
| After the long slog up to the Naranjo de Bulnes hut from Arenas, it was mighty cold up there with snow lying deep everywhere. Leaving the next morning at 4:30am the snow was crisp and hard and as the sun came up it was the most beautiful sight. Striking mountains, cloud lying below the peaks stretching northwards to the see and above all the feeling of isolation.
Crossing ridge after steep ridge, giving exciting scrambling and the sun was well up before reaching Torre Cerredo base. The route seemed obvious following a snow basin and then climbing the steep slopes. Soloing the steep snow certainly got the heart racing and bolts in the rock showed me I should have ropes. Crossing patches of rock in crampons was nervey and big releif reaching the narrow summit and its summit post.
The view all around was incredible and not a soul in sight - which in turn made me put on a bright orange waterproof so if I fell I'd be seen. Going down seemed impossible - tried going in all directions but all the slopes ended falling away in steep crags. Eventually got the nerve and found a snow gully leading back to the route I'd come up. The snow was soft and it was frightening, delicate climbing (for me anyway) back down to the basin. A long trudge back to the hut and a meal but what a feeling. Never before have I felt so alone with that big question of 'what if?' |