After the rest

After the rest we've had a week or so riding the GR7 again, from Ontinient to Vallada was our best day yet, the route took us kindly through every sort of terrain, the horses were happy & lively with noticeable renewed comfort on their bare feet, though I would add that this aspect of their well being has been most challenging, it would have been impossible without their Scoot boots.
On this day we went over a small mountain, up on a mule path, then on to dirt tracks through the pine forest & down to join the old railway route, this was of course a lovely straight path, perfectly shaded with trees & ran right alongside the new railway, obscured most of the time, but the contrast of old & new was striking. We had to cross the new railway a couple of times, just by looking each way & listening for the hiss, before riding over the tracks ! We actually did this as kids with our ponies & it reminded me so much of my childhood days riding alongside the railway at Christs Hospital school, where we'd inevitably end up galloping next to the train, the scene resembling something out of a western hold up, though my pony by that time was probably riderless !
One or two trains did pass while we we're on this old path, but thankfully, at points when we weren't too close.
So we were happy to be in the wilds again, seeing miles of countryside, mountains & valleys, some so wide that you can see the country like a big 3D map and with several horizons, you can actually see visable progress across Spain as the closer hills pass by, other times you're so closed in that you can't see past the next corner & you think how this tiny path with us on it, is so insignificant & yet our lifeline - being the red & white stripes of the GR7 - when you know you're on it it's fantastic, but when you're not sure, its terribly daunting.
In the forests, sometimes we're riding by the tops of massive trees which are rooted far below on the steep mountainside, other times with the trees towering above us & the undegrowth busy with life, tiny bright butterflies.. vividly coloured little flowers of white, pink, yellow & blue, they're beautiful, like love in the mist, but there's no mist.

In the next days our path grew less distinct, narrow, steep & difficult, trees have fallen & in some areas have been cut clear of the path, even so it was tricky to pass between some trees with our wide loads & whilst some trees will bend away if you push as you go by, others are too big, but I watched Mark being the man infront of me as he was seemingly pushing the big trees away, when I finally realised he was doing it to move Tio over ! As Mark often says, there's more than one way to skin a cat, (where did that awful phrase come from !?)
As we passed into the next province the path became less maintained & finally we came to a point in the middle of the forest where we simply couldn't pass. The route back would be long & disheartening at best. We didn't have a signal for gps, & little power from the solar panels as we were out of the sun. Panic could have set in, but of course we were cool as cucumbers - Haha ! Only the horses were cool.
After some tense minutes waiting for just a tiny charge on a phone & moving to another spot for a signal, we thankfully found a way out.

Difficult......  But not impossible.

The size & beauty of the landscape is hard to absorb, the richness of it all, you feel saturated, in a good way..but leaving no space to remember the names of the towns we pass or are heading for ! This is also because the town names are weird, like 'Tirig' where we are now.. And when you travel like this, the spoken language changes gradually.. We're in Valencia, where Valenciano is most used & the further north we go, the stranger people sound, however & thankfully, everyone can still speak Castillano.

Now it's finally got hot ! & we just have to get up at 5.30 & do our k's before lunch. If we're not off the trail & in the shade by then, the horses will tire, they'll be thirsty, we'll be hungry & tempers will fray, or more often - Irvine !

Our 3rd Lavenderia stop over was the best ever ! this one in Ummm, what was it called ? More like a grand turkish bath with pillars & archways 3 pools like pools, I couldn't see a reason not to get in for a
proper bath (& swim) ! After all, other townspeople have even suggested we sleep in the lavanderia house & not bother with the tent !
Anyway directly beside this one was a gloriously lush riverbed where the horses happily browsed.. With big old trees for shade & a pretty archway under the bridge, it was delightful thankyou very much.

We do however have to have great caution with the chance of poisoned grass, in these rural areas where animals are no longer cropping the municipal areas of herbage, the councils will put poison on the land, it being a fire risk to have long dry grass around a town. Also farmers may poison land for the same reason & to make harvesting of trees easier.. Therefore we look for abandoned farms just outside of town, near some horse water, checking with anybody we see nearby.. Its quite a complicated process & can take some time.

Our trusty steeds are faring very well, they've both lost a taj of weight & muscled up, they cope easily with us & the load now that they're accustomed to it.
Everyone remarks on how well they look inspite of jaw dropping faces on hearing where we've ridden from.!
We've had foot inspections from helpful experts (for horses of course) all good.
The condition of our horses amaze us, hardly a mark of any stress, bar being away from home, which sadly is still with them, both would still prefer to turn south.
Without going too horsey on everyone, both me & Mark find ourselves emersed in their exsistance, being on this trail, you're side by side, pretty much all the time, relationships have soared ! My horse actually likes me ! He really trusts me, he knows I'm always making sure he's ok and I really like that. Tio is so 'like that' with Mark, he actually knickers & nieghs in comunication.. He also shoves us in disagreement & steels food from our bag.
Rayo is also quite opinionated, unlike the closed horse when I got him, he sees we can negotiate.
Yes, horses totally come first, so me & Mark are neglecting our needs - that came out wrong ! I mean food & sleep.
I'll be busy doing something & then It'll gradually dawn on me that I've got a churning tummy & my stomachs kindof eating itself & I'm like, oh yeah - food ! Goddam it, it gets in the way.
& enough sleep when you get up at 5.30 a.m. & you're not an accomplished siestarer !

So I'll admit, I've sobbed, but I'm still being bamboozled with happy feelings.