So up at 0630 (some holiday this, no time to sleep....!), along to meet Duncan at his for the briefest of coffees and then out of town onto the A3 towards Madrid; road busy already with 2 miles of two lanes trying to get into Chieste for the bike racing later. A clear day, the sun eventually rising and a cool morning looked inviting for a walk up a hill.

[backstory - my brother does radio ham type stuff; him and a bunch of mates climb Spanish trig points and broadcast from them; radio enthusiasts 'collect' the hill tops by making contact with them; my bro' often is the one who treks up the hills to offer the contact]

So to Siente Aguas (7 Waters) and then after a quick stop at the all night garage for supplies, we wound our way upwards onto a high plain with scrub interspersed with cultivated bits; some vines, some fruit trees. The road gave out to dirt track but perfectly passable. 

After about 10 miles, I got ditched; I was to take a longer approach as TBH I'm not interested in the radio stuff Duncan figured if I walked longer, he'd get more time to do the radio thing. 

So off I went, no map but a good idea of roughly where I needed to be; he drove on. 

The sun came up properly and the 5 degrees rose nicely as did I as I tore up the Spanish hillside. Me on my own High Chapparel adventure.

After a few miles heading NW, I figured I ought to climb from the highest point of the track and I picked a way up through the least of the prickly oak, the sharp rosemary and the thorny stuff; crickets now come awake in the heat of the sun; but calm and clear, getting warmer all the time. 
Eventually after about 20 mins of slog, I popped out onto the top I was aiming for and could see another 2 summits had to be crossed before the one with the trig point - Santa Maria - 1136 ,metres up which would put it at 26 in the Scottish Munros; but is one of 255 trig points in Valencia province alone...! (11K in Spain in total)

Around 1000, I hit the summit; no sign of my brother. So I took a photo or two and wandered off the summit to try and see where he might be; make sure I was actually on the right summit...! But 10 mins later he hove into view; weighed down by battery, radio, aerial etc. And out of breath..!
We hit the top, took 5 to get breath back and then set up his kit, before I walked off further into the hills for another couple of hours. Sun blazing but a cool NE wind to keep things pleasant. 
I came back, he was still fielding many calls so I lay on a sheltered rocky ledge in the sun and dozed quietly. 
Eventually after midday the battery gave out; 350 odd contacts, so we figured duty was done and we packed up and went back to the car. 
Drove home, missed the GP finish so roads were quiet and home. Soup for lunch and then showered and siesta. 
The guys came back from Chieste; we swapped tales of our days; and sat with tea then beers and chatted; dinner, chatted and then off to bed. 

Other photos are here