road track carried on. Pleasant walking.

Not for very long, however. Soon we came to a sign, far less ambiguous than before, saying most definitely "Turn Right or Else ".  So we turned right, into a most unusual area, full of green ferns which reminded your scribe of parts of  the Scottish Highlands, Just as well we did turn right here because if we had remained on the dirt road we would never have got back to base.

This gentle ferny area was not to last however and soon the going got tougher. There were stretches of carefully constructed pole bridges over marshy areas which some managed easier than others.

.Then an arduous uphill trackless stretch which required several stops for rest.

Meanwhile Hazel and Myriam were still  searching for the world record Cistus. They claimed that they had found a 10 dot one but a petal got pulled off mid-photo. Not sure if the authorities will accept their claim. 

More rest needed up top.

Then it was  simply a matter of making the 4 kms or so back to the Warden´s Cabin. This part of the track was easy, flat going.

with several well-made and informative notice boards. It remains to be seen if they are sun and weather-proof. 

Then from the Trilho start point, it was a bit of a slog for most of us doing the 1,5 kms back to the cars. By this time the phones were ringing with the impatient waiters at Para e Fica wondering if any of us were going to get back in time for lunch.

The Track and the Statistics

Average speed 3.8 km not too bad but, if we are ever going to do the 15km Trilho when it is completed, maybe we will have to take our lunch with us, as we used to do in the old days,  rather than book in at a café. Especially if we have to walk an extra 3 km just to get to and from the trail itself. Maybe that will be a chance to bring back the open-air dining elegance practiced by Yves at that time

with fine linen and silver cutlery.

The Lunch

The Two Waiters

Maria experimented with Cerveza Preta mixed with Vinho Tinto

Post-Script

Since we were in the area, we stopped on our way home for a few moments at the memorial plaque to Maurice Clyde.

Acknowledgements

Lots and lots of photos submitted after this walk which made the editing process tricky - lots of good ones left out. Photo credits to Antje, Hazel, JohnH, Myriam and Tanja, and to the Archive. Thanks to all for joining the exploration.

Closing Music

No great enthusiasm for last week´s bit by Sting. Here is something a bit more laid-back.