It’s cool in the mountains! Summer arrives in The Sierra Nevada

It’s cool in the mountains! Summer arrives in The Sierra Nevada

Although summer has been a few weeks late in arriving this year, it has now arrived and is firmly established. Although our Mountain House is at 1300m above sea level, a few days ago I found it hard to sleep as the bedroom was airless and it was too hot to be comfortable inside at 21 degrees C.  As a consequence I got up early and decided to check out the conditions on Veleta 3394m the second highest in Spain’s Sierra Nevada.

The Carrihuela Refuge from Veleta

Leaving home at 6am where it was 21 degrees I drove to Hoya de la Mora (2500m) where it was a cool 13 degrees and felt distinctly cooler with a brisk wind blowing. The ascent of Veleta is one of the easiest of all the mountains in the Sierra Nevada. A gentle ridge and fairly good path for all but the final 200m of ascent where there is a steep zig zag path up through scree and boulders. Reaching Posiciones del Veleta at 3100m a Griffon Vulture soared overhead reminding me that I always see them when on Veleta. By the time I got the camera out and switched on it was too far to make a decent picture.  

Griffon Vulture

In total it took me two hours to reach the summit and although there was snow around, I didn’t have to cross any patches on my ascent. For most of the climb I was just about warm enough in shorts and a t shirt though my hands started to get cold near the summit. Once on the summit and no longer generating heat from the exertion of ascending I needed a windproof fleece hat and gloves. I guess it was around 5 degrees with the windchill. Cool!

"Blue Dreams"

I choose to descend towards the Carrihuela refuge 3205m down by the old track that used to cross the Sierra Nevada from Granada to Capileira on the south side of the range. As usual for this time of year the track was buried in snow for about 1Km beyond the refuge. On the way to the refuge there were a number of alpine plants coming into flower as the snow had recently receded. And I managed to get a few photo’s before the battery in my camera gave up! Notable were the Sierra Nevada Violet (Viola crassiuscula) and “Blue Dreams” (Chaenorrhinum glareosum). It was at this point with the camera out of action that I noticed a group of six Grifon Vultures circling above me!

The Sierra Nevada Violet

At the Carrihuela refuge I met a cyclist who had wanted to take the old road and cross the snow with his bike heading for Capileira.  The snow was still frozen hard and the slope to cross is very steep with a bad run off if you were to slip. Fortunately he had already decided against it though it would be a massive 120Km detour. He said he’d cycled the route a few years ago and I left him considering whether or not to wait until late afternoon when the snow might be safe enough for safe passage without crampons.

Mulhacen from The Carrihuela Refuge

The rest of the descent back to Hoya de la Mora was a pleasant stroll though I could feel it warming up! Soon the gloves came off, the fleece hat was replaced by a buff and eventually the windproof came off too. It was a pleasant 22 degrees back at the car and I headed to the “University Albergue” for a cool beer and tappa.

Veleta from the comfort of Hoya da la Mora

Mountain House Holidays run guided walking holidays in Spain's Sierra Nevada Mountains. Mike and Jane the owners of Mountain House Holidays are both qualified International Mountain Leaders.

They also run Sierra Nevada Guides and undertake guided walks for individuals and groups. There is a lot of useful information for people wanting to visit the Sierra Nevada on the Sierra Nevada Guides website.

Charity Challenge for All!

“Everyone can rise to the Challenge!”

A few years ago Mountain House Holidays were contacted by national charity who provide services for people with learning disabilities.  They had been turned down by several companies who organise charity challenge events because they wanted to include people they support in a fund raising event. As we organise and run adventure holidays for people with learning disabilities we readily agreed to work with them and help organise their challenge!

The successful team on the summit of Mulhacen

The challenge consisted of four events in Spain’s Sierra Nevada mountains:

i. A Rock Climbing and abseiling day

ii. A day to acclimatise to altitude ascending Cerro del Caballo 3011m

iii. A Canyon descent

iv. An Ascent of mainland Spain’s highest mountain, Mulhacen 3482m over two days.

The group was split into two groups for the first two days (rock climbing and the

acclimatising day).

In total with travelling, the group were away for six days spending 5 nights in

Spain, two of the nights were in a mountain hut, The Poqueira Refuge.

Each person with a learning disability had a nominated “supporter” who was

either a friend or carer. The group all travelled and undertook the activities

together.

