West end boys

27-05-2013

Serra da Sintra

The end of Europe

As a hill-bagger who is always on the look-out for the extremities of  altitude it was a matter of no-choice and compulsion to visit an extremity of longitude. The Cabo da Roca is the most westerly point in mainland Europe. Even if it had been an oil terminal I would have felt compelled to go. As it turned out it was more pleasant than that.

We headed out of Lisbon to the UNESCO World Heritage site of the Serra de Sintra. At the east end is the highest point of the serra, Cruz Alta (530m) in the grounds of the Palacia da Pena. I toyed with the idea of bagging it - however, the tourists crowds were so dense and the parking so difficult I did not bother. Instead we drove to the other end of the Serra and ascended the pointed top of Peninha (499m) with a chapel built on to the top of the rock. From there were extensive views of the Atlantic and back along the serra. And there were only a handful of other tourists.

That's Cabo da Roca in the background - me at Peninha

Patrick at Peninha

At the Cabo da Roca there were rather more tourists, but it was not heaving with them. There was a heavy invasion of ice-plant - Carprobrotus edulis. After inspecting the plaque on the obelisk N38.78045 W9.49894 it was obvious that there was a little further west to go. I stood on the cliffs as near to the edge as possible at N38.78045 W9.49907 - however, there did not seem to be a way of getting down to the narrow shore below.

Cabo da Roca lighthouse

Just a bit further west - inaccessible, though

Just a bit south-east of the obelisk I found a path down - part of it aided by a fixed rope. I managed to get down to the shoreline there, but it was not possible to go back northwards to below the obelisk. Facing me was a stack with a fixed line running to the top. I debated about having a go, but decided against as I had not mentioned to Patrick that 'I may be some time'.

Stack with fixed line

Arte Maritime - Estoril

Lisbon from across the Tagus

Lisboa/Lisbon

March and rally against austerity

24-05-2013 – 26-05-2013

Now I know where all the people from the rural areas have gone – they all seem to live by the river Tagus in Lisbon and its satellite towns. And this is where the tourists come.

I am ignoring the Algarve for now.

Lisbon is big and full. As most cities it has a bubble in the middle where most local people rarely visit. Patrick and I explored the bubble. We looked at buildings such as the Torre de Belem; rode on trams, buses, the metro trains and the Elevador de Santa Justa; we visited Art galleries – the Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga and the excellent Museo Coleccao Berardo in Belem; we got involved in an anti-austerity rally and march outside the President’s residence, the Palacio de Belem; we enjoyed an evening in a Fado restaurant in the Alfama district; we tried to find Henry Fielding’s gravestone but the cemetery was closed, we sat in the Jardim de Estrela and listened to the band playing as people danced in the park.

Lisboa tram

Monument to the Discoveries - Padrao dos Descobrimentos

Torre de Belem

Portuguese Majors

23-05-2013 – 24-05-2013 

The whole of Portugal was enjoying bright sunshine – except for the Serra de Estrala – as I toured the various serras (hill ranges) looking for Majors. Glad I did it as I saw a side of the depopulated rural side of the country that I would not have seen otherwise.  It looks like much of the country has been abandoned to agricultural ‘set-aside’ with uncared groves of olive trees and vast areas of uncultivated land, resulting in an astonishing and abundant display and range of wild flowers.

I thoroughly enjoyed the journey – and the relatively trivial task of bagging the hills from high start points.

Serra de Montemuro/Talegre   

The most northerly of the Portuguese Majors that I visited is on the Serra de Montemuro, a nature reserve, which would be quite attractive with its wealth of wild flowers and the many scattered boulders that reminded me of Kinder Scout, except that the whole thing is a giant wind power station. Because of the power station it is possible to drive to very near the summit by turning off the N321 at Portas Bar petrol station (1208m) N40.96623 W8.00812. 

I parked at N40.96959 W7.99168 (1336m), although it is possible to park at N40.97262 W7.98828 (1340m), just to give my legs a stretch. The top which is named Talegre or Talefre is a Major 1382m P833 at N40.97398 W7.98778 is like a Dartmoor tor with a large obelisk and a trig point. As I explored and clambered over the rocks I could hear church bells which reminded me of hearing something similar in the mist on Slieve League, County Donegal.

