Spanish Scenes

The moon was still high in the sky when we woke this morning. We are currently staying up in the small mountain village of Gaudalest, which is a sleepy little place. When we rolled the shutters up to reveal the morning scene, there was not a breath of wind or a sound to be heard. Quite a contrast from the recent windy days back home in Wales.

As such, we decided not to rush off anywhere and enjoyed the view as the sun tracked around onto the tiny balcony.

Having not been able to buy any food yesterday and old black coffee to drink, we walked down into the village to have breakfast at the local cafe. It was a surprisingly bustling scene, with the unlikely mix of us, some pairs of weathered old Spanish dudes, some construction workers, a bunch of old ladies and a group of younger men, who ordered a round of Jaigermeister shots for breakfast. It was excellent people watching and we entertained ourselves, by trying to guess what was going on. Amidst the confusion we also got served some extra croissants along with our scrambled eggs and coffee. A fun start!

Fully fed, we returned to the pad, picked up our climbing kit and set off to find a shop in the next village. The drive involved some very tight roads and ended in the church square after passing between a row of tall hours with both wing mirror bleeping at the close proximity of the walls we were stuck between! It was worth the drama though as we found a tiny but well stocked shop to serve our catering needs for the next few days. We were ready at last to go and find a cliff.

This time, we trekked into the bottom of the cliff - which took all of nearly two minutes! There was a little bit of cooling shade at the base, but the main face was bathed in sunshine.

We started on a long route that took us all the way to the top. Got amazing views out to sea as well as over to the nearby massive reservoir.

By mid afternoon the crag started getting some shade, but it was still 'shirts off' temperatures.

Between climbs, we just sat and checked out the views. We were the only climbers on the whole enormous cliff and felt like the only people in the valley.

Once the sun had fully left the face, we decided to head back up to the village for a drink.

On the way, we stopped briefly to check out another cliff as a potential option for tomorrow. The cliff in the back ground is the one we climbed today. (Zoom in to see the castle on the top left!).

A few tight turns and wheelspins got us back up to the village, where we ditched the car at the apartment and walked down to the town square. A cold beer under the combined shade of a palm tree and an olive tree seemed like a suitable finish to a strong day of climbing.

With our newly bought produce and after once the sun had set on the balcony, we cooked up a hearty pasta dinner before collapsing happy, exhausted and a little aching, onto the long sofa.

Guadalest, Penya I'Alcala Climbs:

- La Pedra Iberica, 5+, 5+***

- Erotika, 6a+***

- La Luna St Juan, 5+**

- No em Tokeu els ous, 6a**