Walk in Guadarrama National Park

This morning we checked out of the hotel, boarded our bus and bid farewell to Madrid. We had about a 90 minute drive to Manzanares el Real, where we stopped for supplies for a picnic lunch. We were then dropped off at the starting point of our walk into the Guadarrama National Park. This park is very popular with people from Madrid as it has numerous walking and hiking trails and also rock faces to climb (if that’s your thing).

We had a lovely sunny day for our first walk. Gabriele asked for someone to be the back walker, which is someone who makes sure no-one is left behind. I volunteered for this and Ian said he would assist. So off we went, first encountering a couple of cute donkeys and then discovering that the bridge we should take to cross the river was washed out and being rebuilt. Gabriele had to make a slight adjustment to our course and then we were off.

This area is best known for the unusual granite rock formations of La Pedriza. There are large pine forests all around which gives quite the contrast to the large granite formations. We started our walk at 900 metres above sea level and would climb up to about 1,200 metres. As with any group there are those that want to rush ahead, those that walk at a steady pace and those that either dawdle or might struggle with the steep inclines (and there were a few steep inclines during the walk).

The area is also a breeding colony for Griffon Vultures and we did spot a number during our walk. It was fine when we walked in the shade, but there were a number of times we were walking up steep inclines and had the midday sun right on us. There were a couple of people in the group who struggled a bit, especially during the up hill sections, so Ian and I stayed with them and provided support and encouragement.

We were on our way down when we found a lovely shady spot by a waterfall to stop for lunch. There was also a large flat piece of granite that served as the perfect table to lay out our spread. We had Jamon Iberico, three types of cheese, chorizo, fresh baguettes, cherry tomatoes, lettuce, grapes, plums, mandarins, bananas and a range of cookies. It was a real feast and we slightly over catered!

After our delicious fresh picnic we continued our descent to the pick up point. It was a lovely walk that gave the group the chance to get to know everyone a little better. In total we walked just over 8 kilometres.Read more