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La Peña Rueba, Murillo de Gállego

Publié le 29 October 2010 | Aragon Eng, Spain

Another option for discovering los Mallos de Riglos, the rio Gallego valley and a magnificent view of the 3000m Pyrenees, is to climb Peña Rueba (1193m), located to the west of Riglos, above the village of Murillo de Gallego. This large massif of condensed rocky teeth can be climbed in several different ways. We chose to tackle it from the west via ferrata Varella Portillo, and come down from the south via ferrata de la Mora. Having done it, this actually seemed the best option, as the west ferrata is more vertical and more interesting to climb and, above all, the ferrata de la Mora is fairly easy to descend and leaves us free to admire the panorama. It's a very accessible route, albeit a long one (the complete loop takes 4 hours), with superb aerial views of the region, the Mallos de Riglos, the Rio Gallego, the Pyrenees, the Mallos d'Agüero and more.

Technical summary

Type ✦ Via ferrata
Location ✦ Murillo de Gállego
Region ✦ Aragon
Country ✦ Spain
Height difference ✦ 500m
Distance ✦ 5kms
Difficulty ✦ K3
Duration ✦ 4h to 4h30

Access to the place

After Huesca, continue on the A-132 towards Ayerbe and Pamplona. After Ayerbe, go as far as Murillo de Gállego. Go through the village (in fact, the road passes slightly to the right) and before leaving it, take the road on the left which climbs towards "Hostal Virgen de Liena". Go up and follow the 1st purple signpost to "Iglesia de la virgen de Liena". At the 2nd sign pointing left, fork right onto a gravel track. This track runs alongside a large house wall, then after a few bends runs alongside the left-hand side of the 1st water reservoir, then a second. Continue straight ahead on the dirt track, which can be in very poor condition depending on the season. The Peña Rueba massif is clearly visible ahead. Follow this dirt track (or walk it if it's not passable) for a while, and about 100 m before a sharp left-hand bend, there's a space on the left for parking and/or bivouacking. The approach path starts a few metres to the right (kairn + yellow and red markings).

Map & topo

Itinerary description

Hiking to the start 1h30

Take this path which heads due east on the right, then very quickly turn left onto a small path (cairns, then red and yellow triangles) which leads straight to the clearly visible cueva calva (20′). Follow the path under the cueva (otherwise, if you go right, you'll go round the cueva backwards), skirt the walls and follow the path broadly westwards. You get away from the massif for a while, then go downhill to cross a torrent, where you have to climb back up towards the large cross-walls you can see above. The path passes through the undergrowth and twists and turns around a rocky outcrop to the right until it reaches the foot of the horizontal walls (40′).

The path then turns sharply eastward and passes through the Faja Varella Portello, a sort of natural passage between the rock strata. In line of sight is a pointed piton marking the start of the ferrata. To reach it, follow the track over a small valley, climb a little and then emerge at the foot of a scree slope that you'll have to climb almost to the top. Cross the scree to find the first ferrata equipment (30′).

Course 2h à 2h30

The via ferrata is twofold: the west-facing Varella Portillo, opened in 2004, and the south-facing Mora, opened in 2009. The overall vertical drop is 500m. The equipment in place, chains and rungs, is excellent.

Part 1: Ferrata Varella Portillo

This is a long vertical pitch equipped with rungs to climb the rocky piton. The route leads up to the ridge and offers magnificent views of the Pyrenees and its snow-covered 3000m to the north, and the valley and los mallos d'Agüero to the west.

Part 2: Transition

This is the ridge we'll follow to the summit. It's a cable-stayed path with no difficulties apart from the very airy north side. Gradually, the view opens up to the Rio Gallego below, and further on, the first glimpses of the Mallos de Riglos and, in the background, the Massif de los Fils, where the via ferrata de Riglos is located. At the first summit, continue along the dome to the west to reach the summit at 1193m and the small booklet of piadas under a cairn (1h from the start of the Varella Portillo ferrata).

Part 3: Ferrata de la Mora

This is the descent via the east and south of the massif, de-escalating the ferrata de la Mora. From the summit, follow the ridge path to the south-east. At the end, the path turns due east towards the Mallos. Follow the red and yellow triangles. The first cables are found after 15′. The route then arrives on rock and descends fairly vertically to a small pass with a large boulder that can be climbed to get a plunging view over the valley.

Back

Descend from the viewpoint and this time take the path that continues southwards. The path descends very quickly with the help of cables and a few rungs below to reach the foot of the ferrata de la Mora without difficulty (1h from the summit of Peña Rueba). Take the path to the right, which skirts the massif until you reach the cueva calva, then take the approach path in the opposite direction until you reach the dirt track.