Posts Tagged ‘picos de europa’

En castellano It wasn’t going exactly to plan.

We had left the coach, twelve hardy souls who were planning on doing Torrecerredo, at Sotres (880m), but the lowish cloud and the forecast scuppered the original idea of going up to the refugio Urriellu via the path to the South East and instead we opted to go the normal route via Pandébano (1212m) and past the collado vallejo (1540m). The weather was misty and drizzly and generally not the most pleasant but it eased off and we dried out a little, then on the last half hour pull up to the refugio (1953m) it came down again with a wet vengeance. We arrived at the refugio earlier than expected, wet through and dispirited.

So this was not the plan, not at all

After a few hours of sitting and waiting (and chatting and walking round keeping warm) it was time to eat and that raised spirits. The refugio has a capacity of about a hundred but given the poor conditions there was just us, a group of about thirty from Madrid and a smattering of other walkers and climbers. The food was okay, thin noodle soup followed by stewed lentils and then meatballs, when the pudding of fruit salad (can you call it a fruit salad if it’s just peaches and pears? I’m not sure) Ignacio commented that he hadn’t needed his fork, it was spoon spoon spoon then little spoon. There’s not much to do in these huts after dinner so we retired to the dormitory and slept.

A promising start

Dawn had actually brought the sun, or at least clear skies and after a less than hearty breakfast (biscuits, melba toast, butter, jam, cocoa) we set off up the Brecha de los Cazadores (hunter’s gap) (2300m or so), and on to the Jou de Cerredo (2400m or so).

Still on the way up, just past Hunter's Gap

The path is pretty well marked until you leave the normal hut-to-hut path and head for Torre Cerredo, then it’s a bit thinner, and you have to cross a few slabs. These would normally be no problem, but the previous night’s rain, combined with the freezing overnight temperatures meant that a lot of the rocks were coated with ice and were a mite slippy. A couple of the slabs were crossed entertainingly high, say, 20m above a rocky terrace. It’s a good job it’s grippy Spanish limestone and not the polished English stuff.

Delicacy on ice

We reached the base of the peak and agreed that the ice would make the ascent too dangerous (it’s a proper scramble, and you have to come down the same way). So we sat there and basked in the sun and had Eccles cakes (well Liz and I did, blimey they’re good, I wonder if we could introduce them here). A few people came down from the peak and reported that they hadn’t been able to go up because of the ice. So the right decision.

At the refugio de los cabrones

That just left the down. We descended steep paths to the refugio de los Cabrones (2060m) where we refilled water bottles and had a little peek at the cute 28 place hut, then a bit of a climb (more slabs, some cables, some old tatty rope in some parts) and then a long stoney path down through cloud to the Majada Amuesa (1386m). A majada is a high meadow, there were no cows though, only  vultures swooping and landing. Then a punishing descent over mud covered slippy rocks to Bulnes (647m) during which we were just thinking of a cold beer in one of the bars there. All that remained was the hour’s walk down from Bulnes to Poncebos (220m) to complete a long day.

No pasaba según lo planeado.

Habíamos bajado del autobús en la curvona de Sotres (880m) , doce fuertes quien pensaban en hacer el Torrecerredo pero las nubes bajas y el pronostico echó por tierra la idea de subir hasta el refugio de Urriellu por el camino del sureste y en su lugar elegimos a ir por el camino normal por Pandébano (1212m) y por el collado Vallejo (1540m). Hacía niebla con orbayu, un tiempo desagradable pero lo peor pasó y secamos un poco. Después, durante la ultima media hora subiendo hasta el refugio (1953m) llovió de nuevo de verdad. Llegamos al refugio mas temprano que esperábamos, empapados y desanimados.

Después de unas horas de sentarse y esperar (y charlar y pasearnos de un lado a otro para calentarnos) llegó la hora de cenar que nos animó. El refugio tiene la capacidad para alrededor de cien pero en tan malo tiempo había nosotros, un grupo de madrileños y unos pocos escaladores y excursionistas. La cena fue regular, una sopa de fideos, lentejas y después albóndigas, cuando llegó el postre de ensalada de frutas (no sé si es una ensalada de frutas si contiene solo peras y melocotones) Ignacio comento que no había usado el tenedor, sopa con cuchara, primer plato con cuchara, segundo, cuchara, postre, cucharita. No hay mucho para hacer en los refugios así que nos retiramos y nos acostamos.