There were ten people who took part in the challenge, three who had a learning

disability.  Nine of the ten made it to the summit of Mulhacen. The charity

arranged flights and insurance for the participants, Mountain House met the

group and provided all accommodation (full board), transport in Spain and the

activities.

Would we do it again?  Definitely!

Since then, we have hosted a number of holidays for people with a learning disability, but thought it would be good for 2013 to return to the concept of an inclusive challenge.  Why not join us with a group of friends (including people with a learning disability) and raise some money for charity.
See our website for more details.

There is a short film clip on our website showing the sorts of activities we provide for people with learning disabilities and the inclusive approach we take.

Autumn in the Alpujarra and Sierra Nevada

September and October is a great time to visit as the heat from summer starts to fade and walking and climbing at lower altitudes becomes possible again. Although there will be occasional rainy days, any moisture brings life back to the plants and a second growing season begins.

Busquistar in December

Any rain in the valleys is likely to bring a dusting of snow on the high peaks, though this will melt quickly as snow tends not to lie before November.  Water will be flowing again in the acequias  (water channels) which are often lined with chestnut trees who’s leaves turn to gold then brown as autumn progresses.

This is a great time to visit for a walking holiday.  Low season hotel prices coupled with mainly settled weather that will seem like summer to anyone from Britain.  Walking in the Alpujarra (hill walking) and Sierra Nevada (mountain walking) is as good as it gets with some truly memorable days to be had.

Some of our favourite walks  include:

A circuit in the Taha from Busquistar:

A circuit to the Poqueira Refuge for lunch;  and

An ascent of the Cerro del Caballo which at 3011m is Europe’s most westerly 3000m peak.

Walking in The Taha, December

To make the most of your visit, check out our website where you’ll find all sorts of useful information and suggested itineraries.  If you have a question about the area that isn’t answered on our website do get in touch, we are always happy to advise.

Like all mountains, these can be serious too.  Only venture into the hills if you have the right skills.  You can always hire a guide from Sierra Nevada Guides.

Mountain House Holidays have places available on their walking and scrambling holidays scheduled for September.

Back to Spain for Peter, Roy and Andrew

Our intrepid Friday walking group joined us for their third (and Peter's fourth) trip to Spain. Based in the hotel Lanjaron they were joined by three others for an adventure activity holiday. During the week we managed to walk, climb, cross rope bridges, negotiate water slides, and explore the spectaculour caves at Nerja. Being a holiday, we also visited the beach, ate icecreams and enjoyed afternoon drinks at Mike & Jane's mountain house. A great week, lots of new experiences, confidence gained and pictures to remember it by.

Day 3 Rio Trevelez - Vacares

By morning, the horses had moved away, and we were able to enjoy our breakfast undisturbed. I was conscious that we had now completed what I had originally (though in hindsight wrongly) thought would be the easier part of the walk, and the next section potentially had some of the more technical stretches of the ridge. On previous occasions, we had found the walk up to Los Ladrones (2,900m) quite hard work. Puerto de Trevelez is a crossing point for old mountain trails and often visited by walkers, however again we saw no-one, and found the early morning walk (taking less than an hour) surprisingly pleasant - are we getting fitter?

After a photo break we headed on towards Puntal de Juntillas, our first 3000m peak. From here there are really good views of Mulhacen and much of the ridge we would walk that day. Beneath us and to the north, 2 walkers were decending from Picon de Jerez, the only people we saw all day. We wondered where they had started to have arrived there so early?

From here we decended a short way before tackling the horseshoe of Puntal de los Cuartos and Pico de la Justicia. Although it required a little more concentration, overall the route was not difficult. From the summit of Juntillas, we picked a way onto Cerro Pelao (3,181 m). From here we had great views down into the bowl of the Laguna de Juntillas, where we had camped the previous year. This was followed by the rocky environment of the Tajos Negros to reach the high point of Puntal de Los Cuartos (3,158m). Unfortunately the route absorbed my concentration, and I found I hadn't taken any photo's. Other intrepid 'integrallers' have however helped me out.

