hiking is an ideal sport to practice throughout the year, yes, It is necessary to be well equipped so as not to encounter setbacks, neither in cold seasons nor in warm ones. The idea of this excursion is to climb the highest peak in the province of Segovia, Peñalara, 2,436 m. high, very close to the port of Cotos, on the border with the province of Madrid.
We have already parked, shall we have breakfast? There is a bar - terrace next to the parking lot, if the day is good on the terrace it is very good. Well, we have to prepare ourselves: there are several ways to get to the top, the easiest is to follow the trail laid out to climb, there is no loss and the difficulty is that our state of form allows us to reach Peñalara. The slope leaves behind the terrace bar, along the old ski slope, There are signs that will guide us without loss to Pico de Peñalara, but we will not go through the lagoon.
If we go up through the Peñalara lagoon, the first part of the path may be a little icy, if so we will slip easily. We will walk, meeting people, to the lagoon. The view is very beautiful, you can see the ski slopes of the Valdesquí resort.< /p>
We walk along the marked path. It is a very nice place to stop. The lagoon is beautiful at all times of the year, but frozen and with the valley and mountains in the background, it seems especially so to me. We continue up the climb following the indications within the marked path and to reach the summit through the difficult part, as we detour towards the Dos Hermanas peak, we will see it to the right of Peñalara; Dos Hermanas is very rocky and spectacular.
There is to climb among the rocks and later through virgin snow. The slope slopes a little and the ice ax and crampons are great for us on this climb. The view is incredible, the Peñalara lagoon is getting smaller and the top is getting closer.
We have already reached the esplanade from which we can see the city of Segovia, here there are two options, continue towards the peak of Peñalara or go down a different path than the one we took on the way up, which is the one on the track where we could have made the easier climb.
We can also do the climb from the old ski slope and following the indications and advice on the signs we will have no problem. It is easy to go up here since there is a marked path and anyone can do it.
It's time to eat, there is a beautiful town in the province of Segovia called Valsaín where the food is phenomenal. We have to go down the port of Navacerrada and a few km away. We will find it, although it is not the only town, a little further on is the Granja de San Ildefonso, Torrecaballeros, Segovia... it's all about choosing the place, of course the Segovian food is phenomenal in the area: suckling pig, lamb and " field seafood", (chorizo, blood sausage, picadillo...).
As for the material, you should know that the mountain must always be taken very seriously, we are not talking about excessive height, but if we go in winter there are a series of basic rules that we must follow.
We must go with appropriate warm clothing, raincoats, spare clothing, mountain boots with materials that do not get wet, very important are good sunglasses and sunscreen and lip creams. Also nuts in case we get lost, a bottle of water and if we have a cell phone, the better, avoid problems. If we are more "mountaineers", we take an ice ax and crampons. All this seems exaggerated but it really makes our day more comfortable and avoids problems.
In summer some things are superfluous, but boots, a raincoat, nuts... are not superfluous, the mountains change their climate from one moment to the next.
We ended the day tired, but it was worth it to enjoy the snowy landscapes and a different Sunday. If you want you can do it too...
