Day 1
Leaving Lanjaron just after midday we drove to the ranger station above Capileira. There were 6 of us, Richard, Paul, Kate, Jackie, Nick and me. Moving up through the forest and onto the open slopes above the forest we proceeded on the long, boring slog to the Mirador de Trevelez where we rested and gazed down onto Trevelez the highest village in Spain.
Then it was up the south ridge of Mulhacen to the 3000m level where we diverted from the main Mulhacen track and contoured round the eastern flank of the mountain on faint tracks. There was still a few old snow patches left. An hour traversing led us to the shoulder overlooking Siete Lagunas. The bottom lake of Laguna Hondera viewed from here looks vaguely like a shape of a dog with a river flowing from its backside and happens to be known as the “Rio Culo del Perro” (the Dog’s Arse River!).
We dropped down to this camping shangri-la! Lakes, running water, grassy patches for the tents. All with the backdrop of Mulhacen and Alcazaba.
We pitched the tents and settled down for the night. The weather forecast had been set fair and there was no mention of high winds, so it came as a shock when at 2.30am, having not slept due to Richards snoring, I got a slap in the face from the tent as one set of poles broke due to the extreme high winds that hit us there. It came as a rushing tormented whirlwind gust then dropped dramatically to nothing. 5 minutes later the same thing would happen. Out with the repair kit and head-torch we went. At 5am it was just too much for our tent and another pole broke, and at 6am another snapped. We ended up covered in the tent as we had no more repair kit left!
Day 2
The wind continued the next morning and we had planned to ascend Alcazaba but the strong wind and the direction of the wind made this too dangerous, so we missed Alcazaba and headed up the east ridge of Mulhacen 3481m.
Apparently this is an easy route!!! But with heavy packs and the altitude it is a lot harder than it looks. On reaching the summit we took shelter from the wind that had tried its hardest to knock us off our feet all the way up, it was incredibly cold considering it is summer. We descended the west flank of the mountain and decided to stop in the shelter of the Laguna de la Caldera.
The afternoon was spent enjoying the dramatic views, relaxing by the lake and drinking the red wine we had all carried up with us. With no tent we slept out under the stars by the lake, with a lone sheep who turned up. During the night the wind died down and so did the temperatures. We spent hours tracking the planes and satellites and watching the occasional shooting star.
Day 3
By the morning the sleeping bags were covered in a light frost and scarily our bin bag had been raided in the night by a fox, sheep or ibex and we didnt hear a thing. No time for breakfast and so we set off making our way round the rim of the Caldera crater. 30 minutes later we stood on Loma Pelada gazing at the wonderful mountain views, just as the sun rose over Mulhacen summit.
We followed the old road stopping to cook breakfast near the Col de los Lobos, a dramatic gap in the main ridge where steep views northwards are gained. Then it was on to the Col de Cariguela and the summit of Veleta (3398m) before dropping northwards, trying to ignore the ski centre to our left.
We descended to the Hoya de la Mora for a welcome beer (or 3!) and a plate of chips and mayonnaise before our lift back to Lanjaron arrived.
See Paul and Kates excellent post of the trip on their own Blog
Richards video on summit of Mulhacen
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