Peak Bagging and Long Distance Walking in the UK and Spain: Peña Telera

Walk Summary

Three days ago I arrived here near Campos de Siaras
just off the HU-0231-AB and faced a locked gate.
This time I have a key from Biescas council offices

This was the second attempt on this summit after being frustrated last Monday by a locked barrier across the access road to Refugio Plan de Usabas, the planned trailhead at 42° 40’ 09”N, 00° 22’ 47”W.
Double frustrating in that I had already had two non-walking days due to the need to recover from more difficult ascent than planned ascent up Peña de Oroel the previous Friday. Determined to make the day productive I enquired at the Biescas Council Offices, now situated in the town library rather than the old grand building part of which now houses the Post Office. Turns out after much pigeon Spanish and help of Google translate you can collect a key between the hours of 10am and 3pm during the week. Knowing this would be an impossible time frame to get up/down Peña Telera, let alone drive to the barrier, unlock it and slow drive up the access road all seemed lost. However, with further help from Google Translate, knowing that tomorrow I was going to go up Pico Collarada with the chance I would be too tired to take on a major summit on the Wednesday, I managed to establish that I could collect the key today and go up on the Wednesday or Thursday at a cost of €6. Bargain I thought, but with further help from Google Translate the council official advised me the €6 was only a deposit and would be refunded if/when the key was returned. Even better, an excellent service.
To make use of what otherwise was a missed day I also drove to Villanúa to sus out access to Refugio Cubilar de la Espata, start point for route up Pico Collarada. Sure enough there is a sign prohibiting access but this time authorisation would cost €5 payable on line, not refundable but well worth the money. So that was Tuesday’s walk sorted.

Refugio Plan de Usabas on Plan de Usabas
in front of Peña Gabacha and Pilón de Acumuer

Arriving at the barrier on the Thursday I was too tired on the Wednesday after Pico Collarada on the Tuesday) nice and early with the expectation to return the key before 3pm, I unlocked the barrier and relocked it behind me. It is 6km as the crow flies to Refugio Plan de Usabas, but with the experience gained on the drive up to Pico Collarada trailhead I was expecting at least 10km drive but hopefully not as slow. Well it was slower and what’s more having reached Refugio del Bco. Del Puerto the track changed from stone to simply meadow. End of the road me thinks but just past the Refugio the track returned to stone but only for another 500m when the track became dirt on a sharp bend. Well that was as far as I dare take the van so it was shank’s pony to the planned trailhead. Rather than following the road and final switchback I noticed a path on the map immediately after the first bridge to the Refugio. The entrance was difficult to spot but once into the woodland the path becomes clearer and more obvious marked by a few cairns and this time a blue dot and regular intervals. Only downside being it was 1.7km to Refugio meaning an extra 3.4km overall. The Refugio is situated at 42° 40’ 21”N, 00° 22’ 58”W, approx. 150m north of place shown on map. From the Refugio I could see a possible route to the NE rather than continuing as planned along the footpath to the col east of Peña Gabacha. Was a good decision revealing an interesting route up rocky ascending ground more or less following one of the dry feeder streams of Barranco del Puerto. The plan had me picking this stream up near Plan Turbo bit it did contribute to cutting off a few hundred metres mitigating in some way the extra walking already incurred.

Plan was to head to end of canyon and ascend right
but looks like can cut up earlier to the right.
All this to the tune of three wheels on my wagon

The route then continued to follow this feeder stream past Cueva de Zarrambucho into what would be described by Cowboys and Indians as a box canyon. So with the earworm “Three wheels on my wagon” I continued deeper into the canyon towards what looked like a wall of rock. Looking to my right I spotted a sloping ledge which looked like it might be a way out. Sure enough with only one short scramble/climb I ended up on a level boulder field looping back heading straight in to the sun and towards Peña Zarrambucho. Turn left to gain Cuello Telera, there is a faint path up shallow gradient scree where once again you are presented by the true spikey Pyrenean ridge between the two 3000m summits of Balaïtous and Pic Vignemale.

Scramble up Peña Telera SE buttress.
There is a sort of path but did not find it on ascent

Crossing over the Cuello you can see Peña Telera a steep boulder field through which you can determine where other boots have trod until you come to a vertiguous drop and the final left turn to gain the summit. At this point it is a scramble up Pena Telera SE buttress. Stow the trek poles and get both hands on rock. Not difficult and lots of alternative routes. Just remember not to head too far right. At the top I notice a cairn about 10m to my left. This marks the route down via a slightly easier route and obviously an alternative ascent route if you do not want any scrambling practice. Before returning to the cairn there is 100m of easy walking and a few tens of metres ascent to reach the summit and trig pillar. Still cold enough to put a coat on top of the wet wicking T-shirt but no where near as cold and blustery as two days earlier on Pico Collarada. Time to enjoy the views take photographs and look towards the permanent snow on many of the 3000m Pyrenean summits to the west. Absolutely stunning including the impressive conical spike of Pic du Midi d’Ossau. A tempting summit to which I expect to return another year. Appreciate it is a French P600, but there has already been some mission creep by including Mont Baïgura and Pic d’Anie working my way this far west from the Atlantic along the Pyrenean P600’s. The return is pretty much as the ascent except returning to the cairn and finding a slightly easier route down to Cuello Telera. From there I spotted a path contouring around Peña Zarrambucho at about 2500m thinking it might cut of the Zarrambucho canyon, but I lost my nerve when I spotted narrow adjacent contours on the map. Maybe there is a path that way but it was not for me to find out today.

Cueva de Zarrambucho. Missed this on the way up

So having descended the scree and returning to the ascent route, the rest of the descent route from is more or less retracing the ascent. I did feel some remorse at the Refugio knowing I still had nearly 2km back to the van, but joining the road and seeing how the river has distributed or redistributed the rocks I really do not know how even a 4x4 could get all the way to the Refugio. So back at the van by 17:10 having walked 13.20km and ascended 1717m in 7 hours 05 minutes. A tough but great day. The key was returned no problems the next day. Biescas Council Office did not open until 10am so good excuse to have a lie in.

Walk Statistics

Walk Date - 04 October 2018
Walkers - Steve Smith

Accommodation - Camping Gavín, Gavín

Start Point - Trackside 600m west of Refugio del Bco. del Puerto (N42°39'55" W0°21'44")
Start Time - 10:07

Finish Point - Trackside 600m west of Refugio del Bco. del Puerto (N42°39'55" W0°21'44")

Finish Time- 17:15

Total Duration - 7hrs 08mins
Overall Average pace - 1.15mph
Total Distance Walked - 8.20 miles
Total Height Ascended - 1717.00metres

Peaks visited
Spain/Portugal 600m Prominence Peaks (168S - 185S&P - 2165E)

Peña Telera (24S - 25S&P - 5E)

Pyrenees Top 50 by Prominence (50)

NONE

Spain/Portugal 300m - 599m Prominence Peaks (1000+)