For unknown reasons that I have yet to determine there are many Via Ferrata routes set up in Andalucía. My best guess is that the oldest and most famous, the Caminito del Rey, which still exists today, may have served as a challenge to the local climbers who possessed plenty of free time, some powerful drilling tools and a need to create something challenging where before there was nothing but rock. I write this because as the hands of fate have decreed, the local guide that I hired two days later to lead me through the magic of the Torcal mountains, was the very same, the one who, along with two friends, in 1997 actually built the Via Ferrata that I was now about to climb. Serendipity comes in many flavours, this time must have been cherry garcia. I had imagined that a provincial or regional government had constructed the Via Ferrata, but I was wrong, at least in this case.
The Torcal mountains, near Antequera, are indeed magical like none other in the world, this because the mountains were eons ago underwater. Not that the sea here had receded, but rather here the mountains rose out of the sea and kept rising for well more than 1,000 metres. Thanks to their long life spent underwater followed by their recent history above sea level and to all the known theories of erosion by rock genre, the resulting formations of rock slabs teetering upon other similar slabs appear amusingly cartoon-like! The vistas, in all directions, nearly defy explanation, where every turn of the head and every step forward present yet another view of improbable juxtapositions of immense pizza pie slices of rock.
I had never hired a guide for a hike previously but we had little choice of accessing the mountains from our home base in Antequera except by minibus. Therefore I hired said minibus, and the guide was included. Another fortuitous decision as the route that he led us on would have been impossible to find without his lead. We walked along unmarked paths often so narrow and so close to the edge of various cliffs that it was simply smart to pretend that it wasn't so! His 'office' was the Torcal mountains, his playground growing up, and it was right next store, a couple of kms away, to where he and his friends decided to build their own personal Via Ferrata nearly 20 years ago!
By now you may be asking what exactly is Via Ferrata. Today it is a challenging climb up mostly vertical rock faces, with many twists and turns thrown in for good measure. Iron 'staples' are secured into the mountain face, spaced apart just enough to make the ascent difficult. These staples stand in for footholds and handholds allowing us to climb. Where there are ledges or cracks in the rock, there are fewer staples if any. All the while we are perched hundreds of metres above the ground far below. Throughout the journey, we are wearing a climbing harness and we are clipped onto a cable running the entire route with a caribiner. If ever one slips and falls, the attached caribiner would limit the fall to a foot or two or three at most. In fact there is little risk of injury, however anyone with a fear of heights or a fear of cliffs would be wise to stay away -- there is plenty of both! There are often other challenges along the route. In ours today we had to zipline across a ravine that revealed a 200 metre drop below our dangling feet. As the zipline was not downhill, one had to pull oneself hand over hand from one end to the other, all the while being suspended by the line. Very scary for some people; in my case: just plain fun! It was ironic however to learn two days later that our hiking guide explained how the zipline is no longer safe, how it needs to be completely replaced, but that the new Swedish owner of that mountain will tolerate climbers but not a repair party. What was scary for some and fun for others was evidently dangerous for all!
The biggest challenge for me today was dealing with the very high winds blowing. While waiting for the zipline to get set up, we all perched on a ledge -- imagine sitting astride a large horse and you'll get the picture -- which dropped precipitously on two sides very far below. Even though we were all clipped in, we were on an exposed peak, and the strong wind nearly blew me off the ledge several times. Of course I would have only fallen a couple of feet, but dangling from a cable, scratched up and possibly upside down wasn't my idea of entertainment.
Apparently the climbers rate the routes, K-1 through K-4; today's was a K-3. I understand the K-4 will have sections under a rock ledge where you are obliged to basically maneuver upside down along the rock ceiling like a spider, from the entry to the exit of the ledge, with just the staples fixed into the ceiling as your guide. Yep, I definitely want that challenge! There are other interesting features, too, elsewhere, like the monkey bridge, where you have to cross a ravine along a bridge made of three wires, one to walk on, the other two for your hands to hang on to. I am uncertain why it is called a monkey bridge, but I can guess having a long tail might come in handy.
Regardless of the various tests of courage, it is always a thrill to simply stop at any point along the route, lean back and gaze at the landscape from high up the face of a cliff, the valley below stretching many kms before another stark mountain obstucts the horizon, the cloudless blue sky uninterrupted by clouds, the sight of a herd of seemingly tiny goats passing below at some random place, the sound of their bells clanging all the way up to my ears and with their requisite shepherd dog keeping them moving along. Once the bells are out of range and between gusts of wind it is eerily silent while resting, giving me pause to reflect on my good fortune to be here at all, to have sought out this excitement far away from home and to look forward to the celebration party that is sure to follow our successful arrival at the summit at some nearby, unknown, secret restaurant in the middle of nowhere that likely does not even exist on TripAdvisor!
Here's hoping that you, too, are from time to time happy to be celebrating something in the middle of nowhere!
Ferrata or Bust Barry.
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