The Tebay Lad and Geordie Lass Relax on Beach

We had previously done a cycle tour in Andalucia  and decided on  a week's holiday in the sun.  After seeing Mceff's blog about the Sierra Nevada   (  http://becausetheyrethere.com/2012/10/04/lucero-where-old-hatreds-linger/#more-5195)  we ended up in the Hotel Alcadema in Lanjaron.

Monday we headed for the trail head below the Cuerda del Travenque ridge.

The city in the background is Granada.

The heat was reflected by the white limestone scree but we had 4 litres of water between us.

We round a bend and the hill seems a long way off,  it's the Cerro del Trevenque 2083m.

We alternate between the ridge and a broad path just below the crest.

A local bloke with his dog overtakes us as we head up the steep bit for the summit.

At last the summit with the high Sierra beyond and a baguette to chomp.

We had come up on the right of the picture and are going to descend the white scarred ridge in the centre and then down the waterless valley , over the col and back to the car.

This is a good way down as the river bed is dry and easy to walk on.

So the relaxing on the beach........

The day after the walk we had a day at the coast.  I took my shirt off to dazzle the onlookers and managed 10 minutes on this rock.  We then had a paddle and headed for the hills.  I know everyone is different but we passed some sun beds with brown prune like bodies lying on them.  How the hell anyone can just lie there for hour after hour is a mystery.

Borrowdale Pink Rock

After a mad dash after work and a call to Penrith Morrisons I park the car outside my mam and dads at 20:15.  That'll give me just over an hours daylight to reach Borrowdale, climb the  Whinfell ridge and get the tent up. Borrowdale is a side valley going right in the above picture just below the snowy fell.

I got the tent up at 22:00.  I carry 4 litres of water up from the beck and get the tent in the lea of a wall.
I brew coffee in the morning and the snow is already melting.

Daylight and I'm glad of that wall as the wind is strong.  I aim to walk along the ridge in the left of the picture and come back down the valley.  There's a couple of things I want to see.  If you look at Whinfell Beacon from the south there is a wood very near the top.  Wainwright reckons this was planted to provide wood for the beacon.  I'm on a mission to check it out.  There's the mystery of the pink rock.  I used to fish this valley 40 yrs ago and remember seeing pink rocks in the beck that weren't Shap Granite and certainly not the silurian mud stones of the local geology.

The wood is beautiful, the trees old and twisted.  Someone went to a lot of trouble as there is the remains of a drystone wall all the way around. The trees are not regenerating as sheep are in there now.
How long ago where beacons used ?  Are these trees that old?  They are only a short walk from the summit.

Back on the ridge I look back at the way I've come.  I'd camped just to the left of the far radar aerial.

Eventually I reach the A6  and do a sharp right back down the valley. 

Not far from here is where we once had a youth club barbecue.  One of the lads pulled a big salmon out of the beck and took it home for his mam. 

When  I sit by the beck for lunch I look for the pink stones.  They are visible in the photo above.
I hadn't imagined it, but the mystery remains they are dark pink but dont have the big crystals of the Shap Granite.  They are heavy and very tough to break.  More research needed.

It's just a question of heading over the ridge to Roundthwaite and then on to Tebay.

Just for a change it looks like rain in Tebay.  I can see my mam and dad's house from here.

Lune valley and Howgills behind.

Coming down to Roundthwaite with Tebay behind.  Just the motorway and railway to get through.

  I can remember before this was built.
Further on there are fences where there never used to be and the  little streams where the sticklebacks were are gone.  There used to be ponds near the river with newts in, no sign. There were reads next to the bridge with water rats,  just grass and trees now.

The street above used to have a cake shop and cafe, a post office, a coop,  an electrical shop and a drapery and I knew everybody's name.
Mind you they do have street lights now and indoor toilets.