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Estación de San Juan to Puntal de Vacares
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The start was auspicious; fully fit, all loaded up, clear day and well-prepared maps. The walk started from the car park of a bar at the end of the concrete road that leads from the Güéjar-Sierra road, past the Estación de san Juan (unused).
The path contours along the Genil valley is well-marked and is wide and not too steep. However, it was very hot, in the high 30s. After about a hour, the route goes down a second path to the left, across the Genil river on El Puente de los Burros - very appropriate in view of the weight of my pack. I think that we English should be labelled 'just-in-case-walkers'. I need these batteries j-in-c, I must take the medical kit j-in-c, these extra clothes and warm coat? j-in-c. The path from the puente climbs steeply up through pine forests with the aim of getting onto the path that follows the sloping ridge of the Loma del Calvario. The aim here is to get height quickly and if one starts to contour around the steep section of the valley, you have gone wrong. I came out on the Loma into a searing heat with no wind. The path meandered into nothing and I was surrounded by scrub and the occasional tree. One look confirmed that I was about 500 metres too low; the main path on the ridge of the Loma was way above me. The hillside was very steep, carpeted in prickly scrub, rocky and quite unpleasant. Two hours later, I was still below the path, getting cramp in my legs, very hot, tired and it was an hour off getting dark. OK, am here. Where? Campsite? All around me was rock, steep slopes liberally covered with ibex and goat droppings. Eventually, I found a bit with shelter beside a boulder and not too slopey. I built up a small wall with rocks, padded it with grass and made a sort of retaining platform on which a sleeping bag could be placed, propped with the rucksack to stop me rolling down-hill in the night. So with a survival bag on the ground, sleeping bag weighted with a rock to stop it blowing away I settled in for the night. |
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Camp on the Loma del Calvario |
Sunset over the Genil valley |
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The
night in the open was spellbinding; the stars stood out in
the dark sky and the Milky Way had to be see to be
believed. The only noise was the wind in the esparto grass
and the rustling of the local fauna - many of who appeared
to try to get into the sleeping bag to see if I was edible.
Breakfast (energy bars and water) was before dawn and doing some dead reckoning, I took off up the mountain with the aim of bisecting the main path that I had missed. Luckily, I hit the path with no real problem and the walk up the main ridge was relatively easy. The sunrise was awesome with the sunshine spilling over into the valleys and highlighting Alcazaba and Mulhacen. Way below in the valley were herds of goats and the 'tonk-tonk' of the bells could be heard from way up on the mountain; all the pain of the previous day was forgotten. |
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Alcazaba |
Puntal de Vacares from the Cuneta |
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Spirits were high now and I really motored across the to Cuneto del Vacares on the ridge to the East of Alcazaba. I still had 2 litres of water and at the current rate of progress that would be enough to get me to the Cañada de las Siete Lagunas that evening. The path joined the main ridge at the Cuneta where there was still a deep snowdrift. This proved to be a good lunch-stop. However, as this had been the target to get to the previous night, I realised that I would have to get a move on so as to meet my transport from Capiliera on day 3. |