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OVERSEAS MEET REPORT - ALMERIA, SPAIN20-31 March 2016

Typical YRC! The week-long meet was first agreedthe previous year in Calpe, Spain, when Tony and Valoffered to organise it in the caving and walking areaof their winter home in Andalucía. They fixed theSunday start date to fit in neatly between their othercommitments. Not one of the ten members flying infrom the UK to Alicante arrived on Sunday: four onFriday, one Saturday and the rest on Monday. YRCmembers are individuals not sheep.

On the outskirts of Garrucha, in groups of three orfour, we had apartments within 100m of oneanother and these groups took turns to provide anevening meal. As we were twelve and theapartments catered for four we arrived carryingcrockery, cutlery, a table or chairs to the surprise ofa passing estate agent. We enjoyed the usual highstandard of catering despite everyone having activedays on the hills or in the caves of the Sorbasplateau. Everything was arranged at the ‘right price’with off-season accommodation costing £65 eachfor the week and, for example, an excellent three-course lunch with alcohol and coffee being €10 at alocals’ transport cafe. We also ate out a couple ofevenings at ‘The Wok’ in Vera and Los Contreros,Villaricos – the latter a ‘final meal’ half-way throughthe later arrivers’ week.

Our meet leaders and membership secretary hadbeen busy in advance of the meet. The local ex-patcaving group were primed to help get us to anddown selected potholes in the Sorbas Karst area andthose with GPS had been provided with digital mapsand routes for scores of local walks. The weatherforecast though was less encouraging, with coolerdays than we have often had and some rain inprospect. In fact, the rain was mostly overnight andtemperatures were suitable for walking and hottertowards the end of the meet. Rather than detailindividuals’ day-to-day activities an overallimpression of the activities is given in outline.

Full day walks started with an outing from Alfaxbridge and linked ramblas (dry stream beds),coniferous woodland, ridges and firebreaks. Whilenot the most impressive start we did find a tortoiseand got some good views. Overnight rain had leftslippery glutinous mud and raised stream levelswhich impeded progress in places. A bettermountain walk was had from Mojácar, a typicalwhite village perched high on the northern end ofthe Sierra Cabrera. Beyond a radio mast wereabandoned terraces leading to broad ridges with afew rocky sections and decent tracks through thorny

maquis. The high point of Arraez, 919m at thesouthern end was reached and a more westerly returnvariation gave a couple of sections of bashing throughthe scrub which left an impression on those walkingin shorts. Red-legged partridge were beingencouraged as game birds and we saw a shepherdwith a large flock of sheep and goats. About an hour’sdrive north was the 2000m+ Sierra de Maria whichwas approached from an Ermita on the northern side.Access is controlled and a permit is probably neededthough in this season we met only one other walker.Skirting west round the botanical reserve a good path(with small purple crocuses) was left for a directapproach to the snow covered col. The rock here waslimestone and the snow covered clints and grykesrequired care. The summit is some two kilometresfrom the col with no great height gain but, expectingUK summer walking conditions the trainer-cladramblers were distinctly challenged by the strongbitingly-cold wind en route to the Maria summit. Wewere all pleased to turn and have it blowing on ourbacks as we returned to the col to find shelter andhave lunch, then delighted when we decided toabandon the windswept ridge ahead and drop backto the woodland-edge traverse path below the col.At the end of the sierra we descended to return viaalmond groves, cherry orchards and flower-strewnpaths.

Shorter walks provided plenty of interest. Below thehill village of Bedar we walked good tracks linkingvillages and many mines and quarries. Several mineswere entered and most got pretty dusty. FromSopalmo was a ‘Rope and Tunnel’ walk which droppedinto a rambla before entering a 500m tunnel leadingto the beach and a 300m ascent via a rambla withsome steep clambering which would have beenrope-assisted if anyone had taken one or if the in-situone had not disintegrated. Just around the cornerfrom the apartments was a lagoon and reed-bedwhich entertained some birders.

Another half day was spent walking to Tenerife. No,not the island, but a summit overlooking the heavilymined Jaroso valley in the Sierra Almagrera. Interestwas maintained by inspecting the extensivenineteenth century lead and silver mining remains,whilst avoiding falling into any of the many deep openshafts. At the Chimenea de Moro, we visited arestored steam winding engine manufactured byReading Ironworks in 1837, a silent tribute to Britishengineering. On our return, we passed a herd ofgoats and sheep gorging themselves on a carpet oforanges, onions and tomatoes.

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however, the rock was solid, made of gypsumcrystals ranging from a few mm to about 60 cmwhich sparkled in the lights. It was a delight tochange after the trips in sunshine and warm air.

There was more to the meet than walking, cavingand eating. A bird list is appended and on the SierraCabrera we came across clear animal tracks withpaw prints a good 10cm across and spread acrossseveral miles of track. The spoor lacked claw marksexcept in a few places where extra traction wouldhave been needed on a slippery uphill slope – sothat rules out dogs. The 10cm size is twice that of awild cat. That leaves the Iberian lynx but they arenot supposed to be within scores of miles of thearea and the prints are large even for those. Theseremain something of a mystery.

Despite being, at two hours, a longer drive fromAlicante than our other recent visits to Spain, thisarea had plenty of interest within easy reach to keepus busy. Thanks go to Tony and Val for making thelocal arrangements and their welcoming meals.

Attendance

Val and Tony Penny (meet leaders)John WhalleyCarol WhalleyMike SmithHelen SmithRichard Smith

Birds:Black redstartBlack vultureBlack wheatearBlackbirdBlack-winged stiltBonelli’s eagleCetti’s warblerChoughCootCormorantCrested larkEgyptian vultureGreat titGreenfinchGrey heron

House sparrowKestrelLittle egretMagpieMallardMarsh harrierMediterranean gullRed-legged partridgeRobinSand piperSpanish sparrowSpotless starlingSwallowTree sparrowWhite wagtailWren

Richard SealeyGed CampionAeron CampionTim JosephyMick Borroff

Getting to the caving area went well until we leftthe surfaced road. Thankfully our President’s hirecar was left there and his party squeezed into theother vehicles. The rain had turned dips in therough track into mud-baths and it was mud-splattered cavers who headed for the entranceshaving fought to get Tony’s van out of the mire.The caving is in gypsum karst. Gypsum is quarriedlocally and exported on a large scale. Indeed, thequarrying now abuts the Karst en Yesos de Sorbasprotected area though there must be economicpressures to encroach further. Six million yearsago the area was in the Mediterranean thenprecipitation and uplift left the 100m thick layerof gypsum for rainwater solution to form over1,000 caves. We tackled only four. The first cave,System Ruedo, followed a steeply descending riftwith climbs and four pitches to end in an chamberwith a fine stal flow some 20 ft high.

The second one, System Tesoro, was a throughtrip enjoyed by a large party. There were threepitches, a number of interesting side passagesand some impressive chambers before we exitedbelow a line of high and crumbling cliffs. Wiseheads counselled going south to a grassy area;Tony rushed off north into more and moredifficult terrain through huge boulders. He had tobe restrained.

Later in the week, two more shafts wereinvestigated. One, Cueva del Agua, became tootight even for Ged, the other, System Gep, wasexplored to a fine stalactite chamber. One hazardwas the crumbling of the gypsum forming the topof the shafts where it was exposed to water, airand sunlight. Pressure from feet or ropes sentshowers of debris on those below to the extentthat most chose to crawl out along a low ramppassage through blocks rather than prussik up themain shaft of the first cave. Once into the caves

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