Amaneció con sol, o por lo menos un cielo despejado entonces después un desayuno ligero (bizcochos, pan tostado, mantequilla, mermelada, colacao) salimos hacia la Brecha de los Cazadores (2300m más o menos) y después hasta el jou de Cerredo (2400m más o menos).

El camino es bien marcado hasta que sales del camino normal entre refugios y tiras para el Torre Cerredo, en este caso queda mas estrecho y tienes que cruzar por unas losas, normalmente no causarían ningún problema, pero después la lluvia y la temperatura baja de la noche anterior muchas de las rocas quedaban cubierta de hielo y resbaladizas. Cruzamos unas lozas con una altura entretenida, 20m encima de una terraza rocosa. Menos mal que es caliza española con adherencia no la inglesa pulida.

Llegamos al base del pico y decidimos que el hielo significó que la escalada sería demasiada peligrosa (hay que trepar, y tienes que bajar por la misma vía), así que nos sentimos y disfrutamos el sol, comimos “Eccles cakes” (un pastelito Inglés) (pues por lo menos Liz y yo comimos así, son buenos, me pregunto si podríamos introdulirlos aquí). Unas personas bajaban y nos dijeron que no habían sido capaz de subir por el hielo, entonces fue la decisión correcta.

Solo nos quedaba la bajada. Bajamos por senderos empinados hasta el refugio de los Cabrones (2060m) donde las cargamos las cantimploras y echamos una miradita al refugio guapo con solo 28 plazas, después, una subida (más losas, unos cables, una cuerda muy antigua y estropeada) y luego un sendero pedregoso tras las nubes hasta la Majada Amuesa(1386m). Luego un descenso duro por rocas que estuvieron cubiertas de barro hasta Bulnes (647m), durante que pensábamos solo de unas cervezas bien frías en un bar allí. Lo único que nos quedó fue el camino de una hora desde Bulnes hasta Poncebos (220m) para acabar un día largo.

There was a plan, and this was it. We were going to leave Oviedo at 6:45, Xuaco driving, pick up Jorge en route and head for Sotres. We’d leave the car there and walk up to the refugio (the hut) in the vega del Urriellu (three and a half to four hours later). We’d leave our stuff there, book a bed for the night, and head up to the south face of the Urriellu, the easy one, climb it and head back to the refugio before doing another climb on the Sunday and then heading back down.

That was the plan.

We saw the weather forecasts, and on friday they put a snow symbol on the mountains, rain everywhere else. Still, it shouldn’t be much we thought, a light dusting, after all it was only the 4th of October. After the early morning mist, from the motorway, we could see the Picos, looking worryingly wintery.

At Sotres we debated what to do, should we take all the climbing gear (Jorge had a 15kg rucksack, full of metalwork, Xuaco and I had a rope each, in addition to provisions for a couple of days). We decided to take everything and give it a go.

This was revealed to be the wrong choice as we got higher. We met one of the wardens of the hut on the way up and he said the conditions weren’t good, water and snow coming down all the routes. As we got closer the snow got thicker underfoot until we were in full winter conditions at about 1700m (despite that it was a beautiful day, all of the snow having fallen the day before). No point turning back, we got up to the refugio at around 12:45 (Jorge, being the fittest, reached it 20 minutes ahead of us). We had lunch and decided to go have a look at the south face without our climbing gear, there was a place where there were some (even more) stunning views.

That path hadn’t been used since the snow so we were breaking trails, or rather Jorge was… which is bad news when you’re in your lightweight, flexible (waterproof but inappropriate for winter) shoes, without gaiters and getting wet feet. We decided to come down, conditions wouldn’t change too much overnight and we didn’t have the right gear. Who expected so much snow on the 3rd of October?

It was the right decision, I think, it wasn’t dangerous at the refugio, the weather was stable and clear, but we couldn’t do much else but wander on a few of the bigger paths, anywhere off those would have the same knee-deep (at times) snow. So we retraced our steps. Sotres is at 1060m, and there’s a river between it and the central massif of the picos, El rio duje, which I hate, beause it’s at 800m so after you descend from the refugio at 1953m you have a sting in the tail… which I trudged up last, to a very welcome beer.

