8 September 2013 Mulhacen

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This week it was the big one, Mulhacen, the highest peak on the Iberian Peninsular. The weather forecasts had kept changing throughout the week ranging from thunderstorms, snow, rain, to sun and cloud.
After heavy rain on Saturday we awoke to starry skies on the Sunday morning. It was still pitch black when we met in Beznar at 7 am. With 19 booked to go on the walk every time we had a full car load we dispatched it to Capileira, and to the bar for a quick cup of coffee.
There was so many of us the Medio Ambiente gave us our own “Lecrin Valley Limper” bus, it’s a pity the door would not close properly, we could have used it on all our excursions.  
The bus takes you on a 20 km forest drive on the lower slopes of Mulhacen up to an altitude of 2688 metres. By the time we got off the bus the clouds had started to build up and the summit was covered. I had spent many sleepless nights devising alternative routes just in case the weather conditions prevented us getting to the top, I had had nightmares about us wandering around lost in the mist, but, when it was put to the vote, unlike for David Cameron, there was an overwhelming “Yes” vote for action, everyone wanted to attack Mulhacen.
Slowly, as we climbed, the clouds started to break up and we found ourselves walking under blue skies, it was a bit surreal, all around us was shrouded in cloud and we, the chosen ones, were walking in sunshine. The higher we climbed the cooler it got and  people kept stopping to put on an extra jacket, woolly hat or that pair of gloves that hadn’t been worn for months. For the final kilometer we were walking in fresh snow that had come down on Saturday. I hope this is not the end of summer and the start of a long winter.
The summit was bitterly cold, and we only stayed long enough for the official photo, and then we set off back in search of somewhere out of the wind to stop for lunch. Amazingly we found a little sheltered spot in the sun with warm rocks to sit on. It must have been 20 degrees warmer, with Mike on sick leave we had no one to tell us the official temperature but it was very pleasant.
The way back is a lot quicker, it avoids all the twists and turns of the upwards path and, with plenty of time to spare, we stopped for another break before catching our return bus at 4.15.
We celebrated in the usual way by going to the bar in Capileira for a beer.
Well done to everyone, a magnificent effort from the first timers and, for the ones who went up last year, another year older and you can still get to the top. An excellent day out and enjoyed by all. We must have been the luckiest people in Granada province on Sunday.  
We walked 13.6 km and climbed 794 metres, the maximum altitude was 3483 metres.

The photo was taken on the summit of Mulhacen.

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