A blue sky Christmas morning greeted us today out on the terrace.
It was a suitably slow start, soaking up the warmth, while we enjoyed an al fresco breakfast of warm croissants and coffee, while the sun gathered it's heat.
By 9:30, we were in our shorts and in no rush to leave, so stayed put for a very enjoyable bit of book reading and family chat, while solar Santa danced away.
By the time we set off to go climbing, at the car, the temperatures had warmed up considerably!
We've spotted this cliff while on our Christmas Eve hike on the GR141. It looked perfect for a Christmas Day adventure, but was not in our guidebook. After a bit of on line searching, we found a bit of information and identified this three pitch route.
It was a short drive and easy walk in, near the village of Benaojan.
We were soon swinging leads and making good upward progress on fantastic rock.
On the other side of the valley, the white village had either been built around the boulders, or a large boulder had tumbled into the middle of the houses at some point. It was hard to tell?...
Unbelievably, it was almost too hot for climbing! After getting to the top of the cliff, we descended in two long abseils.
We had a moment of drama, when our rope got stuck around the rough rock as we were pulling it down (and still 30m above the floor), but a bit of problem solving and rope flicking soon had us making downward progress again.
And we were back on the beck for our Christmas lunch.
On the drive back home, we stopped to look in a prehistoric cave, which has amazing formations and cave art in it, but were thwarted by the fact that the bridge across the river was missing!
Back on the rooftop at the pad, we soaked up the last of the sunshine, chatted with friends and family then walked into town to find ourselves some Christmas dinner.
The main street was awash with lights and had Christmas Carols playing from loud speakers. It was like a miniature Oxford Street and almost as busy. We decided to sit outside to be amongst it all. Dinner was delicious as came in the form of Chicken Satay and Mushroom Tapas, followed by a big Paella. All washed down with some Ronda red wine. Delicious!
On the walk home, we stopped by some of the Christmas lights...
Happy Christmas!
Benaojan Christmas Crag:
- Of Steps and Length, 5+*** (3 pitches)
- The course of track, 4c***
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