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Hiking: La Concha
Written by Tina Sibley in January 2022
HIKING IN THE SPANISH HILLS: La Concha
The nearby mountain of La Concha was on my list for my training and preparation to climb Kilimanjaro.
Many friends had done this hike so it had been on my ‘to do list’ for quite a while. However, it’s the only hike I’ve ever done that I have absolutely no desire to repeat!!
La Concha gets its name from the shell like shape of the peak when seen from
the West.
It’s a mountain in the Sierra Blanca range and looks directly over Marbella with great views of the Costa del Sol, Gibraltar and you can even see Morocco on a clear day.
Apart from the spectacular views, the scenery is stunning, so why did I hate it so much?
Read on to find out!
With a distance of 13.5 km and an elevation gain of 723m, I
knew this would be perfect preparation and a good test of my progress.
I also knew from what I’d been told that it would be a test for my head for heights. I had no idea just how much!!
Our start point was near the Refugio del Juanar, which was quite a trek considering La Concha looks very close to Marbella. The reason for this is that the start point is from the Northern side and you have to drive up past Ojen to get to it.
I joined an organised group of experienced hikers that I didn’t really know, and this was a huge mistake! I should have done the same as I did for Pico Huma and organised my own, trusty group of hiking buddies. The problem is that my pace is slow – even when I’m fit, I can go long distances, but speed is my enemy! I explained that I was slow, but my slow is not the same as slow for those who’ve been hiking 2 or 3 times per week for many years! For this particular route, my discomfort with heights slowed me down even more than usual.
Our Destination
I really enjoyed the first part of the hike, through beautiful scenery and forests and although we started to climb quite quickly, I was fit enough and my uphill training was paying off.
After a while though, I started to find it difficult to keep up and, to begin with, the others were patient and kept stopping for me to catch up.
I hate slowing others down and, for this reason, tend not to hike with organised groups of seasoned hikers any more.
As we got to the top of the first section, we were rewarded with incredible views – initially over the valley below and then, as we climbed higher, we began to see Ojen and Marbella below us.
From the first part, the view of where we were headed didn’t look too intimidating.
However, that soon changed and when I looked towards our final destination, I
began to wonder how it would even be possible!
After an hour or so, things started to get a little precarious!
The path began to get very narrow and, while there wasn’t exactly a cliff edge, there was a pretty steep drop off that made me begin to feel very uneasy.
We also needed to navigate up and down and over some boulders, so my already slow pace began to crawl.
After a while, the situation got even worse and this really seemed more like mountain climbing than hiking.
There were really steep drops, the path at times seemed non-existent and while I’ve used chains on hikes before, the part where there were chains on La Concha had a really nasty cliff. At one point, the path seemed to totally disappear, the others were all ahead out of sight over a ridge as I was scrambling up some rocks and I found myself alone and was unsure where to go.
I confess at this point, I was very close to tears and wished with all my heart I could somehow ‘magic’ myself back home.
Some other hikers coming down, reassured me I was on the right path and that the others were ahead of me and, sure enough as I climbed up over the ridge, they came into view again. I pulled myself together and tried my best to close the gap a little.
I do have to say at this point that I understand why the others were keen to go
more quickly. We had a long way and a difficult route ahead and, of course, in January, the daylight hours are limited. However, it wasn’t long before I was regretting putting La Concha on my training list.
Maybe during the longer days, at a slower pace, it would have been more enjoyable but I found the pressure to go more quickly than I felt safe with, led to me feeling stressed and I didn’t enjoy this hike at all.
The last section to the summit was, for me, horrific.
I seemed to be clinging onto the side of a cliff and you couldn’t even walk straight. I had to inch my way along sideways like a crab and I was terrified that, if I slipped, I would just keep going downwards. On reflection, I would rather hike Kilimanjaro again rather than take on La Concha again!
Finally, I got to the summit and was very relieved and proud of myself.
However, the sense of achievement was somewhat dampened by the trauma! It was a short stop for me – just about time to take some photos and eat some of my lunch before we had to start back again.
I was dreading the return journey.
Scary Chain Section
Video taken just beforehand
The views, though, really were spectacular – you could see mountains upon mountains, the reservoir below and, of course, the coastline. It wasn’t the clearest of days but still something to behold.
The first part of the route back was slightly different, but just as difficult – all I really remember was looking forward to the section that I had first thought scary, but was nothing in comparison to the top! But I knew that once we got to that part, the path began to get easier from there.
Eventually, we got back to where we started – after 6 hours and 40 minutes, but those six and a half hours had felt like an eternity! I have never been so glad to get to the end of a hike in my life!
I don’t want to put any readers off doing this hike – for those who don’t have the same discomfort of heights and who naturally maintain a faster pace than me (that would be most, if I’m honest), this hike is a great experience and the views are unrivalled. I’m simply telling my story and how I experienced it. I would say that it’s definitely not for those with a fear of heights though!
In terms of my Kilimanjaro training, I had at least experienced a long day and a difficult climb - although I lost a little confidence in terms of how I would fare on Kili if there were 'scary sections' - on this front, I needn't have worried!
Love and hugs <3
#Atrévete!