We descended to the collado de las Buiteras for lunch, by which time for the first time on the trip, the cloud was beginning to pile in. We wondered whether this was going to herald a storm, and debated sitting it out on the col (not the wisest place to be in stormy weather, but better then a summit), however in the end, decided to press on. The path to Pico del Cuervo (3,144 m) takes you through quite a complicated boulder field, and proved difficult to follow from the col. However it has a large cairn at the summit and once again great views, despite the cool cloudy weather. On our previous trip, we had found the descent towards Vacares quite difficult, so decided to stay on the northern side of the ridge. This proved to be a little easier, but not without it's route finding difficulties, again involving some steep rocky steps and a boulder field. However by 4pm we had made it down to our campsite underneath the northern slopes of the Collado de Vacares. There was no running water here, but still big snow patches, so snow melting was the order of the day. We filled our pan and kettle with snow and set to to make drinks and enough water for the evening meal. We shared the camp with 6 sheep and amazingly a young lamb; some had bells, and I had visions of another disturbed night, however they proved entertaining companions and eventually left us, presumably for a less exposed setting.

This was our highest campsite yet, and just beneath the snow, it soon turned cold. As we watched the sun going down behind the hills, we tried to pick out landmarks in the Rio Genil far below. We turned in before dark, a shame in many ways, and one of the drawbacks of having a tent, it just felt too cold to be out, but would have been a great night for watching the stars - maybe next time we should just bivi?

Day 2 San Juan - Rio Trevelez

Monday morning dawned bright and clear. We really ought to have had an 'alpine style' start, striking camp just before dawn and reaching the summit of San Juan as the sun was rising. However we were on holiday, and neither of us had the energy for cold early morning starts. Our shepherd friend had been right about the cold, although this it is Southern Spain, the temperature does drop overnight even in the height of summer, but of course as soon as the sun comes over the horizon it sheds its warming rays very quickly - not conducive to steep uphill walking with big packs. After a breakfast of hot oats and coffee, we refilled the water bottles and set off. The eastern slope of San Juan had looked rather daunting, as we had descended to the col the previous evening, and we were not really looking forward to tackling it! However it's bark proved much worse than it's bite, and steady walking with a few short breaks soon saw us at the summit and enjoying the morning flapjack snack we had promised ourselves. At the summit (2786m), the remains of candles suggested we had followed in the steps of pilgrims who had we assumed walked to the summit to celebrate San Juan the previous weekend. An hour or so on, at Piedras de Pelegrina, we found ourselves walking through a herd of cows. I am quite taken with the way cows appear to thrive in the Sierra Nevada. Despite the altitude, they look much healthier than their British counterparts, and are not threatened by walkers. Just before Penon del Puerto (2754m), we saw a second shepherd and wondered if he was their owner. Again he made a point of approaching us and asking where we had come from. He thought we were very hardy, having walked from La Ragua. I commented on the difference from farmers in the UK, who would more often than not want to avoid walkers, seeing them as a nuisance when approaching stock, rather than fellow travellers to share experiences and the time of day with. Soon after we found a good lunch and rest stop amongst the rocks of Penon del Puerto. We have discovered the delights of dry cured sausage, olives, Spanish dried breads, 'squeezy' cheese and a fruit and nut mix, as a nutritious and relatively light to carry lunch. With a few minor variations, this was our lunch most days on the trip. We soon headed off again following the rise and fall of the ridge. Mike had looked at the map, assuming that it was only an hour or so to our proposed campsite, but became extremely dismayed to discover we had 4 peaks and a long ridge to tackle that afternoon; we needed to head on!

A steep climb led us to the summit of Puerto de Jerez (2919m) and then on to Cerro de Trevelez (2877m). Despite a few paths heading up from the valleys of the Alpujarra, the mountains had an increasingly remote feel, and we met no-one else until arriving at the popular camp site of Siete Lagunas the following day. Our second night was spent at the head of the Rio Trevelez (2780m), a place which we had visited twice the previous summer and thought would make a really good camp site. This proved to be the case; we found a soft flat spot, with lots of rocky boulders to use for our camp kitchen. We were really close to two springs, with lots of water and flowers. The stream stretched down the valley to Spain's highest village far below and nearer to hand we saw what we took to be cows. As darkness fell, and we zipped up the tent, we began to hear the tell tale sound of bells, getting gradually louder. Cows do wear bells in the Spanish mountains, however somehow these creatures didn't sound like cows. Eventually Mike put his head out of the tent, to find us surrounded by horses, both young and old. Though I certainly wouldn't describe myself as a 'horsey person', I normally don't dislike horses, however somehow a lot of the creatures so close at hand, and in the dark, felt quite threatening, so not the best of nights sleep!

