2nd July 2006 El Caballo

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Dear All
It was a very poor turnout we had for our Sunday walk, with only 4 members bothering to get out of bed for the 7am start from Niguelas.We all enjoyed the drive in Mark's 4x4 as it carried us up to the 2000 meter line. It wasn't that we did not want to walk this section, but we thought that it was an ideal opportunity for Mark to find out if his car would actually go off road. The area that we drove through and the initial forest road at the start of the walk is in the area that was devastated by last year's fire. So what previously was a nice wooded area is now a landscape devoid of any vegetation. After the first hour of walking the track leaves the road and the devastation behind and heads for El Caballo. It must be an optical illusion but it looks higher and further away at this point than it does when you are sat in the bar in the valley. With a number of stops along the way to take on fuel and recover ones breath ( which I found was increasingly more difficult the higher we climbed) we arrived at the 3011 meter summit some 4.5 hours after leaving the car. The position of the mountain at the head of the chain leading up to Veleta and Mulhacén gives it an ideal position in which to plan further excursions. It is surprising how quickly the sweat and tears expended on getting to the top disappear when you have such views. Our return via the beautiful blue Laguna de Caballo and the many families of Cabra de montana, including a rare white one which we passed on the way down, made this a walk to remember. It was a good job we had taken the car up to the starting point because even though we were all fighting fit after our 8.5 hour excursion, we came across a French lad begging for a lift down. After a quick beer in Niguelas, and a bite to eat at home, I was in bed for 9.15.
To celebrate Liz and Grahams return to the UK a BBQ will be held on Thursday the 5th at the picnic area in Guajar Alto.Bring BBQ things and tapa. We have plenty of charcoal but no tongs and forks. We will be leaving Chite at 4.30 pm arriving at the picnic area around 5.30pm.

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