Liegos horseshoe

Peaks: Pena de las Canales (1646m), Pena de la Cruz (1829m), Pico de Recacabiello (1847m), Pico Mediodia (1865m)

Area: Liegos, Leon

Even a week later, this traverse still seems like a dream. We knew little about the area, and could find nothing online in Spanish, let alone English. Yesterday's mountain, Pico Gilbo, had some coverage and well-defined paths, as did the striking and curiously named peak of Yordas, but the latter was a little too remote from metalled roads to be feasible this morning, as we had a long drive in the afternoon. We opted instead to drive to Liegos and try our luck on these peaks, which we could vaguely identify as existing from google maps! Our hotel, in Boca de Herguano, was comfortable and on the route of the Camino Santiago, but a fair drive to Liegos, which was a beautifully located, sleepy hamlet. Limestone peaks rose above the village, and it was immediately obvious (and unsurprising) that there were no paths and no defined routes. We made our way upwards through the streets to gain the open hill at a cow meadow - the lower valley marked Arroyo de la Hoz on the map. We had to avoid woodland, so struck up the very steep spur directly above the village - this was mainly grass with some crags, and woods to the right. By keeping to the fringe, we made upward progress past some chamois higher up. Often, this kind of pathless exploration goes wrong, becoming impossible due to maquis or unexpected terrain issues. Today, however, it just unfolded like a book - lovely ridges that flowed towards distinctive peaks, and exquisite scenery throughout. I gained the ridge itself immediately above the treeline, which led to a little wall of limestone. Climbing this gained a narrow ridge of grass and limestone with stunning views. It was an unbelievably clear morning, with all peaks perfectly, even the high Picos further north. Closer at hand, lots of interesting and obscure limestone mountains with nobody in sight. It felt like we were the first people ever to come up here. An awkward descent into a gap before more good scrambling led to another forepeak and then a broader grassy col, from which we gained the first named summit - Pena de las Canales, along with a herd of chamois. Stunning valleys and peaks on all sides. The route then changed character. The main, most impressive peak was ahead - Pena de la Cruz. We worked out a line that seemed obvious, taking a diagonal weakness, then worked out a way to get across to it. This took a broad grassy ridge, like the Carneddau, across to the Collada de la Hoz. The way was blocked by a loose looking crag, so we traversed this along shelves on the left to gain another broad green col, the Collada de la Pena. From here, we deployed the plan. Diagonally upwards to gain a huge boulder, 40ft high, which we passed on the right. This gained the diagonal weakness we had identified, which led easily (perhaps a vague semblance of a path?) upwards across the mountain until it became possible to head directly upwards and then gain a ridge, which is much wider than it looks from below. It felt like a mountain above Glen Shiel, with little rocky outcrops leading to a well-defined and delightful summit - a wonderful viewpoint. From here, we could have descended the very steep ridge back to the village. But the continuation ridge looked even better, and actually looked a more comfortable way of getting back to Liegos. Appearances were not deceptive, and the ridge was superbly enjoyable. It was never hard or precipitous, but it was well-defined and absorbing throughout. Fairly narrow at first down to a little col, then just glorious as it rose above the Collado de las Traviesas. No sign of any kind of path or traffic, just picking our way up, the standard comparable to a mild Welsh scramble, Y Gribin perhaps. Eventually, we gained the forepeak of Pico de Recacabiello and then the main summit, Pico Mediodia, which had some kind of mast on top. The descent was through thick heather, reminding us of home, until we gained the beautiful pastoral valley of the Arroyo de Recacabiello. A dead horse marred this slightly, until we gained pastures and woodland curving gently down and giving us much needed shade back down to Liegos. A long drive to the Basque country ensued, broken by a stupendous lunch in Velilla del Rio Carrion.