Autumn walking

I was back in England recently doing the usual family visits during the October half term. I did manage to get some walking in in the White Peak area of Derbyshire though which is an area I didn’t know too well before. I was there redoing my First Aid certificate needed to maintain my qualification to work as a guide. This was great hands on course but very different for the fist one I ever went on when the doctor running the course showed us how to do a tracheotomy using a biro and a pen knife!!!. The recent course was for wilderness first aid aimed at use way from the nearest phone or medic. I must admit I’ve been lucky enough never having to do much more than stick a plaster on (checking for allergies first though) and that has tended to be at home rather than out on the hill. Having got back from reasonable weather in the UK we had two weeks of fairly constant rain here which didn’t allow for much walking and surprisingly put little if any snow down on the mountain directly above us. The peak, Cero de Caballo is 3,011m and as such is the most westerly 3,000m+ summit in Europe. Seeing snow on its summit is a great indication of conditions further into the range. As I write the unusually mild weather isn’t allowing the low temperatures needed to allow snow fall or if it does fall to thaw out on the ground. Hopefully early days yet though and I‘m sure we will soon be out playing in snowy mountains. Once the rain eased however I did manage to get out and did a short walk in the sierra north of Granada. I had seen a walk near the village of Moclin which includes quite a spectacular gorge section. I headed out and having done an early drop off at Granada bus station was walking by nine on a very misty morning. I must admit once I was out in the cool it was very nice to walk and not be concerned about over heating and avoiding the sun as I have been for most of the summer. The route is a delight and was made better by cloud coming a going thoughout the walk which made for very atmospheric views of the gorge and surrounding cliffs and castles. The river which runs through the gorge was in spate which made the crossing of a very bouncy suspension bridge even more dramatic than it would normally have been . The route is well marked and easy enough to follow though perhaps at its best in summer when I dare say you could get into the river to cool off. for more information about walking holidays in the Sierra Nevada, Walking in the Alpujarra contact The Life of Riley at

Sierra Lujar


The Sierra Lujar lies between Orgiva and the Mediterranean coastline at Motril. At over 1800 m it is not a small range yet it is overlooked as a walking destination as it lies in the shadow of the Sierra Nevada range to the north. Ive looked at the range for a number of years and last year did the then recently opened ''ruta de minas''( route of the mines) The more recent trip however took in the top of the range and access couldn't be easier with a surfaced road accessing the number of ariels on the summit.The track winds its way up the eastern and northern flanks and can be used by even normal road vehicles. En route to the summit we were treated to an annual spectacle as Egyptian vultures from the region gathered in order to begin their migration across to Africa. About 100 of these huge birds where circling the car as we drove up and we were even able to park within about five metres of two which were on the ground next to the track.

So what of the walking , from the masts we could see an area of cliffs off to the north across a wide valley running due north down toward Orgiva. Around the head of the valley was a faint track line which ran east to west along a ridge overlooking Motril and the coastline of the costa tropical (including the plastic green houses). After following ever narrowing track for about 2km we then headed north across an open area to a point looking across a shallow side valley filled with pine. Dropping through the pine was not to difficult however there is no path so we just made it up as we went along. At the bottom of the tree line there was the start of a low limestone raised limestone pavement which lead east to an outcrop high above the main valley itself. An ideal spot for lunch.

Throughout the short route the views across the whole of the area had been remarkable , particularly those north to the main Sierra Nevada range . Certainly I had never viewed the range from this aspect and summits from Caballo in the west, to the outliers some 20km east beyond Puerta la Ragua where magnificent and to see three central peaks of Valetta, Mulhacen and Alcazaba spread out before us was almost as good a site as the vultures had been on the ascent.

Our return route was simply to retrace out steps. Over all the trip was only about 9km however as an exploratory trip it was well worth it with a number of tracks and lines being seen and logged for a later date.