Lovely flowers. Horrible windmills.

1.76km, 104m ascent

Malhao da Estrala/La Torre 

It seems that wherever you are in mid Portugal there is a view of the Serra de Estrala and signs pointing towards it, until you get up close. Whereas the rest of Portugal was enjoying sunshine the Estrala, like Cross Fell, had its own weather system – and today there was a large cloud just above the summit.

After a bit of confusion where two exits from the same roundabout were signed to the Serra de Estrala I managed to find the road that winds its way from north to south over the top. I pulled up in the carpark near the summit by a group of nuns who appeared to be performing a scene from Father Ted – one of them was flapping her arms and making loud bird noises. 

The  summit has a number of buildings, markers and communication globes on its summit these include a torre/tower, three trig points (one of which on a tall plinth) and a couple of shops that smell very much of a strong cheese on sale. The summit, Malhao da Estrala/La Torre happens to be Portugal’s highest point, a Major 1991m P1202 N40.32190 W7.61291 still bore traces of snow. Not much of a view from the actual summit, but more extensive ones from lower down.

Serra da Gardunha 

I spent a while driving up tracks – afterwards, despite the windows being closed, the interior of my motorhome was covered in a layer of  dust – to arrive at a point where I feared for the chassis of my motorhome to continue any further after N40.09885 W7.50851 (1101m). From there  it was simply a matter of following a dirt track to a summit with an obelisk, in amongst the detritus of summit masts and the wild flowers.

 Its name? Serra da Gardunha Major 1227m P770 N40.08076 W7.52572. Wide, if hazy, views all round

Overnight in a designated area for motorhomes by a large artificial lake, found by chance in the town of Vila Velha de Radao just as I was beginning to wonder where on earth I could stop.

Pico Sao Mamede 

The next morning I set off to Portalegre and then up on to the flower covered Serra Mamede. There is a road all the way up to the top of Pico Sao Mamede Major 1025m P659 N39.31346 W7.36060 . I parked by the masts at 39.31327 7.35979. The summit is marked by an elevated trig on top of some rocks. There were extensive views across Portugal and into Spain.

 

Then it was off to meet Patrick in Lisbon/Lisboa, which was enjoying a heat wave. And to find where all the people had moved to when they left the rest of Portugal.

Overnight in the Holiday Inn, Lisboa.

Canchal de la Ceja

22-05-2013

Canchal de la Ceya

En route to El Calvitero

Canchal de la Ceya -Sierra de Bejar

Started from 1863m high carpark  Plataforma del Travieso (1850m) N40.33503 W5.73245. As I was getting ready to go three young men turned up and headed off up the hill. I deliberately let them go off ahead of me in the hope that if they were going my way that they could do the hard work of navigating and pioneering through the fresh snow and I could literally follow in their footsteps. There first bit was a bit odd and hard going, however, they soon picked up a path that starts from the near end of the car park from the main road from Bejar. Despite my best efforts to keep behind them I still overtook them before we reached the summit of El Calvitero and then they turned back anyway. Aren’t some people odd, fancy going for a walk on the hill without being a bagger?

El Calvitero

I continued to pioneer to El Calvitero (2399m) N40.31731 W5.72399, marked by a metal tube, and then dropped down to the snowfree col (2326m) N40.30935 W5.73041 before, heading back into the drifting snow on the final uphill stretch to the summit of Canchal de la Ceya, Major 2430m P1153 N40.30457 W5.72899. The summit near the edge of a steep corrie wall is marked by a cairn and a silver space rocket. As I was still a bit tired from the previous day’s exertions on Almanzor and I had a long drive ahead of me, I decided to forgo exploring the El Torreon crags and head back.

Going back I foolishly left for a while the route I had pioneered and ending up flogging through more fresh snow. However, it meant that the route was a bit shorter and going down is easier than up, although not when the snow is hiding dwarf pine trees.

