PR1

As you walk around Pedrogao Pequeno you notice that there are stations of the cross here and there, however unless you are prepared to walk up the mountain overlooking the town you will never discover the remainder, they are roughly equally spaced along the road up to the church and hotel.

The path known as PR1 ,continues past the hotel bar and wanders into an upland scrubby landscape. The weather was overcast which whilst not the best for photography was an absolute Godsend to the people of the highlands and forests.....

There is a small diversion which brings you to the lip of a large quarry.

Navigating the woodland is fairly simple as long as the tree trunks continue to provide a painted stripe of colour denoting the footpath you may be on.

Not always easy to spot, we took another diversion later which brought us to the bottom of the quarry we had earlier stood on top of.

The walk above the gorge was  lovely , we were alone, not meeting a single walker all day, we could hear people in the gorge below the dam hollering and whooping but e were otherwise alone.

From certain points we could see the restaurant we had dined in the day before.

We continued along the road by the lake until forced to climb back up into the forest, where the reality of the summer awaited.

Mostly walking on forest tracks.

Beginning by the dam we climbed up into the hinterland.

The road we were walking on became a firebreak as the devastation on one side was mirrored by untouched woodland on the other. Burned trees and scrub were everywhere. It was difficult to comprehend that what we were seeing had caused fatalities. A very sobering thought....

It was difficult to figure out any logical sequence of events but given that this was a series of events and taking into consideration the different wind directions etc. the patchwork pattern began to make a kind of logic.

But so sad............. we eventually found our way back to Pedrogau Pequeno with difficulty as the helpful markers had been obliterated in the fires.