Estimated net time	3-3½ hours
Difficulty	In general an easy hike on mountain road and path, but there is a short section at around 1100 metres which will require care if descending on wet rock.
Drinking water	No access to running water.
GSM coverage	Coverage throughout the route (May 2012).
Parking	Room for many cars at trail head car park.
Start height	525 metres
Vertical metres	720 metres for the roundtrip.
Trip distance	9.2 km
GPS-file	X (descent only)
Map		Google Interactive Map
Route photo	Cabeco D'Or trail head and parking above Busot.

From the north side of Alicante drive north on road Cv-800 towards Jijona/Xixona, approximately 13 km, and turn right onto road Cv-774. Drive 7.6 km and turn left onto road Cv-776, signed for "cuevas de Canelobre". Then drive 2.2 km to a car park on the left hand side of the road where the road makes a sharp right bend. Park here.

Start your walk by following the gravel road at the apex of the curve. After 300 metres make sure you fork right, and then continue another 1.6 km and fork right again. Continue another 380 metres, making sure you ignore the path that starts after 120 metres, to the end of the road, and turn right onto a path marked with yellow and white paint. This path will take you up the lower west slopes of Cabeco D'Or, and then south towards a viewpoint at 955 metres. From here the path turns north and continues north-east and then north to the summit, which is marked by a concrete cairn. Note that there is a short scramble needed at around 1100 metres, which definitely requires care on wet rock.

Descend by reversing your ascent route.

11. May 2012

My plan had been to hike Pila this Saturday, and leave Gran Vista early, but I didn't manage to find a decent route so ended up cancelling hiking. But after swimming and other activities with Njål I decided to have a closer look at the map, and identify a hike that wouldn't need a long drive. Cabeco D'Or was definitely a candidate, and when I managed to identify something that looked like a good route I packed my gear and hit the road.

At trail head above Busot I was pleased to find that the route I had identified was a marked route, hence navigation wouldn't be an issue. I followed the mountain road on the west side of the mountain until I got to the apparent path just after the second road junction. This path was the route I had identified when looking at Google map, but there were clear indications that this wasn't the correct route since there were a number of stones blocking the entrance of this path. This made me a bit uncertain, and I decided to proceed a little further along the mountain road to see if I would find another path. After having walked less than 100 metres I concluded that the signed route would take me all around the mountain and would mean a much longer hike than I had anticipated. Hence I turned back and headed up the path I had found. This route seemed to be quite acceptable, and there were clear signs that other hikers had walked here recently, but before long this path became very steep and covered with a lot of very loose scree. At one point, towards the top of this path, I stopped and looked back down and concluded that it was not going to be fun coming down here. Luckily, a little later, the proper path crossed the route I had chosen, and this turned out to be a much more comfortable route to follow. I could now follow the correct route to the summit, where I enjoyed excellent views on a very nice day.

My descent gave me a small problem at the scrambling section at around 1100 metres, and I ended up having to focus more than I had anticipated. One reason for this is that I don't trust the slightly slippery clay-based rock so common in this area. I didn't feel very comfortable and had to compose myself a little before climbing down these three metres. The rest of the descent was plain walking, thanks to the fact that I followed the proper path as opposed to the steep route I had followed when ascending.

Back at the car I was happy to open the bottle of Coke I had brought, and this was consumed while driving back to Gran Vista where a good session in the pool waited.
Photos 11.05.2012