It is advisable not to underestimate the seductive power of words. Some grab you as soon as you hear them and, when it comes to the name of a peak, You have no choice but to approach that mountain to try to reach the summit.. It is that geography of words that I have referred to here on occasion. It happened to me years ago with the Mesa de los Tres Reyes, The roof of Navarra, that immediately spread its spell of medieval times on my curiosity. They say that the kings of Aragon, Navarra and the Viscount Bearne French to settle their border disputes, since the mountain straddles the border between the neighboring country and the two ancient kingdoms.
I have taken longer than necessary, but a few days ago I was finally able, in the company of a good friend, pay a visit to the Table of the Three Kings (2.444 meters), a summit that is normally very crowded in summer and that forced us to get up early to try to enjoy those magical moments in solitude and, passing, avoid heat.
Hearing his name on my curiosity immediately spread the charm of medieval times
From Jaca it is more than an hour by car to the Linza refuge (1.340 meters), where the most common route to the Mesa begins, and that has been imposing itself in recent years on the one that begins in Belagua. And the approach to the mountain is long, more than seven kilometers, although the climb is not too demanding.
After half past seven in the morning we are already at the shelter (four kilometers from the Zuriza campsite along the road of Goosebumps since done). No loss. The road dies here. Fifteen minutes later we started walking. The temperature is low at this time, so the sooner we break a sweat the better. We soon pass a group of mountaineers who have left a little ahead of us. We do the rest of the climb alone.
The most common route to the Mesa begins in the Huesca shelter of Linza
The road is gaining height, now in the shadow, in a northeasterly direction towards the Linza hill (1.935 meters), which we reached an hour later without great efforts. At this point, the path forks. Right, towards him The party (2.360 meters) and to the left, losing height, path to the Table of the Three Kings, still far away.
After a minimal stop to drink something and eat an energy bar, we descend to the valley, where we cross the river and start climbing again, leaving to our right, lower and lower, a shepherd's hut. More or less halfway through, a post marks the crossroads between Aragón, Navarra and France. Following the one on our left we continue to Lescun (France) and Belagua. Behind us, Linza and Zuriza. We must continue forward, towards the table (indicated to 1 time and 45 minutes).
A post marks the crossroads between Aragón, Navarra and France
The path, always marked with the reddish color of the GR or with stone markers, Now it rises again until a large unmistakable rock that blocks its path. There, The path turns sharply to the left along some rocks that anticipate the sea of ??rocks that lies ahead of us until the Mesa Col.. Now the sun is shining on us and, although it is not yet ten in the morning, We no longer walk with the comfort we used to..
After crossing a first rock barrier, The path loses a lot of height until a quiet valley through which you have to continue to the right when you reach a post almost on the divide.. This grassy path is just a fleeting respite in the profusion of this karstic kingdom in which you have to be very attentive to the landmarks so as not to get lost. (If we turn to the right it will be very difficult for us to reach the height of the hill later.).
The delay in attacking the mountain is a little frustrating, but the approach is long and the slope is overcome slowly.
Despair a little, truth, the delay in attacking the mountain but, as I have already pointed out, The approach is long and the slope is slowly overcome between rocks and cracks, with the mass of the Table already looming to our left.
At half past ten the Ansabere needles (2.377 meters). At his feet, The smaller peaks are covered by an impressive blanket of clouds through which the most daring peaks appear., offering our eyes a dreamlike image of the kingdom of the mountains. It's moments like this, that cannot be reserved online or purchased with money, those who justify any effort and dispel any weakness, physical or spiritual. It is an immense gift that we enjoy, also, in the silence of loneliness, each one alone with his thoughts.
The impressive blanket of clouds offers our eyes a dreamlike image of the kingdom of the mountains.
Now, finally we attack the top hill (10:40). So close to the goal, We commented among ourselves that perhaps we will be the first to summit today. It won't be like that. A few seconds later, the silhouette of a solitary mountaineer coming down from the summit is silhouetted against some stones..
Instead of attacking the Mesa head-on (for which you have to overcome a small chimney), The path continues halfway up the slope to the left. Now you have to be more attentive than ever to the stone milestones to overcome the last meters of slope in the most comfortable way possible.
Privileges like this, that cannot be reserved online or purchased with money, They are what justify any effort
In fifteen minutes we are up, suspended over the immense white sheet. There is no one else. It's not yet eleven in the morning. It took us three hours and ten minutes to climb. We are happy.
The summit is peculiar, because in addition to the characteristic geodesic vertex there is a mailbox, a stake with a sanferminero cloth, a reproduction of the Navarrese castle of Javier and, a few meters further, a sculpture of Saint Francis Xavier. I now remember the photographs of the summit full of mountaineers and I bless the early morning. The views are impressive and worth the half hour we spent up there., enjoying that privilege that is the solitude of the mountains.
At the summit, a reproduction of Javier's castle and the sculpture of San Francisco Javier draw attention.
Just when we start to go down, another mountaineer reaches the top.. We went down without any more shock than the screams of a young woman desperately calling her partner.. She is disoriented 200 meters below in the labyrinth of rocks and, to what is seen, He has lost contact with his partner after incomprehensibly straying from the trail. He asks us if we have seen him. But we haven't come across anyone with the description you give us.. We ask him loudly if he knows how to return to the shelter and he answers affirmatively., so we advise you to retrace your steps to the road and wait for him there.. It seems that he pays attention to us. Minutes later we heard her angrily reproach her partner for leaving her alone.. The reunion is not what you would call romantic.
Clouds are gathering on the top of the Mesa and, for what may happen, We quicken our pace to save the endless rock as soon as possible. We still come across people climbing towards the summit. Passing through the Linza hill makes you want to turn off in the direction of Petrechema, but that would require us, calculation, at least a couple more hours of walking, so I leave it for a better occasion. With hardly any stops, At two in the afternoon we arrived at the Linza refuge. Two mugs of beer with lemon await us.
