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Mad English in Sierra de las Nieves

Not many hardy souls make it out in these sorts of conditions, especially when they are supposed to be on holiday. Neil and Claire aren't your average walkers, keen on stretching their legs in out of season conditions whilst holidaying in Andalucia, Spain.

"I'll take you on one of my special walks close to the village of El Burgo" I told them. Little did I realise just how special the day was going to be. After a short drive, we hiked up through the mist till we hit the tree line. Another half an hour of walking brought us to a saddle where the path hopped from one side of the mountain to the other. "We'll be a bit exposed for a short way" I commented. Within a minute our windward side was all but frozen by a bitter horizontal driving rain. Before we could regain the shelter of the trees and the leeward side of Sierra Prieta, both Neil and Claire were forced to stop and don waterproof trousers and swab their lenses.

Climbing through the pines, the mist was thick, but on the odd occasion it cleared briefly, pierced by the surrounding pinnacles, and the views dropped steeply down the valley to our right. All too soon the rain turned to sleet and then to snow. By the time we gained the pass to Yunquera and cleared the forests I knew it was time to call it a day. The summit of Sierra Cabrilla, a further 200m ascent with no path and steep drops would have been a foolhardy undertaking to say the least. A good friend and fellow guide, once told me how some clients complained about not getting to a summit. "Well at least you'll be alive to talk about it when you get home" was his considered reply!

There were no such complaints on this day when I announced taht we would go no further. So I whipped out the camera and this was the result..what a day!