James writes…………………………………………………..

Warming up in the Caldera

“The 5 day traverse (A.K.A. Los Tres Miles, A.K.A. The Integrale) is a 5 day across the main ridge line of the Sierra Nevada from Lanjaron in the South-West to Jerez de Marquesado in the North-East. The trip takes you to the summit of almost every mountain above 3000 metres in the mountain range including mainland Spain’s highest mountain, Mulhacen (3,479m). The following is a report of my first time guiding a client on this trip.

Day 1: Ventura Trail Head – Ellorieta Hut
As we set off, Damien (The Client) went off at quite a pace and for the first twenty minutes or so I thought we were gonna make good time throughout the trip as he seemed to like going at a good speed. However, after twenty minutes I could see that he had already done himself in with the pace he was trying to set. That is not a criticism as he did complete the whole traverse within five days which is quite an accomplishment for a retiree. However, this did mean that we had a very long 7½ hour day ahead of us before we reached the Ellorieta Hut. In fact it was almost completely dark by the time we reached the hut and he was so exhausted on the final ascent to the hut that I decided to go on ahead, drop my pack off and come back down to carry his rucksack for him. We had made OK time from the Ventura to the summit of Caballo but then the section from Caballo to Ellorieta took over 4 hours which is not ideal when you have already had a late start. At the hut I had a lucky find, there was an abandoned Spiderman cushion which I took with me for the rest of the trip and allowed for much more comfortable sleeping. Next time I stay at a hut I will leave the cushion behind for the next person to use.

Day 2: Ellorieta Hut – Caldera Hut
To my relief, the normal traverse from the Ellorieta to the col below Veleta had shed some of its compacted ice since the previous week when I had been there with another client but had needed to turn back due to the risk factor and lack of crampons.

Snowy traverse from Ellorieta Hut (Caballo summit in background)

Luckily, on this trip we did have crampons and the traverse was nice and easy once these had been deployed. This saved us a good three to four hour detour back around the summit of Cartujo, into the valley and then up to the col. After reaching the col, we headed up to the summit of Veleta (3,398m) and then followed the road round to the Caldera. Once again, we had to put our crampons on for a daft one metre section of ice in order to descend to the hut. We were not alone at the hut and in total there were seven of us and one small dog.

Day 3: Caldera Hut – Siete Lagunas (via Alcazaba)
We had a relatively long ascent from the hut to the summit of Mulhacen. It took us an hour and a half to climb 400 metres when this would normally take under an hour with most clients. However, we got to the summit in perfect weather and plenty of time to descend to Siete Lagunas, drop Damien’s rucksack and head up to Alcazaba (3,364m) and back to Siete Lagunas again where we would be camping.

Camping at Siete Lagunas

The purpose of doing Alcazaba in the same day as Mulhacen is to cut the following day shorter because otherwise you add a good two hour round trip of going up Alcazaba before heading off toward Vacares. Damien had a one-man tent with him but since I only had a bivvy bag, I opted to sleep in one of the very cosy caves around the lake. Later on, we met up with Jens who would take over as lead guide for the rest of the trip. After Damien had gone to bed, Jens was in the middle of telling me about a really cheeky fox who roams around Siete Lagunas, when suddenly his food bag had disappeared attached to the mouth of the very same fox! Luckily the bag was too heavy for him to get away with but he ran straight around to my cave and practically went through my legs to get inside where I had him cornered and it took quite a bit of convincing to get him to piss off! Later in the night I woke up with the same fox staring me in the face but he didn’t manage to get away with anything important.

Alcazaba summit approach (North Face of Mulhacen in background)

Day 4: Siete Lagunas – Laguna de Juntillas
We skirted around the North-East ridge of Alcazaba and headed up toward the summit of Vacares and then on across a scrambly ridge of numerous 3,000 metre plus summits for the next seven hours. This was my first experience of the mountain range North of Alcazaba and it was very different to the previous three days. Damien was certainly pushed to his absolute limits on this day and nearly gave up the attempt to get all the way to Jerez de Marquesado by threatening to opt for a shorter route to Trevelez. However, with encouragement from Jens we managed to get him all the way to our campsite at Laguna de Juntillas. I had never been to this part of the mountain range but the lake was an ideal wild camping spot with the snow-covered North Faces of Alcazaba and Mulhacen as the back drop to the lake. It was also a very mild night with temperatures above freezing even on the summit of Mulhacen which allowed me to keep my head out of my bivvy bag to look at the shooting stars rather than seal myself in a cocoon of eVent fabric.

Day 5: Laguna de Juntillas – Jerez de Marquesado
After breakfast we started the short but very steep ascent to the summit of Pico de Jerez and after 5 days of walking with a heavy pack, Damien was climbing as if he were making an ascent of Everest without bottled oxygen. However, once we were at the summit, which took about an hour, the rest was all downhill to the town and a nice cold beer.

