1 of 22: The trailhead, where the bridge crosses the Manzanares River.
2 of 22: A map of the route.
3 of 22: The Autopista de la Pedriza.
4 of 22: Cool and refreshing perhaps ...
5 of 22: Thick vegetation along the Arroyo de la Dehesilla.
6 of 22: Our vanguard reaches the Collado de la Dehesilla.
7 of 22: The vanguard greets us.
8 of 22: Everyone spreads out to explore the pass.
9 of 22: The flowers are magnificent.
10 of 22: This looks like the picnic spot deluxe.
11 of 22: We pose for a group picture after lunch.
12 of 22: The climb that awaits us after lunch.
13 of 22: After awhile we look back and down to our picnic spot.
14 of 22: One of our climbers has scampered ahead of us.
15 of 22: The white t-shirt gives him away.
16 of 22: As the trail levels out, we pass El Acebo.
17 of 22: We are now approaching El Yelmo.
18 of 22: Shade in a rocky nook for our hikers.
19 of 22: We look back on El Yelmo.
20 of 22: The flowers line our route of descent.
21 of22: The route plan illustrates the altitude gain and distance we have covered. A good day's work!
22 of 22: The exit from Gran Cañada that takes us down to Canto Cochino.
We started our hike early on a Sunday morning. You have to arrive in La Pedriza early, because they have a limit of the number of cars they allow into the Park: 375 cars.
The first forty minutes of the hike take us through a reforested portion of the park. The shade is cool and refreshing. The trail runs parallel to the Arroyo de la Majadilla to the Refugio Giner.
... but there is still some altitude gain here that takes it's toll. So by the time we get to the refugio, it is time for a breather.
Beyond the refugio, the jara. gayuba, holly and pine trees get thicker as we head for the Collado de la Dehesilla.
As we follow the trail up to the collado, our team spreads out and some reach the pass before the rest of us.
We have been hiking now for nearly two hours. The Collado de la Dehesilla will be our picnic spot.
From the pass we have a view to the west and to the east, into La Pedriza and to the Hoyo de San Blas respectively. It is impressive.
The purple flowers are "cantueso", or wild lavander, and they spackle the entire hillside with their purple plumes.
The large rock is a "boulder problem" that people come to climb. It straddles the pass and also provides shade from the noon sun.
The rock is painted with the red and white blaises for the GR-10 Trail. This is a "largo recorrido" trail (long distance trail) that starts near Valencia and crosses the Iberian Peninsula to Lisbon. About 170 kilometers of it run through the Comunidad de Madrid.
From the Collado de la Dehesilla, we climb the slopes towards the rock formations called "Las Fantasmas". This is part of the PR-1 trail ("Pequeño Recorrido" or short distance trail, less than 50 kilometers) that circumnavigates La Pedriza Posterior.
Even though it is June and the sun is blazing down, the tops of the Cuerda Larga in the background still sport patches of snow.
Up in front of us, one of our hikers has scrambled up some rocks and is waiting in ambush for us. Can you spot him?
These evocative granite rock formations are what make La Pedriza so enchanting.
This large rock formation is the location of a number of rock climbing routes. "El acebo" means holly tree, and though they might have flourished once in this area, there are few to be found now. They have become a protected species in the park.
We have been on the trail almost four hours and are finally reaching the proximity of the Yelmo. Here we see the "Rompeolas" or Water Break section of the Yelmo massif. The climbing routes here are mostly beginning routes, but they are still formidable.
We take a well deserved break here below the Yelmo.
As we start our descent to Canto Cochino, we leave El Yelmo behind, though we can still discern the rock climbers challenging its granite face.
The white flowers are "jara pringosa", a spicey, aromatic flower that fills the slopes down to the Gran Cañada.
(We took the route at a bit slower pace. We completed the route in just over five hours. "¡Más vale disfrutar que correr!")
From this point we still have about thirty minutes of descent before we reach Canto Cochino, but we can't resist one last picture of such a floral paradise. We hope you have enjoyed your virtual Tour of El Yelmo.
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1 of 22: The trailhead, where the bridge crosses the Manzanares River.
We started our hike early on a Sunday morning. You have to arrive in La Pedriza early, because they have a limit of the number of cars they allow into the Park: 375 cars.