23.04 Pradollano, Pico Veleta: An amazing place, an amazing mountain range, an amazing hiking experience, simply...amazing.
Every now and again we mention some of our best experiences. The ascent to (the peak of) Pico Veleta was one of them. We are able to view the peak from the sitting room in our apartment. It's awesome. The mountains climb steeply from the base. There is no respite; they go directly upwards—tough and taxing. Although not easily viewable on pictures, there are three layers of mountains with valleys between them. The distance is deceptive as we soon realized—there's nothing as sobering as finding this out while on foot. The lower part of the village, where our apartment is situate, is at 6,890 foot above sea level, while the summit sits at 11,148 feet. Because we selected our own route, we had to negotiate a further 300 feet as we dropped down from the communication station and then further below the observatory. The cumulative gain was a meaningful 4,500 feet plus. We enjoyed every moment of it but for maybe 3 or 4 feet. It was one of those days where whatever they coul...