Sponsored Hike in aid of S.O.S. Animal Refuge

We have been dreading and looking forward to this day for some time now. It has been talked about so much over the past few weeks, since I first muted the idea, and then all of a sudden that day is here.

The weather forecast for the day had been somewhat unsettled and indeed as I left home for the start it did start to rain, but fortunately it was only light and didn’t last for long. In fact the weather turned out to be almost perfect hiking weather not too much sun and a cooling breeze for most of the hike.

We had 15 people willing to do the hike, but a further three that accompanied us for the first few kilometres to give us some moral support. There were also a number of partners and friends at the start to send us off, including a couple of volunteers from S.O.S. Animal Refuge (the charity that we were raising money for) along with 4 of the dogs looking for a forever home who were there to wag us off.

At just before 10 am we fired up our walking apps. And off we went.

The first 5 kms or so were fairly easy walking on reasonably level tracks, and indeed on tarmac, as we descended into the German or Secret Valley, which is actually the area known as Barranco Blanco. We took a short stop at the bridge over the Rio Alaminos with its waterfall below us.

In a short distance a decision needed to me made, do we take the less steep route but add nearly 2 kms to the route or take the steeper climb up the concrete road. We decided to take the shorter but steeper route, which indeed proved to be very steep, and although we had to take a couple of rests on the way up everyone made it.

Because some of the group were unsure of their own capabilities I had a ‘rescue’ vehicle on stand-by just in case, but it was not needed and once we reached to top of this climb with the whole group intact the vehicle was stood down.  A big thanks to Alan for standing by for us.

The Halfway Break

The route then rejoins the PR-A-388 and we trek along the reasonably surfaced and fairly level fire access track, which twists and changes direction affording fabulous views all around. The authorities have now constructed Miradors (viewing points) with fences and seating which were placed strategically ideal for us all to take short breaks.

After about 10 km on this track we reached the junction of several other tracks and here we left the marked route and took a little used track that follows above the Rio Perelais valley for a while, offering views in a different direction. Here the going started to get a bit tougher, muscles were starting to ache and the surface was littered with loose small rocks. We then started the ascent to join the main track, and this is where the going got even tougher as the weather over the years has virtually washed away the track and we were walking on the under rock and fallen rocks. However this was only for a short distance and was tackled with determination and humour by everyone.

We then joined the main service track that rises to the Antennae, and took this down to its start opposite the entrance to the old Eldorado Studios, it’s then a 1.4 km ‘march’ along the final stretch on the wide and reasonable access track to the studios and stadium.

The first surprise was when Henri arrived in his car and scattered plastic roses across the track, apparently a Dutch tradition. As we approached the finish we were greeted by cheering and waving partners and supporters and a ‘finish’ tape across the track.

Supporters at the Finish Tape

It was then some cool down and stretching exercises led by Bokwa Becca along with a celebratory glass of Cava provided by the Bokwa Class and plenty of cold Beers and soft drinks provided by Bernie and Alan.

I was hoping that we would raise more than we did on our last Sponsored Hike to La Bola, which was €260, I was rather hoping for €500 or more, in the end we have raised over €2200, what a fantastic achievement by all concerned.

The final total raised was €2351

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