This was our second year to stage this event and raise some money for
local charities, and this year I decided to split the donations between four,
being S.O.S Animals, A.I.D Animals in Distress, ARCH Andalucian Horse rescue Charity
and CHAIN Charity for Animals in Need.
I started planning this some weeks ago in an effort to raise as much
money for these charities as possible and hopefully beat last year’s total of
€2400.
Originally the hike was planned for Saturday 29th April 2017,
but that weekend was a complete washout, we had constant rain for almost three
days, including all day on the Saturday. It would have been very dangerous to
have attempted this hike in those conditions, so I had to cancel it for that
weekend and re-schedule for the following Saturday. The one good thing to come
out of that was that it gave everyone an additional week to get sponsorship.
The route for this year was only slightly different to last year in so
far as it kept to the marked track up the first incline instead of taking the
very steep road that we took last year, although it added an extra 2 kms onto
last year’s distance it made life a little easier for the participants.
Because we had to postpone for a week it meant that 9 of the planned
hikers were unable to undertake the challenge because they either had made
other plans or had gone back to the UK. This was a bit of a worry initially but
as it happens very little in the way of donations was lost thanks to the
generosity of the sponsors.
Not only did we have the Hike planned but also a picnic afterwards along
with a raffle and a small auction.
The hikers 19 hikers that were undertaking the route met up at the Los
Llanos Sports Ground and were greeted by a couple of helpers from S.O.S Animals
with Rupert, the lovely German Shepherd dog that needs a hip replacement and
they will be putting their part of the money raised towards the cost of the
operation which estimated at €1000.
The weather, in contrast to the previous week, was almost perfect, blue
skies and sunshine but with a slight breeze.
The route took the group across the flat heathland and then into the
woods until reaching the road that lead into the Barranco Blanco valley. This
road winds through the woods and then into the open and drops into the valley
until it crosses the Rio Alaminos with its waterfalls and ponds. From here the
route starts to climb, snaking its way up to the fire track and passing through
the newly growing flora and fauna that was so devastated just over three years
ago in the massive fire that started in this area and swept all the way down to
Marbella.
Once this incline is completed it’s then onto the fire track that winds
its way around the side of the Cerro Negro. There was evidence of the recent
heavy rainfall in the amount of land slips onto the track and the fact that
many of the streams that last year were dry were now flowing strongly.
This part of the route is reasonably flat walking for about 10 kms and
has the magnificent views over to the Sierra de Mijas and beyond as well as the
views into the valley.
This section is followed by a section of rougher track that follows
along the edge of the Dolomite quarry and gets progressively rougher as it
approaches where the rain has washed away a lot of the surface exposing the
rocks beneath. It then becomes a bit of a scramble over these rocks onto a
narrow path that leads to the better surfaced service track above. Once onto
this track it’s an easier walk downhill to the bottom where it emerges opposite
the Cuidad del Airsoft, the Paintball venue that was once the studios where the
defunked soap Eldorado was filmed.
The group then walk triumphantly along the kilometre long straight track
that takes them to the finish at the Sports ground and a massive round of
applause from all those who came to support them.
Many people turned up to congratulate the walkers and to take part in
the picnic all of which was raising money for the charities. During the picnic
we raffled the Cake that John Staton had made along with prizes that had been
donated by S.O.S., A.I.D., and ARCH. John had been selling raffle tickets for
some weeks and it had become a bit of a mantra now whenever we saw him. A huge
bottle of wine was auctioned as was a beautiful hand painted coat rack. Also
over the past few weeks John had been selling delicious free range eggs from
his hens to the walkers on the weekly rambles and he donated the money from
this to the overall fund.
A huge THANK YOU must go out to all those who did the hike and the
ladies that did the catering, along with all those who contributed in any way whether
by helping on the day or contributing raffle prizes.
Also thanks to John Milborrow for leading the hike as I am no longer able to undertake these type of walks.
And a special thanks to Alan Kennah who was over here for a weeks holiday and joined the walk and took on his old role as 'Tail End Charlie'.
Also thanks to John Milborrow for leading the hike as I am no longer able to undertake these type of walks.
And a special thanks to Alan Kennah who was over here for a weeks holiday and joined the walk and took on his old role as 'Tail End Charlie'.
Here is a provisional breakdown (rounded) of where the money came from,
we will not know the exact figure for a few days as it is still coming in and
some is coming from the Justgiving page that was set up by Laura Walklett which
takes 10 days to transfer and depends upon the exchange rate at the time.
Sponsorship from the walkers €2940
Profit from Food & Drink sales. €130
Raffle for Cake and other prizes €250
Auction of Coat rack €15
Auction of Bottle of Wine €75
Sale of eggs from John €100
Provisional amount raised €3510
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