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Ascent of Sierra de Lijar on 2010-11-07

Climber: Rob Woodall

Other People:

Solo Ascent
Only Party on Mountain

Date:

Sunday, November 7, 2010

Ascent Type:

Successful Summit Attained

Motorized Transport to Trailhead:

Car

Peak:

Sierra de Lijar

Location:

Spain

Elevation:

1050 m / 3448 ft

Ascent Trip Report

Examining the Spanish 1:50k mapping, two trailheads are evident:. The first, from the N, N36.92904 W5.40360, 395m (GPSr) is evidently an easy drive or cycle on a good unpaved road.

Not realising this, I climbed Lijar on foot, starting from the NW, minor road CA-P-4541 on 1:50k map, N36.91980 W5.41841, 485m (GPSr). At this spot is a small pull-in, and across a fence a disused farm track can be seen, as shown on the 1:50k map. This route involves a slightly awkward fence climb and is a little trespassy although I met no-one, not even any livestock. It is a pleasant walk up through scrubby pasture, passing the ruins of Cortijo de la Fuente de la Sierra, to join the main track which comes in from the north. At this point, a trailhead is soon reached with signs indicating a walking route which heads NE and it was evident that I could have legitimately driven the car to this point at least. Above can be seen the NW cliffs of the mountain, rising above a blanket of woodland. Shots were being fired above me and I half expected to meet a hunting party higher up and to be turned back. As I hiked the gentle zig-zag unpaved road, several vehicles passed. Eventually the ridge is gained, near Point 908m. Soon a pull-in is reached, with a picnic spot at a viewpoint, and red flags which presumably indicate a firing range on the steep slopes, hence the firing I’d heard, not affecting this main access route. The summit can now be seen to the E, a gentle rounded profile with scattered scrubby trees. I continued to hike the excellent unpaved road to the summit, which is topped by a comms mast in a fenced compound (no gate – easy access) with a standard Spanish triangulation pillar – cylindrical on a tallish square base. The 1:50k map has a 1051m trig symbol here with another small 1050m ring contour shown immediately to the S. However in reality there is no southern summit: the unpaved road continues south a short way (slight descent, maybe 10m) to a large parking lot (doh!). Note that the route to the summit is as shown on the 1:50k map, but I saw no sign of the other mapped track heading E from near the summit. There is a very nice view across the Embalse de Zahara to Pinar (this morning’s first peak) to the south with an attractive supporting cast of lower summits.

After a few minutes I returned to the summit, took a GPS reading now the instrument had had time to settle (N36.90042 W5.39345, 1049m), then walked and jogged back down, meeting several mountain bikers on their way up (the road is a little stony but evidently a perfectly good surface for cycling). I was also passed by several other vehicles, which had evidently not come from the summit itself – perhaps they were hunters.

This was my 2nd summit of the day, after an early morning ascent of the nearby Pinar. I started at 10:20, ascended in 1h30 and descended in 1h10, arriving back at the trailhead at 13:10. As planned, I now had time to attempt Abdalajis before my late evening flight home from Malaga, so after some food I headed east. My driving route took me past Lijar’s northern trailhead, which as I now expected, starts just E of La Muela village and is an obvious gravel road heading S from the road. In passing I took a quick waypoint as above.

Summary Total Data

Elevation Gain:

566 m / 1857 ft

Elevation Loss:

566 m / 1857 ft

Distance:

16.9 km / 10.5 mi

Grade/Class:

YDS 1

Quality:

6 (on a subjective 1-10 scale)

Route Conditions:

Maintained Trail, Unmaintained Trail

Weather:

Pleasant, Breezy, Partly Cloudy

Ascent Statistics

Elevation Gain:

566 m / 1857 ft

Distance:

8.4 km / 5.3 mi

Route:

from NW

Trailhead:

Minor road N36.91980 W5.41841 484 m / 1591 ft

Time Up:

1 Hours 30 Minutes

Descent Statistics

Elevation Loss:

566 m / 1857 ft

Distance:

8.4 km / 5.3 mi

Route:

as ascent

Trailhead:

Minor road N36.91980 W5.41841 484 m / 1591 ft

Time Down:

1 Hours 10 Minutes

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