Bank Holiday Hideout

The high temperatures remained for the bank holiday weekend, but some low clouds were obscuring most of the sunshine on the mountains. Given the conditions, we decided to make the most of the luxury of The Cottage and enjoyed a very leisurely day mostly spent in the sunshine of the garden, eating pancakes, drinking coffee, reading and generally having a chilled time. We did do a little exercise, by taking a picnic up to the top of our local peak for our style 'Sunday Lunch'.

 

It was just the right level of energy expenditure and a slow pace allowed us to notice the little things, like new fir cones on the larch trees.

And the colour in the hedgerows...

 

 

And of course the latest headline acts in The Cottage garden! I don't even know where these came from?! Mom? Did you sneak these in?...

 

We did venture out to catch up with a few friends, but otherwise let the holiday crowds enjoy the cliffs and mountains and kept ourselves to ourselves in the quiet confines of The Cottage grounds. We were well stocked with fine foods and wine and the time flew by sorting expedition gear and planning for the next trips...

North Coast Climbing

I arrived back from the Sierra Nevada to find the same temperatures back home! A Snowdonia heatwave was in full effect! Even during the nights, the temperatures stayed above 22°C! Clearly, there was no time for resting - it was time to go climbing! 

Given the crazy temperatures and the bank holiday weekend busyness, we went a little known bolted Crag on the shady north coast, where we'd never been but, where we knew we'd find a deserted cliff.

 

 

It's always great to be visiting new areas - especially so close to home. We did two nice routes in between catching up on each other's news from the previous week. 

 

 

Towards the end of the afternoon, some storm clouds began to fill the skies but it stayed dry. There was an eery feel though as we walked away. Especially after passing the remains of a wild pony. Back home, tiredness took over and  I crashed out for the night.

 

A quick dip in the Med...

I'll be honest - my legs were a little stiff this morning! 

 

We spent the morning in the village of Capileira, sending postcards, buying souvenirs and packing up. There was a lot of very dusty and very smelly kit to deal with before we could check in at Malaga Airport. We had a hour spare on the drive, so pulled off the motorway and took a very refreshing dive into the Mediterranean.

 

The water was crystal clear. We couldn't stop long, but it made for a fabulous finish to what has been an excellent expedition. 

 

A few hours later and we were up in the air, Cottage bound...

 

Amazing flight over UK. Crystal clear view as we flew over Taunton and the Quantox Hills...

 

Then all of the Black Mountains of South Wales...

 

An amazing scenic flight! What a bonus!

The Seven Lagunas to Capileira

In order to hike up to the seven lakes, we had to retrace our steps a bit above the Refugio. This time though, we took a slight detour to search out a Geo-cache in an old wartime bunker that is now an emergency mountain shelter. It used to be a machine gun post, guarding the old route over the Sierra Nevada. 

 

The third highest peak in the mountain range, lies at the head of the valley above the lakes, but for today, we were content with just hiking as far as the first lake. It was going to be a 20km plus day as it was, so to continue to the  summit would have made it a monster! As we hiked up to 3000m again, a huge cloud began to build over the top of the range. It was really interesting to see it build in isolation until it flattened off to a classic anvil shape. 

 

We had a few drops of rain blow over us. Enough to get jackets on, but not enough to cause concern. Up by the lakes felt wild and remote. Just for fun, we climbed one of the old snow patches. 

 

At the top of the snow, where it had began to melt away from the cliff, a large cave had formed. Using the rope as a safety system, we explored into it then practiced our glissading skills, to slide back down the snowslope!

 

Our high point for the day was at the cliff tops above the first lake. It was more of a damp area of ground than a lake to be honest, but the views were fab.

 

As the day moved into afternoon, the clouds continued to build into an enormous storm cloud. We were glad to be walking away from it and not heading to the mountain tops, especially as the thunder began.

 

But it was a real time lesson in meteorology watching it grow.

 

On the journey back down to the trail head, we chose to follow the old road for ease. It took us past a few rocky outcrops where loads of Ibex were loitering. 

 

The final few kilometres back to the van were the hardest. The sun beat down relentlessly as we gradually lost altitude. When we eventually arrived back at the van, the temperature read 31 degrees on the dashboard. Getting our boots off was pure relief! We had hiked 22km, ascended 750m and descended 1200m. A big day out by anyone's standards and an impressive effort for such a young team.

 

The van bumped its way down the dirt road, coasting into the village of Capileira, coated in brown dust. Hot showers at Hostal Rural, set us up for a great celebratory meal and final review outside in the village square. After dinner, ice creams, table games and a few speeches on the expedition high-points, we set out to find a cafe for a pre-bed drink. The one we found had the oldest till I've ever seen, an even older landlord and some rather un-vegetarian friendly decorations hanging from the ceiling!

