Lucero and the Axarquia

A couple of weeks ago I returned to the coastal mountains of the Axarquia to once again climb Lucero. This is a dramatic peak lying inland of Nerja , with a distinctive pyramid shape it sits proud on the skyline above the coast. Also known as the ‘’Raspones de Moriscos’’ the walk is one of the most breathtaking in the area and whilst not as high as some inland route has the feel of being on a much bigger mountain. The summit sits at 1,779m and offers some wonderful views both across the Mediterranean or inland to the distant Sierra Nevada. The rock in the area is limestone which creates its own distinctive karst landscape with pinnacle like summits with dramatic cliff faces and steep drops into the forested valleys below. The final section of the walk is along a waymarked trail from a forest track accessed from a forest track which comes through the resin forests south of Arenas del Ray. The path itself is well marked and takes you steeply through some weirdly shaped naturally eroded limestone outcrops and bypasses a number of lesser summits en route. Some of these offer what look to be great opportunities for exploration either as additional walking routes or for scrambles up good clean limestone. En route to the summit I did spy one such route and went ‘’off piste‘’ for a section to scramble to the rocky summit of Cerro de Venta Panaderos before the final steep plod up zig zags to the distinctive summit of Lucero itself. The summit is marked by a small ruin. Now only one section of wall remains of what was apparently a lookout for the Guardia Civil both during the civil war and later as the area was used by rebels still hiding from the authoraties. These mountain ranges as a whole are criss crossed with old drovers routes and mule tracks used to take livestock and good between the coastal areas and the inland towns and villages. There are two key points where these routes converged, the Puertas Frigliani and Competa. These low cols allowed slightly easier access through the range. Many of these routes had ‘’ventas’’ or bars along them to provide drinks for the men who walked or rode through the mountains. The ruins of these can often be seen particularly at key point on the walks such as the top of steep climbs or the junction of routes. This area is best walked in winter and spring as over summer the high temperatures mean that walking here can be dangerous or on occasion the park is shut due to high fire risk.

Maroma 2068m

Whilst still waiting for the snow to arrive I took advantage of the good weather to do a mountain that has been on my list for a long time. La Maroma ( The Rope) is the large limestone mountain that lies NE of Velez Malaga. At a 2,068m it offers a great open ridge walk with views down to and across the med. to the south or back toward the Sierra Nevada and other ranges inland. There are a number of popular ascent routes up this mountain. Two come up from the from the western end above Lake Vineula however the route which is easiest to access form Lanjaron is the one from La Robledal (the oak grove) which lies to the North East of the range itself. El Robladal , is an area of mixed forest with native oaks and pine, there is a camp site here and picnic areas. Higher up the route are yew trees which are quite rare with young specimens being protected by fencing on the upper slopes of the mountain. The car park at El Robladal can be accessed from Alhama de Granada or from Arenas de Rey both routes requiring some driving along tracks. The ascent route itself is well way marked and starts easily enough as it follows forest tracks to eventually revert to a small path through the tress as the more serious ascent begins. The route eventually emerges form the forest and climbs more broken ground which leads to a very pleasant and rocky traversing section below the final slopes at a area called Salto de Caballo ( horseman’s leap). Once through this rocky traverse the route opens up as you crest the ridge to get views south to the coast. Here a very steep path comes up from the countryside above Sedella just to join our route. There is then a a quite exposed section with a steep drop to our left as the route crosses a narrow spine of rock at Cortados de Maroma. From here cairns mark the final ascent across an open expanse of limestone blocks. The summit marker is an obvious 3m high stone spire with rungs up the front to allow you to get even higher. I must say from where I sat and had lunch I’m sure it isn’t actually on the highest point which seemed to me to be at the eastern end of the ridge. The summit was quite crowded when I got there with walkers coming up from both ends of the ridge. A full traverse of the mountain seems feasible if you can arrange cars for pick ups and would make a good walk into a great one as unfortunately I had to return the way I came.