View after descent from Pico de Jerez

The valley above the town leading to the summit is so different to the rest of the mountain range with bright green foliage and dense pine forests that you could almost imagine yourself in a French Alpine valley in the middle of summer. We finally arrived in town to meet Richard after a relatively easy 5½ hr day and after a quick beer in a local bar we headed back to Lanjaron where I had considerably more beers at a local bar there.”

Golden Poplar trees in the Jerez valley

This new path does’t exist in any english or spanish guidebook publications to date. Last Friday we walked the route for the first time (to my knowledge, the first ingleses to do so?). Leaving Alcazaba head down into the Meseta de las Borregas, the shallow valley SE of the summit. Make for the lowest point of the valley, marked by patches of green shrub. Just before the lowest point at the cliff edge you will meet a red marker (plastic circle tied to a rock)  and also a cairn. This indicates the start of the descent route.

Initial descent route through the upper crags of Alcazaba (taken in winter)

Initially trend rightwards then back left. Then follow a sloping rake going down rightwards. This whole area has loose scree and rocks and some care should be taken as there are drops below. Do not let this put you off as, surprisingly, there is little exposure. At the end of the sloping rake there is a short section of easy scrambling that takes you below the higher crags and onto safe ground.

The next section is not particularly pleasant. A few cairns mark the way which leads steeply down some 100m and then trends left to follow a horizontal trail between cliffs. The trail keeps level so if the track is faint or lost just keep traversing at the same height. Eventually a corner is reached and the final slopes leading to the base of the Puntal de El Goteron can be seen.

The final section between the cliffs and scree slopes

The character of the route changes here as we follow a good path between overhanging rock above and vertical cliffs below. Exposure is minimal though. Within 5 minutes you are back onto a rising scree traverse that leads to the main Sierra Nevada ridgeline.

This is a welcome addition to the trekking routes in the high Sierra Nevada, saving about 300m of re ascent and much time (we reckoned about 1.5hrs).

Here is what Leigh Richie had to say in April 2009 …………….
The constant howling wind and rustling tent fabric, not to mention the sound of spindrift lashing against the tent, certainly plays games with your imagination. I kept thinking I was hearing something outside, or was it just the wind? Then I felt something softly nudge against my head. Thought nothing of it at first until it happened again. I rolled around and looked through the mesh of my tent entrance into the porch area. There, about 4 inches from my face was the silhouette of a fox ™s head, staring right at me!

Needless to say, as if I ™d seen a ghost, I let out a rather embarrasing scream and the fox made a very quick exit from my tent porch. Not sure who was more startled. About 30 seconds later I heard a slightly more controlled shout coming from Mike ™s tent. Our furry friend was having his second eviction. Although I did see the funny side, I spent the rest of the night feeling completely paranoid of another visit and was poised to pounce at the slightest nudge or rustle.”

It seems to me that the amount of fox related incidents is increasing in these mountains. I remember when I first came out here some 10 years ago that they were shy, retiring creatures, that you sometimes caught a glimpse of early in the mornings, or late at night. Not any more!

Some high level traverses of “Los Tres Miles Integral” some 5 years ago suggested problems were mounting. We had breakfasts stolen overnight and were disturbed by noisy packs.

One guy even had his expensive tent ruined by a fox that ripped through the outer and inner at 6 in the morning. It grabbed his food bag that lay by his feet. The strange thing was that the fox wasn’t put off by the client’s shouts and gesticulations and managed to escape with the food. Another client had a washbag stolen for some strange reason, presumably to brush it’s teeth and moisturise it’s delicate skin!

Next encounter was when I joined a spanish mate of mine, on his night-shift, in his Pistebasher preparing the ski pistes of the Sierra Nevada. There seemed to be foxes everywhere, illuminated in the powerful headlights of the Piste Machine. Therein lies the answer? The deserted ski slopes in winter, especially around the Borreguilles area at 2500m where the restaurants are, are rich pickings for hungry foxes. They make there way down at night and feast on the leftovers. They have become “humanised” in that they are starting to rely less on their own hunting and foraging and at the same time are getting less and less afraid of human intervention.

Another harrassment occurred at 3am, near the Laguna de Lanjaron, when 2 self guided clients had problems. Yvonne Holland awoke with pressure from outside the tent against her face. It was a fox. It then broke through the tent fabric at the foot of the tent and took all the hill food and breakfasts. An unnerving experience to say the least!

The areas where you will encounter problems are around the ski centre area, the Elorietta hut, Laguna de Lanjaron, Col de Cariguela and the laguna and hut at the Caballo. Also at Siete Lagunas and Laguna de Vacares. Be warned!

Second night spent in dip just W of Collado de Vacares. Incredible views of Puntal de Vacares, Alcazaba and Mulhacen.  Temps dropped to -15 at night, bloody cold! Mixed climbing conditions, very variable. Some slab forming. Snowshoes would have been useful on our descent to the valley.

View photos showing conditions at:
http://www.spanishhighs.co.uk/northern-sierra-nevada/index.html