 

The Long March to Valeta (and back)...

What a fantastic place to wake up this morning! Rab's Nuterino 200 sleeping bag kept me snug and warm all night. I crawled out of the door and got back inside it while we brewed up in the morning sun. Bivi bliss.

 

Some friendly (hungry) Chamois came over to say hi, while we got some porridge on the go.

 

Yesterday's peak of Mulhachén was still in the shade, but the day looked promising.

 

It took a while to get the team out of their pits and all fed and watered, but we were in no particular rush. We all enjoyed the morning mountain ambiance as the air warmed up.

 

Around mid morning, we set off west to attempt an ascent of Valeta, which is Spain's second highest peak. It was a long walk away, so we decided to see how far we'd get. You can just make out the bivi hut in the centre of the photo below as we walked away. 

 

We followed the old road track around the ridge and past this cool looking ridge.

 

Despite some building clouds, we decided to 'go for the summit' and after a long final slog on the remains of the ski resort slopes of Sierra Nevada Ski Area, we made it to the summit at about 14:00. 

 

From the top we could see north to Granada and back east to yesterday's summit - Mulhachén. We could just make out the coast line, but there was too much haze to see the distance shores of Africa today.

 

All was well until someone spotted the Refugio Poqueira in the distance. It looked a very long way off indeed! I'm pointing at it here...

 

The journey to the sanctuary of the Refugio turned into a real 'long march'. The scenery continued to be dramatic and some good chat passed the time well. Barney, if you are reading this, you'll be delighted to know that the word game that you taught Clare and I on the Kesch Hutte Ski Tour had everyone guessing for hours! It was really funny as people in the team gradually worked out the answer, but wouldn't let on to the increasingly frustrated others. Oh how the kilometres flew by!...

 

On the final descent to the Refugio, we passed through a little hidden valley which was carpeted in all sorts of flowers and had a clear water stream running through it. 

 

We stopped for a short break on some hot slabs of rock in the meadow for a rest and could easily have fallen asleep. Reluctantly, we pressed on, with hot feet and sweaty backs for the final few kilometres.

 

Eventually, we rounded a hillside and the hut came into view. There was much rejoicing! And even more rejoicing, once we'd made it into the terrace and got an ice cold can of drink in our hands. It had been a tremendous effort from the team. Over a 1000m of descent, 700m or so of ascent (including reaching the second highest peak in Spain) and over 20km of distance covered. 

 

We celebrated over a big dinner and some litres of water to re-hydrate. There were only eight other mountaineers staying in the hut and would you believe it - one couple were from Caernafon, North Wales! 

The Ascent of Mulhachén (3479m)

Mulhachén is the highest mountain in mainland Spain and our main expedition objective. We set out from Ref. Poqueira and made a steady climb up the wide south ridge, via the slightly lower Mulhachén II.

 

Nearer the summit, storm clouds began to build and the skies darkened.

 

With only about 100m left to go, hail start pouring down on us. 

 

As the hail landed, it evaporated almost instantly on the hot rocks and suddenly we were enveloped in a strange steaming mountainside - a phenomenon I'd not really seen before. As the guys got their waterproofs on, I nipped onto the summit marker and found a phenomenon I had experienced before - it was vibrating hard and humming loudly! 

 

The electrical activity in the storm cloud was making its presence know - it was no place to hang around. As I rapidly left the summit, I was getting electrical shocks on my temples from the wire in my hood! We all descended to a safe place and waited for the storm to pass, which it did as quickly as it arrived. We could then make another attempt - this time all making the summit!

 

We were the highest people in all of Spain!

 

We descended the steep west ridge, at the bottom of which, we had great views of the north face.

 

Then made it to the bivi hut at Ref. de la Caldera, in some light drizzle. Thankfully there was space for us! Phew! We claimed our bed spaces before anyone else arrived (in the end we only had to share with a French couple).

 

When it dried up at about 6pm, it was time to melt snow for brews and dinner.

 

A delicious boil in the bag!

 

Before dark, the skies totally cleared, so Aled and I took some of the lads up for a rocky ridge scramble above the camp.

 

It was a brilliant ridge up to Puntal de la Caldera (3322m), with outstanding views.

 

We tried to do the full horseshoe above the refuge, but got stopped at a difficult 30m cliff that needed to be abseiled down. 

 

We watched the sun set from the ridge, then scrambled down to the refuge.

 

I was excited to be trying out my new Rab sleeping bag. It packs away very small, and thankfully, it was very warm!