So on the Sunday (today) we went to a local crag near Pola de Siero for a little sports climbing. It was blazing hot, south facing, and good fun, even though I was weak… I did lead a V, which is a better lead than I’ve done for a while, but I also ran out of strength and took a rest while seconding a V+, so come the winter I need to hit the indoor walls, and find some bouldering to get some strength back in the arms. Still, it’s going to be a fine place for James, because there’s a day’s worth of Vs and 6a’s to play with.

Despite things not going to plan I really enjoyed it, thanks to Jorge and Xuaco, and it gave me a taster of just how spectacular the mountains are going to be in winter.

“Es duro” said Ignacio (it’s hard). Blimey he was right. It was the first Sunday back with the walking group and they’d picked a doozy. We started at the lowest point of the road below Sotres. Liz and I did this part of the walk a few years back. I was happily chatting away when one of the girls asked if I was doing the whole thing or the easy alternative. You’ll have to shift, she said, if you’re doing the whole thing, you have to catch up to the others…

In half an hour we’d reached Collado Vallejo (a saddle) where us gluttons for punishment would strike out left up the side of a whopping great hill towards the Vega de Uriello. This high goat strewn meadow (for that is what vega means, makes you think about Las Vegas) is at the foot of the north face of the Naranjo de Bulnes (also called Picu Uriellu) which looms 600m above. There’s a refugio where rubbish coffee may be bought and sleep may be had if you’re off elsewhere. We had lunch, it had taken 4 hours to get up to the refugio at 1950m. After an hour we set off down.

Down is where it got duro. We had about 1750m of unremitting downness (in 7km), on scree, on rock, on slippy sandy muck, a little downclimbing as well. By halfway my thighs were complaining, shaking as I took another step down. It was a warm day and I was sweating buckets (I drank 4 litres, thanks to the springs en route). We arrived at Bulnes and contemplated taking the funicular train down, but not for long and not with any seriousness. Another hour and we reached the bar, where the alternative group were on their second, third or fourth beers and waters.

“Que tal?” asked Ignacio (How’re you doing), “Te dice que era duro” (I said it was hard). I smiled, sipped my beer and said “me gustó mucho, es vale la pena” (I liked it, it’s worth the effort).

Jultayu again Originally uploaded by itsjustanalias.

I joined the Grupo Naranco for a walk in the Picos de Europa, it was a walk I’d done before, the first I ever did in the Picos in fact. We started from lake Ercina, and walked through the fantastic limestone valleys up to a high mountain meadow. We had good weather up to then but behind us clouds had started to build. We had planned to go up to the top of Jultayu, another couple of hours and there was a good deal of discussion about whether we should. In the end 20 of us did, and we climbed the steep slope slowly, keeping a wary eye on the clouds, which disappeared for a while, only to return in force.

We made it to the top above the clouds and after a quick sandwich, turned round and descended. During the descent the heavens opened and everyone put on their wet weather gear while thunder rumbled around us. It was a tricky descent, limestone is rather slippery in the wet and there’s lots of it in the Picos. Once we’d descended from Jultayu we started off back to the bus, the rain kept on, but lighter. The problem was now the mud, the paths were rarely level and the mud was slippery. It took as much care to stay on your feet on the paths as it did to come down the mountain.

I was wandering along a little ahead of one group of people, a little behind another. As I got to the lake, the starting point, clouds came down. By the lake the path disappears and you have to cross a smooth grassy meadow. I was walking in a straight line for a car park I knew, so I carried on walking. Suddenly the ground sloped steeply upwards, I realised I wasn’t where I thought I was, and worse, I couldn’t see, or hear anyone. 200m from knowing where I was and I was lost. I shouted and listened: nothing. I was towards the back of the group so I knew they’d miss me pretty quickly so I decided to stay where I was and let them come to me when I was missed. They did, but it took half an hour because I couldn’t hear their shouts or whistles as I was further from the path than I thought. Eventually I heard a shout and responded. It was a good lesson in mountain safety… or rather the reverse, and a little embarrassing, so close to the finish.

Everyone was fine though, even though I had delayed them setting off for home, no pasa nada, they said, it’s the clouds around here, it’s your initiation, did you enjoy the rest of it? I did enjoy the rest of it and I spent the journey home discussing etymology and politics with a Jean Reno lookalike called Pompayu, who looks like he’s 55 but is 65, and likes to talk, which is fine because I like to listen (it’s good practice and my speaking is not up to deep philosophical stuff yet). Next one in two weeks… I’m hoping for good weather this time.