Cami de S'Arxidue

Go large to see the track along the crest of the ridge (towards top left).

The best days are those that evolve, beginning with a germ of a plan, an outline for what you want to do, which then assumes a life all of its own and takes over before you've realised what's happened. This was that kind of day. It was supposed to be relaxing but didn't quite turn out that way. No surprise there I guess! It didn't start well either, the overnight stormy weather leading to a disturbed night's sleep and a nightmare involving my brain being eaten away - which meant that I didn't exactly wake up into the best frame of mind!

After a leisurely coffee and a quick connection to blip at our favourite little cafe we took the bus to Valldemossa and spent a lovely couple of hours exploring the back streets and soaking up the atmosphere of this ancient mountain settlement. There were a lot of fellow tourists about but that didn't seem to detract too much from the experience. It was all so beautifully maintained.

The idea was to take a leisurely walk back to Deia along one of the mountain trails marked on our map. As is often the case in this part of the world it was quite a challenge to find the start of the trail. We thought we were at the right place but there was no sign nor any kind of indication that there was a right of way, but fortunately we soon saw someone coming down who confirmed that we were in the right place. They also informed us that the route we were going to take was not possible. The path marked on the map apparently doesn't actually exist on the ground!

The alternative involved more climbing but the trail was very well graded and it didn't seem long before we emerged out of the pine forest with the most incredible views along the coast to Port Soller where we were the previous evening. We were on the famous Cami de S'Arxidue (shown here), an engineered path right along the top of the escarpment which rises some 3,000 feet as an almost sheer wall of limestone from the coast. Having gained so much height we were reluctant to descend right away and TJ was tempted to walk further along the ridge to Teix at 1062m - although we were finally thwarted from actually getting to the summit by a massive wall and barred stile. Apparently the landowner has taken exception to hikers stepping foot on his land.

By the time we returned to the path to descend to Deia it was already late in the afternoon and the route proved a little difficult to follow. We descended a steep slope of very broken rock, following what I thought was a faint path, but which I suspect was just the trail of similarly confused hikers. We were descending a shoulder which ended at a precipice. There was no way off, with no choice but to retrace our steps. On the return I realised, with horror, that I no longer had my camera around my neck. I had put it down at some point while looking at the map and hadn't picked it back up again.

I tried to follow the route I had taken down but the ground was so broken and featureless that it was virtually impossible. It was literally like looking for a needle in a haystack. I spent as long as I dare in search but got to the point where it was more important to get off the mountain than find the camera. I was resigned to coming back tomorrow and hoping it wasn't going to pour with rain overnight. TJ was waiting for me higher up the slope and I set off to join her as quickly as I could. Pretty much the moment I stopped looking for the camera I stumbled across it. From despair to jubilation in a fraction of a second. It was a huge relief. And then we found the route down. That was a huge relief too - although it took quite a while to descend. Although we could see Deia right below us, the steep switch-back trail took forever to wind its way down the crags and through the forest below.

We had been invited to a film night hosted by a friend of a friend of TJ's so we just had enough time for a shower and a change of clothes so as to head straight back out to enjoy meeting some new people and a quirky Icelandic film. Our host was brought up between Ireland, Iceland and here in Deia! It's always fascinating to meet people who cross different cultures. It all meant that I ended the day with a very much clearer head than the one I had at the start.