The White Cliffs

The white cliffs are the highest point in the immediate area at 2,070 feet (631 metres). The photo is taken from the rambla near the campsite.

We’re going to the top, but not from this direction! Approaching from the other side, the slope is walkable but steep and stoney. We park in a layby on the road to Cartagena near an iron cross that indicates the beginning of the ascent. To start with, there is no discernable path but we manage to slowly pick our way through the sparse vegetation while looking down on the road where we left the cars.

Other walkers before us helpfully leave stone cairns as a guide to a useable route. Our leader seems not to trust this cairn, so we’re off up the gully behind into uncharted territory. This is the true spirit of exploration so must be worth a few extra thornbush scratches.

The Columbus approach pays off. We come upon an abandonned iron ore mine. The whole mountain, indeed the whole area, is full of them, mainly open cast with galleries driven deep into the hillside to extract the ore. The rich red colour comes from the ore.

It’s a vertical cut, so careful not to fall over the edge. Slowly onwards and upwards to the top where a fine panorama awaits. Towards the sea, in the direction of the city of Cartagena, the peaks disappear into the mist.

Looking the other way down the sheer cliff face reveals the rambla from where the first photo of the sheer white cliff was taken.

 Climbers do use the vertical rock face although there are none performing today. There is even a refuge for those caught out by bad weather on the top. The solid stone hut looks capable of coping with any storm.

Because of the elevation, the temperature is a 6 degrees C colder here than on the campsite where we started, and the wind’s got quite an edge. Odd times in winter it’s below freezing up here with occasional snow. It looks really cosy inside the hut - even a small solar panel on the roof feeding a mobile phone charger so you can be on Facebook while waiting for the rescue helicopter.

From the refuge we head back down, and presently look for some shelter from the wind to eat our packed lunch. We find a suitable place inside a large mine entrance but need to be careful of several vertical shafts near our chosen seating area. These aren’t the really deep shafts that would need winding gear; more probably they used rickety ladders. However it’s the same result if we were to fall down one. It’s impossible to imagine the hard life of the miners. 

We emerge from the mine entrance, past the spoil heaps, and now follow a narrow, purpose-made path laid down when the mines were functioning. Certainly used by miners, and perhaps by mules transporting the ore to the road. There is no evidence of a cableway or dram system to move the ore.

The path eventually arrives at the road where we left the cars. Although in partial disrepair, the path gets us down more easily than the ascent. A chilly but informative walk: no pain, no gain, as they say.