Walking the GR221, Mallorca – Day 1
Es Capdellà – Mola de s’Esclop (928m) – Estellencs
7 October
Stats: ascent 860m; descent 735m; time taken 7h 15′
Our instructions for the next few days were breakfast at 7.30, departure at 8.30. And so it was that at 8.30 we climbed into the people carrier and set off towards Andratx. As we got close we started to see the effects of the forest fire – blackened trees and undergrowth, but already with signs of recovery. Jaume explained that the holm oaks have dense wood and survive forest fires but the resin in the pine trees means they blaze and die. Passing Andratx we drove on to Es Capdellà — and at 9.15 we were off! Not yet on the ‘official’ GR221, but it was signposted.
The first few miles were flat walking on a broad track up a wide valley as the hills slowly closed in on either side. Jaume stopped to collect free almonds from trees growing at the side of the track, breaking them open with a stone and handing them round. There were olives, and carobs, and even an occasional pomegranate tree in the nearby fields.
After a while we reached an old finca (manor house), the Finca Galatzò. It has recently been acquired by the island’s government who plan to convert it into a hostel and outdoor centre, but at the moment the money has run out. There’s a restored olive press to see. A bit later we stopped for a late morning break at an old charcoal burning site. Nearby a young man with a pick-up truck was guarding some Mallorcan donkeys brought in to graze the rough grass to reduce the fire risk.
Eventually the broad track ended and we turned onto a narrow path which soon started to climb moderately steeply – hot going in the mid-day sun. We reached a col, turned left and carried on uphill to another. Here at a boundary wall we reached the GR221 for the first time, and also the edge of the burnt area. We followed a path uphill at an easier gradient surrounded by burnt trees and shrubs which smudged our clothes with charcoal.
Soon we reached a plateau: from the far side we stopped to look at the top of the mountain we were going to climb, Mola de S’Esclop (928m). The route from here passed north of the mountain below the summit cliffs to the far end of the ridge, then a short steep ten minutes up a rocky path which led to a substantial three-sided shelter on the summit plateau a couple of hundred metres from the summit itself. It was just 1 o’clock. We had a late lunch then walked over to the summit for photos.
The descent was a steepish and sometimes scrambly route diagonally across the south face. Not much of a path, but cairns indicated the route well enough and anyway we could see our objective clearly. Arriving back at the plateau we closed the loop and went back the way we came to the GR221 junction.
The rest of the afternoon was easy going, generally downhill and mostly on broad stony tracks, though near the end we did dive off onto a narrow overgrown path to take a shortcut and avoid some road walking. We arrived back outside our hotel in Estellencs at 4.30 and headed to the nearby bar for beers.