CB walkers complete Fontilles Grand Circuit!

Many groups do the same walks, year after year, which can become boring. Not ours. The CB Walkers have taken the time to explore and have discovered many new walks, including this one which we have named the Fontilles Grand Circuit, after the old leper colony it visits. Built in 1909 and surrounded by a high wall the colony lived in isolation until a multidrug cure was found in 1982. Today its gardens and grounds are open to visitors, most of whom arrive by car or coach.

We visited Fontilles as part of a new walk, which starts at Murla, a village between Alcalali and Orba in the Jalon Valley. A quiet lane led us to the foot of Orba Castle, and then a good path took us down a wooded ravine. Crossing the main road we passed paths leading to Tormos and to Isberts Folly - a dam across a deep gorge meant to create a reservoir, only for the water to vanish into the permeable limestone. Our path led up to below the crags of Castell and then we plunged steeply down on a zig zag path into a deep valley and then up to emerge at Fontilles!

After an interesting tour we followed a path alongside the wall and so back to Murla in 4 hours, having walked about 12km and climbed about 350 metres.

If you would like to try a new walk there is an easy walk every Wednesday and a more challenging hike every Saturday. Full details are on our website www.costablancawalks.com

You will also find sketch maps of all our walks, many of which are unique to our group and are available for free download. For instance the walk described is map P15 - there are 180 in all, of all standards from a gentle stroll to a mountain climb, so why not have a look?

Or email me for advice on geoffparsons1@icloud.com Happy walking,

Geoff.