On the horizon from my roof terrace the most striking feature is the huge escarpment dominated by El Torreón (1654m.), which is the highest point in Cadiz province. It was always a huge challenge for me to climb it. I waited and waited for the right day. There is no point in climbing El Toreón if you reach the top and it is covered in cloud or you have picked a misty day. You have to be focused on the weather for this climb to pay off. Good boots are a must.
(I have years of experience of standing on a mountains in cloud as a paraglider. It is like being in the centre of a ping pong ball. In England, where the weather is to say the least, unpredictable, we have often waited hours for an improvement, which sometimes never comes. Your limit of vision is twenty feet. It's cold, wet and miserable.
I once got bored sitting around waiting for the cloud to lift and asked a friend to grab a hold of my harness whilst I practiced ground handling, so not to waste the day. A paraglider will not lift two people, especially when one of them has a beer belly like mine. I pulled my wing above my head but when I turned to face the wind, he let go of the harness. I shot up fifty feet into the cloud and was lost.
Within seconds of leaving terra firma you are in the exact centre of the ping pong ball with no idea which direction you are going in. You could be going in circles, in which case, the mountain you just left is about to appear in front of you twenty feet away with an approach speed of forty miles an hour.
I shouted down to him to make a noise so I knew where the mountain was. Then I steered away from him. He started singing Onward Christian Soldiers and I avoided his singing like the plague. Five minutes later after pulling in Big Ears I dropped out of the cloud and could see the green landing fields below me.)
You are really supposed to obtain permission to do this walk from the tourist information office, but lately with all the cutbacks they don´t have the staff to patrol the walks. The Idea was to limit the number of walkers and stop erosion. I just set off and never saw a soul during the whole walk.
When I climbed El Torreon I did not ask my friends if they would like to accompany me, from experience I knew they could spoil a day’s planning with their vacillations. I set off alone. Before I left I told a friend which route I was taking and when I would likely to be back and that if I was not back by then, to ring the police.
The walk starts on the road from Grazalema to Benahoma on the A372. There is a bend in the road 4 or 5 km. out of Grazalema and a small car park on the left. It is easy to miss. There is a sign on the right under some trees announcing the walk. The walk itself starts at around 800 metres above sea level, so you only have to walk up the remaining 854m (1,861ft.)to the summit. Easy!
This walk is a rocky, uneven staircase. Each step is a foot higher than the last. It is two and a half kilometres long, or more accurately, two and a half kilometres high. It is a walk that a cyclist would find easy, but a walker would find arduous.
The summit of El Toreon is a wilderness of Karstic limestone tilted at an angle of 30 degrees. These slabs of Jurassic seabed range from car to house size. The summit is well trodden but not easy to get to amongst the boulders.
The route
Looking east over the escarpment
Looking south towards Brabate
Looking north
When you do reach the highest point you will be rewarded with one of the most spectacular views of Cadiz province to be had. To the south are the wild hills of Parque Natural de los Alcornocales and the shining waters of the Embalse de Barbate. A little more to the east is the unmistakable profile of the rock of Gibralter. Beyond which, in the far distance, across the silver Mediterranean, lay the Atlas Mountains of North Africa; Another continent!
To the north are the plains of Sevilla and Osuna, to the east are the Sierras de Nieves around Ronda. The view over the precipice to the valley 750m. (2,300ft.)below is also worth a look.
Pick the right day and this walk is the best to be had.
Now all you have to do is go down a staircase 800m. high to get to your car.
In England we have an expression which fits the way you will feel at the bottom of this staircase.....
It's a real knee trembler.
(I have years of experience of standing on a mountains in cloud as a paraglider. It is like being in the centre of a ping pong ball. In England, where the weather is to say the least, unpredictable, we have often waited hours for an improvement, which sometimes never comes. Your limit of vision is twenty feet. It's cold, wet and miserable.
I once got bored sitting around waiting for the cloud to lift and asked a friend to grab a hold of my harness whilst I practiced ground handling, so not to waste the day. A paraglider will not lift two people, especially when one of them has a beer belly like mine. I pulled my wing above my head but when I turned to face the wind, he let go of the harness. I shot up fifty feet into the cloud and was lost.
Within seconds of leaving terra firma you are in the exact centre of the ping pong ball with no idea which direction you are going in. You could be going in circles, in which case, the mountain you just left is about to appear in front of you twenty feet away with an approach speed of forty miles an hour.
I shouted down to him to make a noise so I knew where the mountain was. Then I steered away from him. He started singing Onward Christian Soldiers and I avoided his singing like the plague. Five minutes later after pulling in Big Ears I dropped out of the cloud and could see the green landing fields below me.)
You are really supposed to obtain permission to do this walk from the tourist information office, but lately with all the cutbacks they don´t have the staff to patrol the walks. The Idea was to limit the number of walkers and stop erosion. I just set off and never saw a soul during the whole walk.
When I climbed El Torreon I did not ask my friends if they would like to accompany me, from experience I knew they could spoil a day’s planning with their vacillations. I set off alone. Before I left I told a friend which route I was taking and when I would likely to be back and that if I was not back by then, to ring the police.
The walk starts on the road from Grazalema to Benahoma on the A372. There is a bend in the road 4 or 5 km. out of Grazalema and a small car park on the left. It is easy to miss. There is a sign on the right under some trees announcing the walk. The walk itself starts at around 800 metres above sea level, so you only have to walk up the remaining 854m (1,861ft.)to the summit. Easy!
This walk is a rocky, uneven staircase. Each step is a foot higher than the last. It is two and a half kilometres long, or more accurately, two and a half kilometres high. It is a walk that a cyclist would find easy, but a walker would find arduous.
The summit of El Toreon is a wilderness of Karstic limestone tilted at an angle of 30 degrees. These slabs of Jurassic seabed range from car to house size. The summit is well trodden but not easy to get to amongst the boulders.
When you do reach the highest point you will be rewarded with one of the most spectacular views of Cadiz province to be had. To the south are the wild hills of Parque Natural de los Alcornocales and the shining waters of the Embalse de Barbate. A little more to the east is the unmistakable profile of the rock of Gibralter. Beyond which, in the far distance, across the silver Mediterranean, lay the Atlas Mountains of North Africa; Another continent!
To the north are the plains of Sevilla and Osuna, to the east are the Sierras de Nieves around Ronda. The view over the precipice to the valley 750m. (2,300ft.)below is also worth a look.
Pick the right day and this walk is the best to be had.
Now all you have to do is go down a staircase 800m. high to get to your car.
In England we have an expression which fits the way you will feel at the bottom of this staircase.....
It's a real knee trembler.
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