Day 1 La Ragua - St Juan

It seemed very appropriate that we should be walking towards Alto de San Juan on the weekend of the San Juan fiesta. As we walked through Lanjaron to meet Sharon, there was evidence of the previous days celebrations and water fight still to be cleared from the streets. It was with some slight uncertainty that we walked towards the tourist information office - had we made the arrangements clear enough? Did she really know where we wanted to go? However we need not have worried, she was there waiting for us, complete with her small car, into which we managed to cram our rather large rucksacks. She had sorted out the route, and we agreed to drive north via Granada and take the Almeria motorway to Guadix, then south to La Ragua. This proved a much faster and for us more interesting route, as we had not been through be 'badlands' of Guadix before. We arrived at La Ragua around 12.15. Our hope had been to spend the first night at
the refugio, thinking that on any future trip sleeping at 2000m would offer clients a good opportunity to acclimatise, and give us the chance to explore the eastern peaks without a rucksack. However although I had tried to contact the refuge in the UK, I had had no reply, and I had a suspicion that it might only be open in the winter months. La Ragua is at the highest point on the road between La Calahora to the
north and Laroles to the south, and promotes itself as a venue for cross country skiing. When we had visited earlier in the year there was very little snow, but the pleasant restaurant was open and skis could be hired. Today only the tourist information centre was open, so we decided to set off and take the first day as it came. Our first task was to fill water bottles. Fortunately a stream runs past La Ragua north towards the valley, and in June this was flowing very nicely. With full bottles and bladders (we carried 5 litres of water between us at the start of each day) we set off.

Our route took us through along the stream and skirted the forest before opening out onto the slopes of Moron de la Cabanuela, where we stopped for some lunch before losing the last of the shade.


The afternoon saw us reaching our first summit, with great views of the ridge ahead. we found the mountains at this end of the ridge to be much more grassy than I had expected, and although it should have been easy walking, the 'ups and downs' were in fact really quite tiring. That afternoon we climbed 3 further peaks, Hornillo (2375), Sanjuanero, and Mediodia. From the latter we could see signs of water in the Rio Nechite (marked as a fuente on the 1:50000 map). This was our target for the first nights camp. However the slopes of Collade del Realejo Alto proved much longer than appeared from the distance and it was a very tired pair who found themselves turning left at Puerto del lobo to head down a well marked track. Unfortunately our water source proved somewhat allusive. The first two green strips we had seen in the distance turned out to be dry. We stopped for a short while to watch a herd of goats browsing on the short grass, and after a few minutes were joined by their owner, who asked what we were doing. I asked him about water, and he advised that there was water further down the valley, and would take us. However it seemed that this was going to be another couple of kilometres away, and neither of us were keen on losing that much height. I had found a small spring not far away, and we decided to make the best of this. We will stay here I said to the shepherd; it will be cold was his response! No, we have a tent & sleeping bags, OK, have a good night - he clearly thought we were either very foolish or totally mad!

It turned out to be a quite acceptable camp site, and we soon had the tent up and a bowl of pasta on the boil. Relaxing the end of our first day accompanied by the distant sounds of the goat bells, we mused on the fact that we had seen only 2 people since leaving Ragua - a student looking for Vipers and the goat-herd; this truly was wilderness country!

A long walk home! - Spain's highest Mountains

It's June 2006, we have toiled up the final pull to reach Puerto de Trevelez on our high level journey amongst the Sierra Nevada Mountains, the second highest of Western Europe's moutain ranges. We looked eastward, and think we really should explore those lower peaks, which though lower appear just as impressive and imposing. We then continue on our route to the west.

The following winter, we were looking again at the map and Mike said "what do you want to do for your summer holidays?" How about walking the entire ridge I said. You can drive to 2000 metres; why don't we do that, then walk the whole way back!

We had had a number of forrays amongst the high mountains, sometimes on our own, others with friends and paying clients. However there was still much to explore and a few bits that kept getting missed. We looked again at the map and started to plot our route which we thought would need 6 or 7 days.

June is the ideal time for walking in Spain's highest mountains. Although there are likely to still be patches of snow, this also means plenty of water and some beautiful alpine flowers which are at their best following the snow melt.

There are only 2 hotel style refuges in the Sierra Nevada (neither of which would be on our intended route), so we would need to carry food and a tent just in case of bad weather or for the days when it was too far between the many bivoac shelters.

So the seeds were set for our latest journey, which was to prove the hardest, but best among these facinating mountains of which we just don't seem to tire.