Long-distance trail GR240 is over 300 km long trek in southern Spain stretching around the Sierra Nevada mountain range. Read more…
Post-trail impressions, gear assessment, cost budget and recommendations. Read more…
GR240 – SULAYR, DAY 0
„We’re here!!“ I grin at Thomas and take three hesitant steps to get out of the bus. My knees are buckling slightly under the weight of my backpack. It is 16th October, 2019 and we have just arrived to a small mountain village – Pampaneira…
GR240 – SULAYR, DAY 1
So…it seems we are finally standing on the official GR240 trail! It is 4 p.m. and we depart from the first notice board in the direction of Trevélez. The sun is shining and burning us alive. It feels more like a midday. The first 500 m is a road walk. We are meeting….
GR240 – SULAYR, DAY 2
I wake up a bit worn-out. It is 7 am and it’s pitch dark out here. What time does the sun go up? I wriggle out of my sleeping bag. Far above the sea one can already observe the colours of the sunrise. While the sky is pinkish-orange in the east, the moon is still shining tirelessly above our heads. What an interesting contrast. I climb to…
GR240 – SULAYR, DAY 3
This morning I feel way better than after the first night – rested and refreshed. I had a good night sleep except for the bizzare dream that I’m still trying to shake off. In my dream 4 Japanese girls came camping next to us during the night. Instead of being in the mountains, we were suddenly…
GR240 – SULAYR, DAY 4
I open my eye. It’s pitch-dark again and the moon is shining bright above my head. “Well…I guess it’s like 3 or 4 am“. I blink at my watches with that one opened eye. “What? 7.30?” These late dawns here are fascinating. A cold wind blows. I’m muffled up in my stinky…
GR240 – SULAYR, DAY 5
I’m asleep – dreaming. I have a dream that I’m taking a hot shower. Ooooh…how enjoyable. Wait….But something’s wrong. As I’m slowly waking up, I quickly realize that the water pouring down on me is not hot but actually very cold…
GR240 – SULAYR, DAY 6
„Oh my…!“, I blurt. „What’s up?“, Thomas asks drowsily. „It’s cold…a bit“ After I poke out of the tent, I find out that it is totally frosted. Furthermore, the peak of the mountain across the valley turned…
GR240 – SULAYR, DAY 7
We’re waking up to grey. It seems like it’s 6 am while it’s actually 8 am. „It’s morning already“, I announce. „Happy birthday!“ It’s Thomas’ birthday today! We will have to celebrate somehow. Probably we’ll make something fancy for dinner – for instance a tasty…
GR240 – SULAYR, DAY 8
We wake up at „our“ camp. It’s not raining anymore. On the contrary, it looks like a sunny day ahead. We are eating breakfast at the camping table while enjoying the impressive views of the snowy mountain peaks. Observing the peaks from down below – keeping the safe distance is all I need at the moment. I don’t feel like slushing through the snow. Breakfast today is composed of…
GR240 – SULAYR, DAY 9
„No wind is blowing, no wind is blowing, no wind is blowing….“ That was my mantra for tonight. This time, though, my wish did not come true….All night long, a strong wind has been shaking ragefully with our tent. I’m scared of….
GR240 – SULAYR, DAY 10
So it seems that I didn’t manage to get rid of IT. Whatever IT is….IT has been biting me again during the night. Nevertheless, I was so tired that I slept anyway. At least a bit. The pinches spread quickly. I have some on my neck and back as well now. Thomas is better off. He also got some but in general he’s obviously less tasty for IT than me. I’m slowly going mad….
GR240 – SULAYR, DAY 11
I made it through another hell itchy night. With one opened eye I blink at the watch. It’s 7:50. I look out of the tent. It’s still dark outside. The sun rises even later here in the north. Furthermore, the November is approaching. Today is October 26th – our 11th day on trail. I can’t sleep anymore and so I crawl out to watch the dawn wrapped in my sleeping bag – my favourite morning routine. The sun rises on the other side, so I’m observing the first…
GR240 – SULAYR, DAY 12
I was woken up by strange animal sounds. Weird screeching. Different from the one we heard during the night. But I can’t link it to an animal in this case either. Anyway, it’s quite lively in here. Morning coffee, raising sun, orange skies, freezing in my sleeping bag with all clothes on…just a typical morning routine. The night was cold and so is the morning. Luckily, we are not shaded from the sun today, like we were yesterday and so it reaches us quickly. When packing my things, I suddenly look at the nearby meadow and I petrify…
GR240 – SULAYR, DAY 13
The night in the shelter sucked. I couldn’t fall asleep. Not at all. I’m not sure whether it was due to the late afternoon coffee on the previous day or my fear of spiders or all the overwhelming adventure we are experiencing or the exertion and exhaustion or the combination of all the above….yep, probably the combination of all. When I finally began to snooze, someone came to visit us at shelter…
GR240 – SULAYR, DAY 14
The leftover burger from yesterday made for a good breakfast – exactly as I expected. Breakfast of champions. The night was peaceful, yet itchy and stinging again. I would love to say that I demonstrate the first signs of apathy towards these unidentifiable bloodthirsty beasts which keep me from sleeping but it’s not the case. I think it’s simply impossible to steel oneself against something that annoying. I can take it as a training for…
GR240 – SULAYR, DAY 15
Luckily, nobody casted us out of our camping spot which we named and so the night was calm. The morning view of the pink horizon is a balm for the soul. One noticeably piked hill has been attracting our attention since yesterday (according to the map, it is most likely…
GR240 – SULAYR, DAY 16
It’s near…the end. The last day of our trek. We only have 10.5 km left to Capileira – the village where we began our journey. On one hand I feel a bit sad that it’s coming to an end, on the other hand I’m naturally looking forward to some perks the civilization has to offer – shower, restaurants and a proper bed. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a big fan of…
Hopeful Wanderer 