This past weekend, I returned to the Guadarrama mountain range, the same mountain range of Peñalara and La Pedriza, but in a new place for me – La Peñota. At a little more than 6, 000 feet (1,900 meters), La Peñota consists of three small peaks that provide an easy but fun rock scramble to the summit, as well as the other two sub peaks.
Luckily, a friend of my partner decided to come hiking so we were able to go by car with just the three of us, much safer than taking public transportation these days. The main trail to the peak starts in the town of Cercedilla. We parked at the end of the street near the trail, right next to a bakery. In excellent Spanish style, my partner’s friend ran into the bakery for a baguette and we nibbled on some warm, fresh bread while we changed our shoes and put on sunscreen.
As we were getting ready, I started to get a bit nervous. My friend’s partner pulled out his mountain boots mentioning having brought crampons as well. I knew my partner has brought his hiking boots and Microspikes. I, on the other hand, took what could be seen as some risks with my gear when packing that morning. Since we were going to be at a lower elevation after many warm days and some rain, I had opted for my trail runners with just my YakTraks instead of Microspikes since they fit the sneakers better. No crampons, of course, because you can’t wear crampons with sneakers. As I watched the other two get ready, I was already chiding myself for going too light and telling myself I should know better. Fortunately, since we came by car, I figured, “Oh well, I can always turn around and come back.”
The main route starts on a fire road, which could possibly be a Via Pecuaria as we passed by farms and many, many cows, but not Ganados Bravos as they were free-roaming cows. After passing a camp and fountain, the trail wandered up through the forest until reaching a ridge. At the ridge, we crossed a stone wall, where we were now walking in snow until the rocky summit. As soon as I saw the snow, I started to worry that I was unprepared, but in the end, as usual, my worry was completely unnecessary. I didn’t even need to put on the YakTraks. In fact, I think the trail runners have better traction than my hiking boots, since they’re getting a little old and the sole is wearing down a bit.
We took a fairly long lunch on the summit before continuing along the ridge past the summit to make the hike into a loop. For some reason, I had in my mind that this was going to be an easy hike, and I suppose it was at only 3,000 feet of elevation gain. However, continuing along the ridge until the point where we turned off to loop back felt like it took forever. I remember that I asked several times if we were walking to Gredos. Gredos is the next big national park along the trail and it’s not that close. I asked this jokingly the first time, then increasingly more seriously as we continued.
Along the ridge, we passed some ruins from the Civil War before finally reaching the trail down from the ridge and back to Cercedilla. It probably wasn’t that long, but things always feel so tormentingly longer when you are unsure of the distance. If I did it now, I’d probably think, “Oh, this isn’t that far at all. What was my problem last time?”
On the way down we passed a couple of fountains, including one that was elevated and I wondered where the water was coming from. Perhaps, it was magic? Or, did it have a pump? The trail took us to another fire road, then another trail, and a difficult-to-navigate, cow-created mud pit before arriving back to the camp area for the quick return to the car via fire road.
While I did slip twice on the ridge – once on ice and once on mud – my seemingly risky gear choices ended up being perfect for the day, which turned out as planned. Of course, it doesn’t always go like that, which is why I did bring a puffy, a rain coat/wind breaker, hat, thick and thin gloves, an emergency blanket, and extra socks.
