Morrón de la Lagunilla

Leave the A-348 at about km 98 as it skirts Fondón, on a dirt track heading east (easy to miss in the dark). The track passes Fondón castle and the Fuente de la Parra, where you keep left, then the Mirador del Púlpito sign, and after 17 km in good condition reaches the Refugio La Corraliza de Balsa Bermeja (1,710 m). Park on the verge by the entrance. There is no path to the summit. Walk past the Corraliza, turn left and head south onto the ridge with the Barranco del Carcín to the west. Climb directly over stones, cushion shrubs (erizones) and scrub, passing a rock band below a first knoll and two cairns (about 1,980 m and 2,105 m). The gradient is moderate and nothing is technical, but the ground is tiring. The summit is a rounded top barely distinct from the neighbouring Morrones, with no trig point; the antenna on Nuevo Mundo to the south-east is the obvious landmark. Allow about 1 h 20 min to 1 h 30 min. To make a loop, continue west to a col (about 2,160 m) and over the two tops of the Morrón de la Bandera (2,216 m, with ruins of an old observatory, and 2,236 m, with the trig point) separated by the Collado de Balsilla Alta, then descend the north ridge, rougher and steeper lower down among pines, to the access track at about 1,650 m and follow it back, cutting the last bend cross-country. The loop is 9.8 km with 690 m of ascent and about 3 hours of moving time. In fog the plateau has few landmarks.