A challenging but satisfying climb in Sierra Guadarrama

Gradually, we are approaching the area where I come from, Talavera de la Reina, Nearby is where our second home is, Casa Dos, Guisando. Most of my family and friends live around there. Hopefully, our busiest social time will commence soon.

By now, we are saturated by wine tours, city tours and a relative lack of activity, for us that is. We need a change and we miss the mountains.

As we have to drive through Sierra de Guadarrama, a mountains chain north of Madrid, we cannot resist stopping for a couple of days to do some trekking.

After leaving Rueda, the place we did our final wine tasting, we stopped in a petrol station to fill Dora with water and gas. We are going to spend a couple of days in the mountains, we need to be fully supplied for showers and heat.

In the meantime, I phone the visitors’ centre of the natural park of the Sierra de Guadarrama. The forecast predicts light rain for the next couple of days. The good thing is that there is no snow. Great, so we can climb the peak. “As the landscape is formed mainly by big boulders, it is very easy to get lost, so a good map is needed” the guy at the visitors’ centre advises. “You can buy it in Manzanares del Real, the village where you will start the trek”, he ends.

As we approach, the Pedriza circuit revels in the distance. The ‘Pedriza’ word comes from the Spanish word ‘piedra’, which means rock in English. You can appreciate now why it has been given this name.

Gosh, we have to go up all the way there! My feet and hands are unaware of what is waiting for them in the next couple of days.

What routes do these mountains have to offer? They are only forty minutes from Madrid and are probably inundated with casual city walkers. Probably not much of any challenge here! We take our ‘Walking in Spain’ book and, to our delight, there are a few. One of which sounds perfect for us both in challenging and length of time: the Pedriza Circuit. So why did we like the sound of this one precisely?

According to the book, this near-perfect horseshoe of tall, rounded cliffs requires occasional crawling under huge balancing boulders, scrambling up tall boulder stacks or squeezing through high and narrow passes. An ‘adventure playground’ for climbers, scramblers and walkers, not what we expected. It sounds great fun, but can take up to 12 hours. Attempting this trek at this time of the year might present a problem.

The circuit also offered a side trip to climb the peak of Yelmo. This route is 18 kilometres long. The side trip could take an additional six hours. Maybe this is too much for a single at this time of year, but we can split and climb Yelmo one day and do the rest of the circuit another.That is fine for us. We are not in a hurry.

Peak Yelmo’s altitude is 1,700. Although not high, research tells us that summiting this peak requires consistent scrambling over big boulders and a couple of basic climbing moves. We haven’t done rock climbing for a while. How basic will these moves be?

We spend a long time discussing and criticising what the book might mean. It is a walking book, not climbing. It mentions basic climbing moves, but not where they are. Are they at the bottom or at the top? Are they exposed, with big drops either side. One basic move, or several, should we take a rope? The book is not clear. We will have to use our judgement and be prepared to back off if it is too dangerous. We decide not to take a rope and harnesses. Whenever we have to go through slightly challenging moves close to the final ascent, I get a bit nervous because unless they are extremely dangerous, I have to get over my fears and keep going to the end. I cannot stop now after coming all this way. Will it be like the final steps towards the summit of Aneto which were so exposed?

Because the route up to the peak is shorter than the loop around the circuit, we have decided to do the former first. One, because we have to buy the map and shops don’t open until 9.00am. Two, because we have more time to explore the terrain and assess the walking times so we know what to expect for the next day.

We arrived at the village at the expected time. Nice dinner and early night. We have to get up early and be ready for when the shop opens the next day. We will buy the map and drive up to the car park, where the actual trek starts.

We awoke to a beautiful and clear day. After getting ready, buying the map and driving up to the car park we are ready to start the trek at 9.30 am. Perfect! A six hours trek with a one hour stop for lunch will take us up to 16.30. This means that we will still have one and a half hours day-light for contingency.

The path leads to a small meadow. Menacing toros are having their breakfast. They look up, but ignore us. After the meadow we climb steeply. It is hard to accommodate this level of activity at that time in the morning.

We gain height pretty quickly. The landscape begins to reveal itself. It will be a challenging and, therefore, interesting trek.

Is that our peak? We stop. Lets study the map, we have time.

Look at the peak, look at the map, read the contour lines, look ahead again. We like practising map reading when we have time to keep afresh our navigation skills.

We are not sure which peak we will be climbing. Lets keep going.

We think we have come to the point where our hands will be more involved in the climb. Is this where the fun starts?

Gary checks that I am OK. He knows I have difficulty in reaching hand holes on big boulders. I have shorter legs and arms.

The rocky path clears briefly revealing a dam next to the village of Manzanares el Real. We look at the map, this is the point we should take a sharp left towards the peak.

The rocky landscape comes back. As we move higher, a herd of goats appear. We love goats, inquisitive, magnificent, chilled. They move so elegantly over the rocks, no problem for them. Compared to us, we move so awkwardly! This is probably why we admire them so much.

We climb over a big bolder, unaware that a big male is waiting for us. That made us jump!

This is the start of our peak. We hear voices. Some people must have already attempted the peak today, early birds!

As soon as we ascent, the path becomes steeper and rockier. The bags feel heavier. The poles are unnecessary.

We come across a Spanish couple having lunch after the climb. We look up, a chimney lies ahead of us. These are the basic climbing moves they talked about in the book!

Okay, not bad. Gary hates chimneys scared he might get stuck. Lets leave the bags behind to avoid getting wedged between the rocks.

Not bad so far, I can get through the chimney easily. I check upon Gary. Glad to know he is doing well.

Gary breath in!

We have successfully gone up the chimney. The landscape opens up. The summit is only a few metres away. Before that, we have to walk across a rocky slap at an awkward angle. I reckon it must be over forty five degrees. Some of them are slippery and damp but the rock have good grip. It is quite exposed. I am getting stressed.

Gary walks over them with no problem. He is waiting for me. My sense of vertigo increases by the minute. I have made my mind, I am not going any further. “You can’t stop now”, Gary says. “Walking over these rocks is less dangerous than going through the chimney you have just climbed”. He is right, it is the exposure that petrifies me.

Gary comes back and shows me there is no risk of slipping. Okay. Lets get over this fear, focus, follow him. A few minutes later, we are at the summits. We did it!!

Absolutely worth it. Gary looks at me. “Why do I have to put up with this? You were perfectly okay, weren’t you”. I promised him to be a bit more mature next time.

It is 14.30. Time to go down, grab our bags and walk down to the nearest plateau to have some lunch. We still have plenty of time to get back in day-light. A Spanish climber walks deliberately towards the peak. He starts climbing it. This is becoming like a trend. Spanish people tend to launch off on their own into the mountains. No matter how much experience I have, I would never climb on my own. You cannot take anything for granted when you hike. Even in treks for casual walkers it could be lethal if, for example, suddenly you twist your ankle and there is no one around.

The way down to the car park is not as easily as expected. Again, covered by big boulders. The marks are difficult to find, some have faded with the sunlight. No one has bothered to repaint them. We are not surprised.

On the way down, Gary spots a snake. He plays with her, poking her with his pole. What the hell are you doing Gary?? She could be poisonous!

Finally, we see Dora in the distance. Six hours later, we are in the car park, one hour more than estimated. Not bad, considering we spent quite a bit of time practising map reading on the way up.

The circuit around the Pedriza on the next day should be easier than today. The route follows the PRM 11 and the GR10, part of the national mountaineering network, therefore, well-marked. We are also familiar with the terrain and with our walking speed!

But first a good nights sleep in the solitude of the car park.

SM & GDR.