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Andy2
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« on: September 15, 2009, 12:47:32 am » |
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Not really a new route, but I?d class this as a post about a forum meet!
Inspired by El Perro Negro?s trip reports and photos and confident with the route after an earlier warm up trek to the Cerro de Caballo, I headed up to the Ventura trail head the Saturday before last to walk up to the Lagunas de Lanjaron. Insomnia, brought about by a neighbour's barking dog prompted a very early start and by 05:45 I was supping my cafe con leche with a few eager hunters at cafe Mollinios in Lanjaron. The drive up to the Ventura trail head took 15 minutes longer in the dark, as the resident nocturnal wildlife was prolific and somewhat reluctant to share the road with me, but I arrived and parked just as dawn was breaking. The air was refreshingly cool after the August heat in the valley and the mountains were as you?d expect, even more tranquil than normal.
I followed the normal route to the Caballo hut and as the sun rose, I reached into my pack for my sun-hat. On parking the car earlier I had realised in horror that I had left the wide-brimmed sun hat I wear every day at home. This was a serious problem as with even moderate exposure to sunlight I change from my normal pasty white colour to lobster red in a matter of minutes ? at altitude and with no shade for 5 hours, even factor 50 sun cream was not going to protect me. Returning home would mean a 2 and a half hour drive and probably not making the planned trip in daylight, whereas going without would almost certainly leave 3rd degree burns on my bald head but fortunately I did have a spare hat at the bottom of my rucksack. It had a peak and could cover the tops of my ears at least. Unfortunately it was waterproof and lined with pertex - I knew how effective it was at keeping my head toasty warm in sub-zero conditions. It also never fails to win me the ?Who can look the most ridiculous on the mountain? award, even on Scafell on a summer Saturday when the competition is at its strongest. However, given the choice of having my head microwaved whilst being grilled or oven baked whilst looking silly, I opted for baking & looking silly.
From the Caballo hut I followed the well defined path along the Verea Corta and up to the Lake. The route is straight forward apart from one short section which requires the assistance of a chain hand hold to traverse a gully. My 4 legged companion, normally fearless and as sure footed as a mountain goat, was a little stumped here ? unsurprising since her un-evolved digits were going to find the hand-hold little use. I decided to lead the way and as I reached the other side and looked round to offer encouragement, she ran between my legs, so we pushed on.
I took lunch at the lake at the foot of the Elorrieta hut, sitting on lush grass which is a rarity here in southern Spain in August. Returning home I took the route described by El Perro Negro in his post on the route ? following the path of the river which involved some easy scrambling and passed by the impressive snow bridge, still intact now into September. It was here that I was overtaken by a group of three, one of whom looked familiar and turned out to be El Perro Negro himself, accompanied by Tinkerbell (?) and friend Emma. After making our introductions, they graciously allowed me tag along and we followed the river until we reached the mini brick dam, marked on the map at which point we picked up the acequia heading off to the right. This path took us back to the Ventura hut were we rejoined the main route back to the cars.
It was a real pleasure to meet the meet the Spanish High team in the flesh and I?m looking forward to some winter walking instruction with El Perro Negro & team when the snow arrives. In the mean time, he has suggested a few routes around the Sierra de Heutor which will be clear of snow even into the depths of winter and I?m looking forward to those.
The trip took 3 hours from the Ventura trail head to the Caballo hut, a further 2 hours to the Lanjaron lake and a total descent time of 4 hours. I?m a fairly slow walker, but the rather fitter Spanish Highs team maintained a brisk pace which sped the descent up ? I?d recommend an early start even for the strongest walkers on this route. This being a Saturday I was expecting to meet a few more walkers than normal and in the end I saw 5 groups over the 9 hours I was up there ? that?s apparently very busy for this part of the mountain, but in spite of the high turnout I judged that I had maintained a comfortable lead all the way to the finish line in the ?Who can look the most ridiculous? competition. That was some comfort at least over the subsequent 48 hours that it took for my head to return to its normal operating temperature....
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