Picos de Europa, Spain
Naranjo de Bulnes
Starting early from the carpark at the top of the track from Sotres, Ross and I hiked in the 3 hour approach to the base of our route La Cepeda. Switching from crampons and winter boots to rock shoes we set off up the stunning face of Naranjo de Bulnes with crazy limestone features and the occasional piece of fixed gear to point the way. The route culminates in two brilliant final pitches up a steep chimney to the top and easily ranks as one of my favourite ever rock routes. With the mountain to ourselves we struggled for a while to locate the abseil descent but eventually made it back to the car after a round trip of almost 15 hours.
