Costa Blanca Mountain Walkers

 - Wednesday 14 March: El Realet Variant

A blue and cloudless sky greeted the 12 walkers who turned up to support Kees for the El Realet Variant approximately 4 kms inland from the village of Finestrat. His vast knowledge of this area always guarantees an interesting and stimulating walk with the satisfaction of experiencing an area still devoid of mass human settlement. The dramatic mountain ranges provided lots of opportunities for those carrying cameras to click away and to be mindful not to include Kees in the picture in case the resulting exposure became chosen for either the front or back page of the CBMWs Autumn programme…………..lets face it, can you remember a programme where Kees was not featured on the covers! The first hour involved a fairly strenuous ascent though taken at a moderate pace and on reaching the track around the Puig circuit the walk thankfully levelled out for the next hour as the temperature rose to 24ºC. During lunch Keith from Benidorm realised that he had left his wallet and mobile on the seat of his car so he immediately dashed off to the start point to retrieved said items. Our steep descent via one of the gaps in the Cortina mountain range was littered with small loose rocks and demanded caution and consequently progress was slow. It was to everyone’s surprise to be met halfway down the mountain by a shirtless Keith who having successfully retrieved his mobile & wallet decided to make his way back up the mountain to meet us. What is this man made of……………………obviously his daily spoonful of cod-liver oil is doing the trick. The walk finished at 15.00 hrs and the après walk was taken on the sunny terrace of the Bar Font Moli. Thanks to Kees for a memorable day out.