WE DID IT..............
A few weeks ago I thought that it would be good to try to
reach the white globe that appears to sit at the top of the mountain across the
valley from where I live.
After a bit of research I found that it is a weather Radar
dome situated at Pico Mijas, the peak of the Sierra Mijas some 1178 mtrs above
sea level. That is higher than Snowdon at 1085 mtrs and a little short of Ben Nevis
at 1344 mtrs.
I decided to put this hike onto our Saturday walking schedule,
but realising that only a small number would be able to tackle it, I decided to
make it a sponsored walk to try to raise some funds for S.O.S. Animal Refuge.
It turned out that 7 of our group were prepared to tackle
this challenge, and I asked them to contribute at least €5 each and try to
raise a bit of sponsorship with the aim of raising enough to buy the kennels at
least one tanker of desperately needed water. The well has run dry and they have
to have water delivered by tanker at €75 a time.
The challenge was on.
A couple of hours before the hike was due to start I could
not see the mountain range that we were due to tackle, and I had promised
everyone some amazing views from the top. Even when I left to travel the half
hour to the start the top of the range was still covered in thick cloud. The
forecast was however favourable.
We met at the foot of the ascent equipped for a cold and
damp atmosphere; we were also loaded with rucksacks containing plenty of food
and liquid. The first kilometre of the walk is really quite steep, there is no
being eased into it, and this is in fact the steepest part of the whole hike.
Within the first half an hour most of us had shed our outer attire and were in
shirts or T-shirts. The sun was burning off the cloud and the day was warming.
Steady progress was made and frequent short stops were made
for photo opportunities and to be amazed at the incredibly beautiful scenery.
I had advised that no dogs be on this walk as we are
entering the danger time for the Processionary
Caterpillar, an evil and deadly beast that can cause death to animals and
children and serious harm to adult humans. In fact I sadly lost a dog to these
evil things some 6 years ago. The decision was right is there were numerous ‘nests’
and some of which were showing signs of the inhabitants leaving (this is when
they are at their most dangerous).
After two and a half hours of continual uphill walking we
reached our goal, La Bola.
To everyone’s delight the views were as stunning as we had
hoped, the only slight disappointment was that there was a sea fog and the
distance Atlas Mountains of North Africa were not visible, nor Gibraltar to the
south.
The whole area was quite crowded at times as this route is a
popular test for Mountain bikers and being a Saturday there were quite a few
other hikers out. One thing that was observed was that all the other occupants of the summit and in fact those
that we passed on the way up and back down were considerably younger that any
of us. That set us thinking and an interesting statistic to come to light is
that the eldest of the group was 69, the youngest a mere 55, and the combined
age of the group was 453 years.
After eating our lunches ‘on top of the world’ and posing
for numerous photos, and feeling very proud of our achievement we started for
base.
The descent was just a steady but careful walk, careful
because the track surface is quite loose in places and the last thing we wanted
now was any injuries.
We arrived back at our cars some 5 hours after starting, the
hike up took us 2 hrs 35 mins and the walk down 1 hr 55 mins, plus a half hour
stop at the peak.
We finished the walk tired and with some aching muscles but
with a feeling of satisfaction and a great sense of achievement, and on top of
all this elation the total sponsorship amounted to €260, so the refuge can now
buy in 3 tankers of water and have some money over towards other expenditure for
the animals well being.
A huge thank you to all who donated, and a massive ‘WELL
DONE’ to the ‘Magnificent 7’.
For all the photos go to then link at the top of the right hand column.
For all the photos go to then link at the top of the right hand column.
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