Scrambling on Penya Roc, Sierra de Aitana - Hiking near Guadalest
Hiking Near Guadalest
Today we have been exploring the rocky ground above the mountain village of Guadalest. During the summer months especially, Guadalest is a major tourist draw, with bus-loads arriving daily. They come for the quaint shops, the narrow old town streets, the 11th century San Jose Castle, the far reaching views, and the good restaurants. For more information about the town of Guadalest have a look here.
Winter-time is quite different, peace resumes. This is when Hiking near Guadalest is best enjoyed.
We turned off the main road a short way before arriving in Guadalest and followed a metalled track towards the Pas de Comptador. We later realised we could drive all the way to this pass, but were in a hire car today so hadn't wanted to risk it.
After parking up it was about a 30 minute uphill walk to reach the pass. Our onward route would now become much rockier as we turn towards the rocky summit of Penya Roc. Initially there was a vague path to follow, this soon met with rock steps and we were able to put hands onto the limestone at last.
As is often the case here in Spain, we had occasional blobs of red paint to follow and these proved to be most helpful. Above and all around was a sea of rock and choosing the best way would be so much more difficult without these little helpers.
We encountered a short section of narrow ridge and tackled this directly to add to the fun. But as is so often the way, we were at the top all too soon. A rocky but mostly level crest now followed and gave us outstanding views in all directions. We could see Ponoch; Sanxet; Puig Campana; Bernia and plenty more.
Whilst admiring the views we noticed there was a rainstorm nearby, this was a bit disheartening. Sure enough it hit us a few minutes later, but we had managed to find shelter in some Holme Oak trees and enjoyed lunch as the shower rolled through.
Easy walking followed as we headed for Port de L'Arc and here we picked up a trail that would return us down to the valley. A quick blast up the main valley track had us back at Pas de Comptador and from here we could easily pick out our scrambling route.
The weather steadily improved and views continued to open up more and more. The Hiking near Guadalest is wonderful, I can highly recommend it. We'll certainly be trying more routes in the area. For the coming weeks we have a list of mountain adventures to get through. Some will be easy going, short days and others will be big, committing adventures on massive cliffs.
Mixed in with these mountain based adventures will hopefully be a fair amount of Road Cycling as the weather here is pretty perfect for it as are the roads. This is a really nice way to maintain fitness during the winter months without overly stressing knee joints.
For anyone planning a visit to Costa Blanca and looking for route / activity inspiration, please check out our Cicerone guidebook 'Costa Blanca Mountain Adventures'
And if wanting any guided walks or activities please check out our Spain page here - we will be in the Costa Blanca region until mid-February and have availability for single or multi-day adventures and can tailor these to suit a wide range of ability levels and aspirations.
Hiking near Guadalest
Lunch under the Holme Oaks whilst the rain passes - Hiking near Guadalest