Walk 1 - El Pozuelo

A Very Good Walk of 6/12k. Height gain 5/600m. 3-6 hours. Medium/Hard difficulty. Prickle Factor Medium.

The variations are dependent on how many of the additions you do. With none the walk is given 5.5k and 2 hours – but you’d practically have to run and look at nothing but where your feet will next fell to achieve that! The walk is much better in the direction (anti-clockwise) described.

Park near Juanar Refuge and walk back down the road a half kilometre to the marking post leading down left to the (dry) river bed. (Note the marker post almost opposite for another day), then follow the large track leading diagonally up right towards the col and back up left to El Pozuelo a water system which (mostly) has the only running water in the Sierra. Don’t depend on it! A little further on you reach the second col – the Puerto del Pozuelo.

Decision time. On your left a (very) faint track goes up to the ridge exactly at right angles to the path (there may be a small cairn) and then go along it right to the unnamed summit at 1230m (small cairn enlarged by me) with nice views of the area over and beyond Juanar. For most of the way there’s no track but it’s easy walking adding well under an hour – just make sure you return roughly the same way to get prickled least.

Opposite a clearer track (prickly) goes to what is shown as a very high peak – part of Los Chuchillos and given 1237m making it possibly the highest point in the Sierra Blanca. It is (justly) called Picacho de Castillejos on another map. Where the track reaches the rocks scramble up them and the ridge above to the summit. Obvious traces of passers by at two places. Very easy on the left and just a little more sporting five metres right, and progressively harder the further right you go.

This scramble can be avoided by a continuation of the track going left under the rocks for some 200m until at a col there was (is?) a cairn showing a way up rightwards (straight ahead the ridge leads easily downwards and is a nice continuation but I’ve only followed it for another half k until it steepens). There was a faint line to the summit with the odd small cairn, although these now seem to have vanished.

Coming off in thick cloud I found it hard to refind this line up so take care. The scramble is only a little harder in descent or, alternatively, continue to the drop into the gap before the continuation of the Chuchillos (that I would not fancy – even with a rope!) and carefully make your way over rough ground to the Col on the left to pick up the track back. (Harder to find than you'd think).

In good weather there is no real difficulty but if cloud covers the tops it is easy to get confused. Again this add-on takes under an hour and is one of the highlights of the walk.

Back at the Puerto del Pozuelo continue on the easy path round the hill on your left to the bottom of the drop into the Infierno.

Decision time two. Ahead you can see a post on the dirt track which will take you back to Juanar (30 mins). Right there are rocks giving a pleasant scramble up to the same dirt track. Left on this is the route on the map but you can add an extra pleasant hour or so by going right to circumnavigate the mountain in front of you (un-named – 1144, 1139 etc).

The next bit is as it was until 2007. But as I discovered when doing Walk 5 in 2008 the paths described are now being removed and the area is being turned into an olive grove(?). I think you can still do this part of the walk by keeping as close to the rocks on your left as possible (even on them) with little trace of a path until the final uphill is reached. The two previously existing signposts have been removed.

So follow the dirt track right (X mark) until it becomes a path down into the Rio Molinos valley. We used to have to scramble down rocks on the left but there is now an easy path. At the bottom the path may still go down right to Istan and at some point a path went off left to the Col at 1036 (Walk 5). However I’ve never done this as a faint track can be made out going directly to the same col over rocks at the bottom of the mountain side and I’ve always taken this more sporting, direct, (but I’d bet slower) way.

A small bit of scrambling may be involved here and there and you may keep losing and refinding bits of track but eventually any line leads more or less straight to the steep final approach path up to the Col from whence a steep zig-zag path leads down into woods (note sign to La Concha – route 4) and the main dirt track back left to your car.]

Quite a day if you do it all in Summer!

Click on the picture to enlarge - then use the back button to return

The sign pointing to the start of this  walk	The sign opposite leading up Walk 6	My grandsons starting the hardish variation to the top of El Chuchillo - it's easier to their left	The mountaineering club nearing the top of the scramble	Looking back to the summit - the scramble is the right ridge	The little optional scramble near the end