In reply to Alun:
> Please update us when you get back, with your recommendations!
Just got back from an excellent trip. Thanks again to everyone who offered advice. We lucked out with the weather and spent 4 days up at Naranjo de Bulnes as well as a few days sport climbing.
In terms of logistics for Naranjo de Bulnes, contrary to some earlier reports, we had no issues finding parking at the road head at Collado de Pandebano. This may have been because we arrived during the week at Monday lunchtime. It was a lot busier when we returned Friday evening, although there were still parking spaces available. Although you don't need a 4x4, the road up is pretty rough so something with some clearance is advisable. The walk in took us about 2.5 hours. We decided to camp (spots were plentiful and obvious, just outside the refugio) and eat evening meals in the hut. The food was ok and there was certainly enough to fill us up. These can be booked online in advance - https://www.reservarefugios.com/en/booking. You can pay 50% when booking and the rest, in cash, when you arrive. Beer (€3.50), wine (€18), sandwiches and snacks are also available from the hut. Again, despite some reports I read, there seemed to be no problems in us using the toilets throughout the day. Although there's no phone reception by the hut, there is at various points on the walk-in and also on the cliff itself.
In terms of climbing, I thought this site had the best topos and route descriptions at https://fernandozamoraguiadepicos.com/en/climbing-topos/naranjo-de-bulnes/ . We climbed Sagitario which felt about E1. Note the topo is a little misleading on pitch 4. It's actually easier, and safer, to take the right hand variant. We did Rabada-Navarro, which felt about E3/4 with most of the difficulty contained within the first two pitches. The first being bouldery and the second more sustained. We also climbed Murciana 78. The 3rd (or 4th if going by Rockfax) pitch felt about 7a (mostly on fixed gear, but some cams up a steep crack) to a A0 bolt ladder comprising of about 10 bolts (7c+ free). The next pitch has a move on it which is far harder than the other climbing on the pitch. We pulled on the bolt past this and felt the pitch warranted 6c with this aid point. It gets 7a to free in the local guide but even this seemed harsh. The move felt really hard! The rest of the route is run out HVS/E1 on absolutely immaculate rock. Overall, I think Murciana 78 has the better climbing than Rabada-Navarro, despite the aid shenanigans. Finally, we had a play on the first pitch of Soy un Hombre Nuevo where the meat of the 7b+ grade seems to boil down to about 2m of climbing. Too hard for me, but not for my climbing partner. We took a full rack of totems, camalot size 3, 1-10 DMM wires, 16 quickdraws and 2 slings which seemed fine for everything we did. The descent from Naranjo de Bulnes is well described here https://fernandozamoraguiadepicos.com/en/climbing-topos/directa-de-los-mart... , although what isn't mentioned is that it takes another hour or so to walk back to the hut (past the impressive east face) after descending the south face.
Some of the sport climbing was absolutely world class. In particular Rumenes, Urdon and Catiusca which are all in the Hermida gorge, or there abouts. We also visited Poo de Cabrales, which I thought was a little overrated but we only did a couple of routes before the sun hit and Cerro Corona which is a little scrappy although in a lovely setting.
