The various bridges spanning the gorge
I've often thought about what it would be like to descend the Mascarat gorge, but until recently not thought much more than that. Always heading somewhere else instead, whether it be climbing at Toix, or on the huge Mascarat crags that tower above the gorge.
Well, recently we found out that this canyon had been equipped for descents. Shiny new bolts at every turn, always sounds appealing.
So with friend Steve I set off to see what it held in store. After a false start and lots of bush-whacking, we eventually found the correct approach path, which was quite unusual......starting with an abseil from the roadside crash barriers from the main road! This was rapid and worked very well and within minutes we were deep in the gorge with thoughts of main roads now miles away. We had entered a peaceful haven.
A short abseil led us to a dilemma. The following abseil is equipped to be done as a diagonal and very dynamic abseil, or a straight down. We opted for straight down and this worked well, despite me getting wet feet, Steve faired better with a better jump over the pool.
Another short abseil led us on to a bigger drop of just over 20m and with glorious golden light. This is certainly the main event and should be savoured on a warm and sunny day.
Easy and interesting walking took us under the various bridges and back to the roadside where an easy walk leads back to the starting point.
For a morning out in the Calpe area this is hard to beat, it packs a lot in.
Back to mountaineering tomorrow and a blog post will be forthcoming on it shortly after.
Thanks for reading folks.
Mark
Well, recently we found out that this canyon had been equipped for descents. Shiny new bolts at every turn, always sounds appealing.
So with friend Steve I set off to see what it held in store. After a false start and lots of bush-whacking, we eventually found the correct approach path, which was quite unusual......starting with an abseil from the roadside crash barriers from the main road! This was rapid and worked very well and within minutes we were deep in the gorge with thoughts of main roads now miles away. We had entered a peaceful haven.
A short abseil led us to a dilemma. The following abseil is equipped to be done as a diagonal and very dynamic abseil, or a straight down. We opted for straight down and this worked well, despite me getting wet feet, Steve faired better with a better jump over the pool.
Another short abseil led us on to a bigger drop of just over 20m and with glorious golden light. This is certainly the main event and should be savoured on a warm and sunny day.
Easy and interesting walking took us under the various bridges and back to the roadside where an easy walk leads back to the starting point.
For a morning out in the Calpe area this is hard to beat, it packs a lot in.
Back to mountaineering tomorrow and a blog post will be forthcoming on it shortly after.
Thanks for reading folks.
Mark
Golden light in the Mascarat gorge
Steve on the 2nd abseil
