Sierra de Gredos

Jay said:

Has anyone on the group been here?

I remember there was an article about it in Trail magazine a year or so
ago.

The Gredos national park is about 80km outside Madrid and reaches a
height of about 2.5km. Beyond that I know very little.

Any information gratefully received. If you remove the obvious from my
email address, all emails welcome.

Cheers,

Jay

Great walking. Avila close by. I think it was March or April last time
I was there - deep snow on the tops, warm down in the villages.
Good birdwatching too. You can bus it from Madrid but we hired a car,
which made it much simpler.
--

Paul Rooney

"Jay" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Has anyone on the group been here?

I remember there was an article about it in Trail magazine a year or so
ago.

The Gredos national park is about 80km outside Madrid and reaches a height
of about 2.5km. Beyond that I know very little.

I've been to the Sierra de Guadarrama, which is the next set of mountains on
from the Gredos (I actually stayed more or less between the two sets of
hills).

It was late August and I got up Peñalara (2428m) and other 2200m+ peaks. It
was 30C down at 900m where I was staying, but absolutely freezing on top
with a wind howling over the land from the north (real lean into it and
shout into ears to make yourself heard type wind, not a stiff breeze). I
think this was a feature of being able to see forever to the north rather
than a feature of the altitude. No snow or ice at all visible. Beautiful
visibility the whole time I was there. It only got worse than shirt /
trousers weather once above 2000m. I managed with a waterproof jacket and a
100 weight fleece, but I would not have liked to hang around at that
temperature (and I normally suffer from being too hot when walking).

Maps were another issue. Don't start me on Spanish maps...

Gredos is a bit further from both the airport and Madrid, so if I had the
chance I would take Guadarrama over Gredos.

Have fun,
Paul

In message <[email hidden]>, Paul Rooney
<[email hidden]> writes

Quoted message said:

Jay said:

Has anyone on the group been here?

I remember there was an article about it in Trail magazine a year or so
ago.

The Gredos national park is about 80km outside Madrid and reaches a
height of about 2.5km. Beyond that I know very little.

Any information gratefully received. If you remove the obvious from my
email address, all emails welcome.

Cheers,

Jay

Great walking. Avila close by. I think it was March or April last time
I was there - deep snow on the tops, warm down in the villages.
Good birdwatching too. You can bus it from Madrid but we hired a car,
which made it much simpler.

You can also approach from the South, from the town of Candeleda, buses
from Madrid. The route up starts just outside Candeleda, climbs gently
at first but then gets much steeper, zig-zagging up at the end I think.
On a long walk from Candeleda to check out the route's start that's as
much as I could see. This is the 'walkers' route, no tourists. From the
Avila side, there is a road that goes quite high up to a large parking
place, from where you can walk up to the 'laguna grande de Gredos' lake
among the peaks. This is the tourist access. Of course in good weather
you could cross from one side to the other, staying at the 'refugio' or
refuge on the top. Never got up there so don't know what it's like but
spoke to a guy who worked up there. In summer the main problem are the
sudden thunder storms that can develop around the peaks.
--
Paul reply-to is valid

Was there in mid-October 2004. Stayed in the YH in Navarrendonda (v.
comfortable + good food)

Countryside around is a bit like the Cairngorms, but at the top of the
range you get a spectacular change of scenery with the spiky rock
Cirque de Gredos. A night at the Elola refuge is a must. This is v.
popular for winter climbing, but also very accessible to walkers.

We had a lot of wet weather, so pick your time of year carefully.