Thu 19 Jun
Mulhacén, Sierra Nevada
At the top: album
By the time I got to the top - ¡olé! - my legs were reluctant to do things you normally take for granted, like move, or support my weight. So I sat down and tried to massage and flex my muscles, and take in the view, and the achievement. And had half my cheese bocadillo, and half my water.
The views from the top are truly breathtaking, and different in each direction. The North Face is a sheer cliff, which funnels into a shallow glacial cirque, with a steep-sided V-shaped valley heading off to the north-west towards Granada and its Vega.
Looking down on Granada
This cliff curves round to the west, where it gives way to a long narrow ridge leading to the Veleta peak.
Towards Veleta
To the east there is a succession of rounded peaks separated by the major Alpujarra valleys, and to the south a much gentler incline leads back down to the Upper Poqueira Valley - this is the route we had come up by.
Towards the Alpujarra
I would have loved to have joined those who climbed up the last rocks, to get to the highest point, but there is no way I could have got up there. So I contented myself with taking a few photos, and sending one or two from my mobile phone to Flickr and to this blog; there is 100% coverage at the top, and most of the way up, which is reassuring.
Mulhacén and back: background - ascent - at the top - descent - been there, done that
Bloglets: full moon - single file - pause - at the top - back in Salobreña
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