I have nothing against racing mountain. It is a way of loving nature very far from mine - that I cannot conceive of valleys, the hills and the peaks like an immense athletics track-, but also respectable. Yes I have a lot against, however, of those who do not respect the mountain or of anyone who dirties it with impunity. That's why it bothered me especially to stumble a few days ago, in the ascent to the Bacún from the Garcipollera valley, a sparsely traveled area in the Huesca Pyrenees, with the remains of a race signal, the 2KV, to the top of Collarada. Red-and-white ribbons, plastic signs, Indicative arrows and stakes marked the ascent to the south hill of Bacún (2.144 meters). The test had been held a week ago, but the signs of the itinerary to guide the participants in that section were still there. Go up fast, they go down even faster but, to what is seen, their organizers are not in the same rush to clean up.
I do not know if at the time of writing these lines the remains of the race will continue to be scattered around the mountain. Hopefully not. I'm sure, in fact, that the organizers of the 2KV love the mountain and respect it and see in a competition of this type a way to promote the beauty of the Aragon Valley and its main peak, Collarada (2.886 meters). That is why this carelessness is even more incomprehensible to me.. Put a remedy as soon as possible, please.
The test had been held a week ago, but the signs to guide the runners were still scattered around the mountain
We had started the ascent two hours before a few meters from the beautiful Romanesque hermitage of Santa María de Iguacel, where the road that goes up the silent valley of Garcipollera dies. From there we had to save a slope of just over 1.000 meters to reach the southern and northern peaks of Bacún and Lera and complete the circular journey descending through the forest towards the starting point.
The difficulty of tackling less traveled ascents is that one is certain that, sooner or later, the path unravels and you have to throw in vague references and, especially, of intuition and orientation. So one can lose a few minutes in finding a trail that vegetation has swallowed up years ago or searching unsuccessfully through the forest for an old hunters' trail that has already disappeared., inevitably confusing it with the successive, and ephemeral, cattle steps. All those insecurities, those who think about doing this beautiful route are warned, they only diminish the morale of anyone who is not clear that the answer to any doubt is to keep climbing.
The difficulty of tackling less traveled ascents is that one is certain that, sooner or later, the path unravels
As soon as you leave your car in the parking lot of the hermitage (1.180 meters), and after passing a concrete bridge over the river, Instead of continuing in the direction of the Romanesque temple, you have to turn left along an ascending path (a wooden sign indicates the way to the nearby municipality of Castiello). The PR-15 links one zig-zag after another towards the hill of the Serra Cruz, leaving a track twenty minutes later that you have to continue a few minutes until we continue climbing abruptly along a trail barely visible on the right hand side. We pass by the remains of several buildings before reaching a dividing line that overlooks the track of the abandoned town of Cenarbe and a "trough" of lammergeiers, in the middle of the conservation area of these birds.
Continuing along the hill in a northwesterly direction through the remains of a wide path that soon fades, We enter a forest through which there is no other option than to continue climbing the slope without any path until we reach a hill with some isolated pine. On the other side, the unmistakable silhouette of the Peña Retona (2.775 meters), the mass of the Sierra de la Partacua.
A dividing line overlooks the track of the abandoned town of Cenarbe and a "trough" for bearded vultures
At half past ten, after two and a quarter hours of walking, we are in Bacún Sur, already marked the ascent by the remains of the signaling of the mountain race to Collarada, that now looks splendid on our left. A geodesic vertex marks the top. We meet a lonely mountaineer who has ascended from Villanúa and who ran the 2KV last week and is surprised and upset, as we, because the beacons of the route are still there.
Continuing up the hill, half an hour later it is reached Bacún North (2.195 meters), the maximum altitude of the horse route between the Aurín river basin and the Bozuelo river basin. From this point you can enjoy the best views of Collarada and Collaradeta. A metal fence separating cattle, already beaten on the ground, indicates the way to the last peak, of the Lera Peak Leta's (2.122 meters), that we reach three and a half hours after starting to walk. A tumulus of stones next to a stick invites you to rest for a few minutes and eat something. Down there, towards the Acumuer valley, a precarious shepherds refuge appears.
From Bacún Norte, between the Aurín basin and the Bozuelo basin, you can enjoy the best views of Collarada
The most intuitive part of the journey lies ahead, Well in sight there is no path or anything like it. Continuing through the foothills of the sierra, we plummeted down a somewhat treacherous grassy ridge, it hides innumerable holes under the grasses that make it necessary to keep a watchful eye to avoid a sprained ankle.
After more than half an hour of continuous descent we saved some 400 meters of unevenness and we reached the beginning of the forest, next to the remains of an old farmhouse on our left. We have to find a hunter's path that takes us down comfortably, but we do not find her and we enter the forest going down to the brave between the thick undergrowth, pushing aside boxwood bushes and pine branches and stepping on wild boar droppings.
We do not find the hunters' path that the guide promises and there is no other option than to go into the forest going down to the brave among the thick undergrowth.
After half an hour of fighting with the forest we finally found something similar to a path, or so we want to believe, Although abandoned and crossed at each step by fallen logs, it takes us ten minutes later to the track that goes down to the Iguacel car park.. Without further setbacks, nor desire to leave the anodyne comfort of the track, we reached our starting point 5 hours 45 minutes after.
The perfect climax to the day is the inevitable visit to the hermitage, with a refreshing foot bath in its three-pipe fountain, and a few mugs of beer at the inn Castiello de Jaca, where the road to La Garcipollera starts. Can not ask for more. Or if. That they clean the mountain of the remains of the 2KV. If it's not too much to ask.
