July | 2019 | BENS GAME

So, Becoming bored of France and desiring more mountain in my life, we decided to pop on the highway and drove on. Spain just exploded into coastal mountains, sweeping highways bringing us in and out of coves and bays and ultimately beer that seems to taste better. Aiming vaguely for a national park called Picos De Europa we found it had a peak treasured by Spanish Mountaineers, Pico Uriellu or Naranjo de Bulnes (Orange of Bulnes).

Its sounds uninteresting but let me tell you more- The peak is 8,264ft from sea level, which is close by. To get to the peak you need to carry your climbing gear up through the 6,500ft of Spanish summer which lands you at the base of something special. It isn’t the biggest peak in the area, but with a 1739ft headwall it’s a head turner. There are no footpaths up this one.

I should say at the beach below we met a nice guy called Henning who was passionate about getting out climbing and wanted to join us, and naturally, having some spare camping gear, we were more than happy to oblige. We started the hike in the middle of the afternoon because we like to suffer and it seemed a good idea. 1000ft below basecamp Karli threw up all the food and water she had eaten on the way in and the paced slowed. It can’t have been pleasant but seeing the end was near, she carried on. Arriving in the evening outside the mountain hut we loosely pitched the tent and settled down to a terrible dinner of packet pasta and nuts. It’s up there among the least appealing meals, bland, bad tasting, the kind of food you might not feed your dog but for some reason choose to eat on your holiday. Sitting below the intimidating face was pretty cool as it turned red in the setting sun. We had reservations about coming to climb it on a weekend and the queues that might form due to its popularity, but all would be well.

The secret and ease to the climb for us was, if we went around the back and scrambled 500ft up to the South Face, it would be much shorter. Our route was called Directa de los Martinez, Named after the man who climbed the peak Solo in 1904 and consisting of 490ft of easy climbing peaking at 5.7 on the Yosemite Decimal system (US climbing grade), followed by 400ft of exposed steep scrambling to the summit. There were a couple of climbers on route already which was nice as we had no guide book, just a phone picture of a page taken in a coffee shop way down below. It’s my first time climbing trad on limestone, hence the picking of an easy route, and it didn’t disappoint. Short but so much fun. The sun came around half way up and reaching the last bolted anchor , we put the ropes in the bag and scrambled up to the top; hitting the ridge at lunchtime, the ground dropped vertically 1000ft from where we had just come, and straight down 1700 the other way. With other climbing teams on the peak, the descent using the rappel stations was slow but allowed us to take in the views a little more. Arriving back down to our packs dehydrated after not really drinking any water and with it being 2pm and again hot, we began the slow descent down to the car on a long winding path.

karli and henning chillin out at an anchor

me eyeing up the route before beginning

the mountain hut below the face

rappelling back down

views for miles

the start of the descent towards the chain anchors

sport climbing today a few miles further on

I have to admit something, after spending time in the states and central, I have started liking the America climbing grading better than the UK grading system. It just seems easier, less wording, almost digital compared to analogue. We are now doing some sports climbing in Valles Del Trubia. Thats all for now

🙂

Its been a while, since the cycle tour stopped still in Southern Colombia. Its stopped after weeks spent in a hotel room ill to an alarming point. At first the thought of a week off would see us well, then we would set off. After a week of not improving and being toilet bound the thought came of going to a doctor, while trying every drug from the local pharmacies. Prescriptions are not required in Colombia so anything is available. The drug that fixed us in the end after weeks of illness was conveyed to us as a drug that will kill everything in out guts. We took it according to the vague guidlines of the pharmacist. After taking it we googled it and found the combination we were given was banned in most the world due to the very nasty side effects caused. The severeness of the vertigo effect was horrible, I couldn’t make it the meter from the bed of the hotel room to the door, making it to the bathroom was no fun. Me and Karli were stuck on the bed wondering if we needed to go to hospital with the double realisation we didn’t know the address of the hotel room, the number to call or how we would convey the problem over the phone. The whole day and night was spent doing backflips as the room span violently. Knowing this was the side effect made it less painful just closing eyes and riding it out. A couple of days later the diarrhoea had stopped but motivation was lacking. It felt like half the cycle tour was spent ill. We also read about a series of climbing fatalities in Peru in the days around, this really put a damper on our spirits. We decided to stop the trip. When we were well enough to travel we took the bus with all of our gear back to Bogota It was a long slow journey despite the lightning speed the buses drive. A few more days and we were in the states. I know this won’t be the last I will see of Colombia or South America, there are plans to return and continue. I love it over there. But for now circumstances have changed.

We couldn’t spend time in the states as my Visa only allows 6 months out of each year and I had already maxed the 6 months the last time, so we flew on to the UK. We waxed a lot of money flying us, our bikes and gear out of South America short notice, then even more money moving us and the gear onto the UK. Touching down in mid December to darkness at 4 pm and continual cold damp rain was quite sobering. We moved into my older brother Mikes’ house for a few weeks while deciding what to do next. Over Christmas I bought a van and we moved into the Travel Beasts house for the next 6 months. With buying the van, business insurance and just the general costs of living the debt after the flight climbed up. It was good fun living with best friends but at 6 months Karli’s Visa for the UK was also maxed.

It was a hectic 6 months of work and very little play, we only made it out for one ice climb, a few scrambles/hikes and a couple of rock climbs while back. The month before going was spent trying to help the travel beasts with their Landcruiser project and before we knew it was time to go again. A hastily converted van giving us comforts of life inculding insulation, power sockets, a leisure battery, double burner and sink, draws, cupboards for clothing, a double swivelling seat soon sank more money but the feeling was it would be worth it. We swung by a castle on the way south, had a few days on a beach in Cornwall then boarded a ferry for Roscoff, France. We have three months in Europe and a modest but steady online income to slowly recoup our expenses and get us onto the next trip.

Karli’s first surfboard

hard at work on morning

me i guess

waking to coffee

Cornwall

tea on the Cornwall Coast

spiral staircase in a castle

cutting a hole for the roof vent on the van

solar power to help keep charged on the road

an english forest

At present we are living in Quiberon on a quiet beach car park surviving off fresh baguettes, cheese, wine and all the other fresh veggies and fruits. Things we will have to endure in this barbarically sunny place with a tedious fresh morning breeze and ground coffee. Its a suffer fest out here. The van is packed with two surf boards (newly aquired and brilliant fun), two kayaks, a bicycle, the climbing and mountaineering equipment, the tent, basically everything we own combined for a summer of fun and work. All around the area are Old Bunkers from WW2 and its quite spooky to walk around them seeing the damage from shells and bullets.