Thaw Excursion Lavadero de la Reina - Sierra Nevada

Main characteristics excursion: CL-1
Time of the year	: June 17th / June 24th / July 1st / July 8th
Difficulty level	: medium (height difference 600 meters)
Physical level	: medium/high (the route is 14 km in total)
Start location	: Güéjar Sierra
Duration	: 7 hours
No. of persons	: 4-15
Price a person	:€ 87,50 if more than 9 persons €65 a person
Insurance incl.	: assistance insurance, civil liability insurance

If you book the excursion of the 17th of June before Thursday the 14th you will receive a € 17,50 discount per person, so € 70 per person instead of € 87,50 per person in a group of total 4 to 9 people! For a total of 10 to 15 people € 50 instead of € 65 per person!

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What is included?

liability insurance
accident insurance
monitors/guides at a ratio ⅓, so 1 guide for every 3 participants, guides are speaking Spanish and some a little bit English
photos and videos,
common material, (map, gps, gps locator, first aid kit), ropes, carabiners, descenders, ice axes, helmet and crampons (according the date).

What do need to take yourself?

trekking shoes
sportswear: trekking trousers, breathable short or long sleeve t-shirt, fleece or goretex jacket
sunprotection: sunglasses, sunscreen (50 be aware that the sun is stronger because of the hight; radiation 9-10UV), a cap,
water (minimum 2 liters) & food for the day: sandwiches, energy bars, fruit,
backpack
dry towel and change, even spare shoes in the car.
energy and spirit!

Description Excursion

This route is possibly one of the most beautiful and impressive of all the province of Granada, because it manages to unite the spectacle of the thaw with its waterfalls, jets, tunnels in the snow and streams of crystal clear water, that run everywhere and leaves the sound of falling water engraved in your head,

Lavadero de la Reina which means Queen's Laundry is located 2,645 meters above sea level. Queen Fabiola of Belgium used to visit this place in the Sierra Nevada in the company of King Baudouin. On one day he said: "If a queen came to wash here, she would gain in nobility." The Lavaderos de la Reina collects the waters of the northern slope of Puntal de los Cuartos, Cobatillas and Puntal de Juntillas and is considered the birth of the Maitena River which, translated from Arabic, means "the one who makes beauty".

The hiking trail through the Lavadero de la Reina will delight you with waterfalls, lagoons, snow caves, snowfields, streams, spring meadows and a completely clean air. It is a spectacle of small rivers, lot of waterfalls and lot of noise of falling water. The walk to it is going through an impressive landscape parallel to the Genil valley and the three great giants of the Sierra Nevada, which still conserve a large part of their snow: the Veleta (3396m), the Mulhacen (3479m) and Alcazaba (3369m).

From Güejar Sierra you will drive up the hill of La Cuna de los Cuartos in your vehicle until 2300 m where the walking route will start along the rope of Tío Papeles until, arrive, through and between snowfields in full merger (treading snow), the Fuentes del Río Maitena or Lavaderos de la Reina.

The excursion is a walking tour. In some parts you will walk in the snow. It can be the case that snowfields are icy, thats why the monitors/guide take ropes, carabiners, descenders, ice axes and crampons in order to secure you.

Program

08:00 encounter at the petrol station in Cenes de la Vega.

08:15 leaving and driving to Güéjar Sierra (45 minutes drive with lot of curves)

09:00 driving up by mainly a dirt road (16 kms) to the hill of La Cuna de los Cuartos

10:00 start of the walking tour

14:00 arrival Lavadero de la Reina and lunch

15:00 walk back to starting point

17:00 arrival starting point and drives back to Güéjar Sierra

Organization

This excursion is organized together with Cabraloca, which is an Active Tourism company registered in the Ministry of Tourism and Sports of the Junta de Andalucía, with Nº RTA: AT / GR / 00205 especially dedicated to Adventure Sports and Risk Sports, they are specialists, with more than 25 years of experience. They are also trainers of active tourism monitors and monitors, adventure sports course trainers, monitor and monitor courses for leisure and free time, vertical courses and self-rescue. In their curriculum they have among other degrees with TD3, TD2, TD1, TAFAD, Teaching (Physical Education and Special Education), Topographic Engineering, Skydiving Course, Active Tourism Monitor Course, Leisure and Free Time Monitor Course, Lifeguard Technician Aquatic, First Aid, Ski Monitor, Snow Monitor, etc ...

Reservation

You can make a reservation with this form. With sending the reservation form you agree with our Privacy Policy. In order to confirm you reservation we will ask you to make a prepayment of €17,50 a person. We will ask you by email more details like you NIE or ID number, birth dates and if you have allergies. These information is needed for the insurrances. If the reservation is cancelled on the day itself or if you are not showing up, the prepayment will not be returned. The rest of the payment need to be paid on the meeting point.

Photo Galleries

Be aware that the thaw is a continuous process, the pictures from excursion will not be the same as the excusion from a week ago. Snow bridges and ice tunnels are formed and are collapsing by the day. Underneath some examples of different excursions on different times and in different years.

This year it is an excellent year for a thaw excursions, because the Sierra Nevada had up to 6 METERS OF SNOW!.