5.5hrs, 11.45km, 1036m ascent

I then drove into Portugal for the first time in my life, crossing the border at Fuentes de Onoro (E) and Vilar Formosa (P) to spend the night in a service area near Guarda on the edge of the Sierra de Estrala.

Circo de Gredos

21-05-2013.

An easy start

The day started in bright sunshine, I was making a nice early start from La Plataforma (1748m) N40.27557 W5.23211 on an obvious, well maintained and clearly waymarked trail PR AV-17 alongside the Rio de Prado before winding up the hillside. 

Circo de Gredos - Pico de Almanzor is on the left

After a while the maintenance is less obvious and the deepening snowcover was hiding all but the most obvious waymarks. Way up on the side of Los Barreones there is a small seating area and the Fuente de Cavedros (2136m) N40.27106 W5.25857. The ‘fuente’ turned out to be nothing more than a small pipe sticking out of the wall, with running water. The path goes up over the ridge and drops again to a noticeboard (2157m) N40.26783 W5.26784 where there is a good first proper view of the Circo de Gredos, including the Pico de Almanzor. Then there is a steady height loss as the path traverses down to a stream crossing (2028m) N40.26160 W5.26859 and a view of the Laguna Grande. 

Laguna Grande

The path continues to drop down to the laguna, which is frozen but not sufficiently to be trusted to walk across. So I had to pick my way through the untrodden snow at the water’s edge initially to a footbridge and then to the Refugio Elola 1942m N40.25050 W5.27976. The refugio was cerrado, although there is an unlocked winter room with bunks and blankets.

Refugio Elola

Almanzor from below - earlier

Unfortunately the bright sunshine of the morning start was not holding on. Clouds were beginning to form behind the Circo. Furthermore, there was no real sign of any paths towards the summit. So I made my own way up to Portilla Bermeja (2422m) N40.24346 W5.29583 a mere 450m away from the summit. However, what a 450m this turned out to be. The cloud had by now reduced visibility to a few metres, the updraft winds blew strongly and picked up a certain amount of stinging spindrift, the terrain is already difficult never mind icy old snow covered in new snow and I could tell that I was at a height where the drop in barometric pressure begins to take effect. I had to backtrack several times as I met obstacles and find an ‘easier’ way and even then there several occasions when I was outside my comfort zone. Mercifully, the rock climb at the very top was actually made marginally easier by the presence of snow. Nevertheless, it was touch and go – and that is exactly what I did, I touched the summit of Pico de Almanzor (Ultra 2592m P1690) with my hand and went – and I had to do it all again back to the Portilla Bermeja. On the way I slipped on a steep slope and for the first time ever had to do an ice-brake in earnest – and, was I pleased that it worked?

Almanzor from below - later

The drop down to the refugio was relatively easy, although it was the ‘wrong kind of snow’ for glissading and sliding. I debated with myself about stopping overnight and decided that I had enough daylight hours to get back. There were moments as I slogged my way back up towards Los Barreones that I wished I had made the alternative decision.

22.36km, 2214m ascent.

Overnight at La Plataforma.

Swiveleyesation

18-05-2013 - 20-05-2013

Over the next two days of sunny periods and sudden heavy rainstorms, that dried out quite quickly I managed to cycle around the centre of Madrid and visit the Museo Nacional de Prado and the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, where there was a special Dali exhibition as well as the normal paintings such as Picasso’s Guernica. Other than the Bosch and Brueghel paintings at the Prado my favourite was Carlos de Haes La canal de Mancorbo en los Picos de Europa (1876).

Madrid was OK as cities go, however it did not seem anything special to me. Interesting(?) to note that most of Madrid is over 610m high – i.e. would count as a mountain in UK.

 

Carlos de Haes  - La canal de Mancorbo en los Picos de Europa (1876)

Two nights at the Arco Iris campsite near Vilaviciosa de Odon.

I then drove to Arenas de San Pedro in the Sierra de Gredos and after a couple of hours moved on to a rather basic campsite at Hoyos del Espino. I was the only person staying on the site and communication with the rather drunk man in the reception was limited.