Hiking at 3479 meters - Mulhacen & Òrgiva & Capileira

mountain friends,

Some of you have already noticed: I have climbed my first 3000m peak. It was a total of 3479 meters and the peak is called Mulhacén and is located in the Sierra Nevada in the Granada region. Since I have already been to Andalusia twice and have already explored some climbing routes and cultural highlights here, I had not actually planned any further visits to this region. But after I had no success on my previous hikes, I thought to myself: "Now even more so!" and I was looking for a hike that could be done by one person without much risk and within a day. The only condition: I really want to go up to over 3000 meters.

My base and also my center for the next 3 nights is the small town of Órgiva south of the Sierra Nevada mountain range. Here I felt particularly comfortable on the campsite, even if it was still raining or was already raining when I arrived.

On the way from Almeria to Órgiva I noticed glimpses of the amount of rain and storms that were raging in Spain. So I was lucky again that this weather accident didn't hit me and that I wasn't in the wrong place at the wrong time. Looking back, this is already the 3rd time since I've been on the road that storms of all kinds just missed me either locally or temporally. I knock on wood that it stays that way. So I spent 2 more hours in the car in the rain and dedicated myself to planning the hike for the next few days. I've watched the weather in advance, but at that point only a window of maximum 15 hours on Tuesday 5th September came into question as the weather was predicted to be too unstable at all the other times. Unfortunately, 15 hours (of which 6 was unfortunately night) are not the best prerequisites for planning a multi-day hike, nor are there enough hours to cope with the amount of altitude difference. So, also for my own safety, I decided to take a bus organized by the national park to about 2600 HM and then to do a circular hike to the summit.

The bus costs around 14 euros and takes you to a high plateau from which you can start - Alto del Chorillo. From here, I used the Komoot app to pick a tour that lasts from 4 hours to 6 hours, so that I have several options for getting back to the bus in time. The bus left Capileira at 10:30 and returned at 6:00 p.m. In total I had exactly 6 hours to get to the summit and back to the bus. After a dry dinner and the planning completed, I went to bed to sleep in and start the next day a little more calmly.

No sooner said than done - I slept in and cooked eggs for breakfast and started the day in peace. The weather was good again and I felt guilty about just hanging around. So I decided to take a closer look at Órgiva. On foot. Well, I wanted to, but unfortunately there are no sidewalks in Spain that were built from the outskirts of town into the town center. This resulted in me walking on the side of the road at a 70 limit. My mind didn't think it was that cool, but at the same time I thought to myself that the Spaniards somehow have to get back and forth without a car and I started running. And now, dear friends, I sadly have to tell you that for the first time, I was unable to move forward and beyond my own fears out of fear. This wasn't due to the cars, but rather to the Spanish guard dogs, who stay in questionably patched fences on properties and exhibit such creepy and frightening territorial behavior that I couldn't move a meter further forward for fear that the fence wouldn't hold and I'll soon end up as dog food. I know that's probably a bit of an exaggeration, but since I'm not familiar with what the dogs are actually capable of due to a lack of experience, I turned back and walked back to the campsite to go the same way with the dog to put the car back. Sometimes steps are taken backwards before you can move forward again.

I have to admit, the trip wouldn't have been really worth it either as dog food or by car, because downtown Órgiva doesn't have much to offer other than 3 restaurants and - what else - a church. So I did my shopping for provisions for my hike and went back to the campsite and leisurely cooked and made my preparations for the big hike the next day. That means: packing my backpack, making sandwiches, preparing breakfast and planning my backpack so that even if I missed the bus I could hike for another 3 - 4 hours to get back to the car. True to the motto: Better to have than to need!

The next morning I drove 40 minutes to the bus and then we drove another 1.5 hours (due to gravel roads) to the plateau. After 4.5 hours of hiking and an incredible experience, I made it back down in time for the bus and took a little nap in the sun and a pleasant 15 degrees.

The elevation gain is clearly noticeable and the pump runs a lot faster at my standard hiking pace than it does at the "normal" elevation gain. But it was so worth it, the weather was perfect, I was able to admire ibexes and mountain goats and I grew a bit myself again. I will now let the pictures speak for themselves, although the experience of a herd of ibex walking in rows across the mountaintop in front of me will forever have a special place in my mountain heart:

After the hike I took a look at the mountain village of Capileira and realized that it reminded me a lot of Greece with all the little white houses. A very cute little town. This Tuesday was also the terminus of the Badlands and therefore relatively busy. It was also market day that day and so I was lucky to get a parking space.

At the end of the day there were a few more grapes and then I fell into bed pretty exhausted.

In summary, a wonderful tour and I am very proud of myself!

With that in mind, a big goodbye and I say goodbye with a grin on my face!
Your Britta