Parque Nacional de Sierra Nevada – circular by El Chullo and Lagunilla Seca from La Ragua

The ascent to Chullo from the parking lots is short and easy. This is a family route where you can enjoy beautiful views throughout the entire route. In winter, with snow, the use of ice axes and crampons is mandatory, but in summer (I did the route in June 2024) there is no type of technical difficulty. Check the weather before going, because in summer it is an area with many storms. The route is beautiful and after having covered the other roofs of Andalusia, it is one of the most worthwhile to travel from your town.

A demanding circular route with a first section of continuous gradient up to Pico del Chullo. The rest is downhill and flat with spectacular views of the Sierra with some patches of snow in the distance.

A spectacular day, the weather has been good with positive temperatures, little wind and lots of sun, a shame that the snow was somewhat scarce and almost frozen, for being the first walk in snow it is appreciated, despite this the chullo had dressed gala for this day, a 10 for the route

The highest peak in the province of Almería has the name “Peruvian cap”, it is in the eastern sector of the great Sierra Nevada mountain range and to reach the 2,612 meters of the summit there is a comfortable and panoramic path from Puerto de la Ragua , it is a fairly simple itinerary and to complete a more interesting circular route, the route continues along the eastern slope to the geological curiosity of Lagunilla Seca, which is usually dry almost all year round to live up to its name but is a spectacular territory of mountain pastures in spring and summer and it is easy to find herds of cows and horses. And on the way back, it passes through the short-distance trail PR-A 334 and a small section of the Sulayr Trail, the great hiking itinerary of the Sierra Nevada National Park. The route has no notable technical complications, there are always mountain trail posts or a clear path along the mountain range. The most confusing section is the descent from the top to the Lagunilla Seca hill. At first there is a trace of the path on the cliffs of the mountain range but then it gets lost on the side of the mountain, although it is evident because the route goes down the hill of the rope and you can even walk cross-country, closing a colorful mountain hiking route ideal for the last weeks of spring contemplating the rope of the “three thousand” of Sierra Nevada with the last snowfields of the season, from Picón de Jerez to the silhouette of the Alcazaba and the Mulhacén.

The goal for this second day of our long weekend was the summit of El Chullo, the highest mountain in the province of Almería and part of the Sierra Nevada. Unfortunately, the weather was even worse today than yesterday, so we knew that we wouldn't be able to enjoy any view at the top. But we had one decisive factor that spoke in favor of the climb: snow. When we set off, it was still dry, but after just a few hundred meters, light snowfall began, which increased quite a lot over the course of the day. And suddenly the landscape, which initially looked a bit sad, turned into a winter wonderland. We first followed the PR-A 334, a beautiful, gently rising hiking trail that actually leads from Puerto de la Ragua to Lagunilla Seca. There are two huts along the way, and we visited both of them. At the first, the Refugio El Toril, we were lucky that two young men wanted to spend the following night there and had already lit a fire in the fireplace. What could be nicer than stepping out of the snow into a hut heated by a fireplace? The huts of this type in the Sierra Nevada are not staffed and there is neither running water nor electricity. But there is, at least in this hut, a fireplace and prepared bunks on which you can lay your sleeping mat and sleeping bag to spend the night. A short time later we reached the second hut, the Refugio Corral de los Bartolos. This hut is basically the same as the Refugio del Toril, but here we were not lucky enough to meet short-term residents who would preheat it for us. Here we made a short stop to eat and drink something and to prepare ourselves for the climb to El Chullo. After a further stretch along the PR-A 334 and shortly before its end at the Lagunilla Seca, we turned right cross-country towards Mollón del Chullo. Occasionally we could make out a pile of stones that showed us the way, but the snow prevented us from seeing the actual path. So we worked our way up using our track. We couldn't see the mountain peaks because they were completely covered in fog. Finally we reached the Mollón del Chullo and knew that it couldn't be far to the top of El Chullo. So we kept walking along the wide and easy-to-walk ridge towards El Chullo until we suddenly saw the Vértice Geodésico, the geodetic survey point, appear in front of us. In the meantime, visibility at this altitude had deteriorated considerably, it was icy cold (someone said something about -7°C) and the wind had picked up a lot. We took a few quick photos, but that was all we could do because our fingers almost froze stiff while taking photos. The descent was then extremely fast along a well-maintained path past the Refugio del Chulo, which is really just a stone hut and offers hikers shelter from the weather, which can be pretty extreme up here. From here we walked back to the Puerto de la Ragua pretty quickly. A few hundred meters lower, the weather was much more pleasant, the wind was gone, the fog too, the snow continued to fall, but lightly, and the white landscape around us was fascinating despite the poor visibility. A great hike, today because of the snow, otherwise because of the great view over the entire Sierra Nevada. So we have to come back, if possible when there is a little snow but good visibility.