The peak of Arbarrain or Hirumuga, the limit of Álava, Navarre and Gipuzkoa, the great rock of Olano, the walls of Egino, offshore climbers, the mysterious cave of Leza... The Sierra de Altzania is home to a large number of places in this area.

The municipality of Asparrena (Álava) consists of ten population centers, and we start our tour in the most populated locality, Araia. Arriving from the main road, we cross the town in the direction South to North, until we reach the highest district: Intuxi. It will seem to us that all the roads lead to the old abandoned ferreria of Ajuria and Urigoitia, but in principle we will not direct our steps towards it.

We will begin the tour in the surroundings of the hydroelectric power plant of San Pedro, the museum of renewable energies. We leave the path that goes to the nacedero of the Zirauntza River and head east through a large and comfortable forest track, which gradually, as we gain height, will improve the view over the Alavesa Plains and the Sierra de Entzia that we have behind us. Our first goal is to reach Martin’s chabola, and the road is clear at least in this first part, as we will only have to follow the forest track – whenever there is a cross, choose the path that goes up. The hill on which Martin's hut rests is truly beautiful: The summit of Albeiz to the east, the plains to the south... and the north face of Umandia. Looking where we are, it seems more difficult than it is actually to reach the summit in Umandia by saving the slope that we have at the height, but once we have been stealing meters to the mountain, it will not seem so much to us. Yes, we'll have to sweat a lot.

Climb to “mountaineers”

The direct climb from Martin’s shank to Umandia is probably not the one that hikers choose most often to climb to the slender top, but it is perhaps the most “mountainous”. Without rest, metro by metro, following the trail of the path some times and others chasing several kairns, we will reach the top of Umandia (1,225 m). The view is wonderful, especially in the Alavesa Plains and in the Sierra de Entzia. The view to the north is more limited by the influence of the forest. In any case, on this summit that few people usually visit, we will be able to enjoy loneliness before continuing the march. The highest peaks of the Sierra await us and it is time to move on.

Atabarrate Silent Forest

From the summit of Umandia we will descend to the well-known Atabarrate walkway, crossing the forest. There are no roads too defined in this area, but they are few meters, where you can see the hill of the mountain and following the intuition, we will reach easily. It is a beautiful forest in the vicinity of Atabarrate, and despite going through it over and over again, it always has the feeling of discovering something new by the mountaineer, because the silence of the forest makes the senses pay attention to whoever approaches.

In Atabarri, bearing in mind that this is an important crossroads, the pictorial symbols will multiply – the famous Zegama-Aizkorri mountain marathon also tends to pass through this area – but we will continue to climb directly in search of the top of Allarte. We are not going to say that the Zegama-Aizkorri mountain marathon is no more beautiful than the path that continues to border the peaks of Allarte and Allaitz on the right, but if our goal is to climb the summits of Umandi to Aratzarte, we will have no choice but to begin the maldeas of Allarte. The climb is not very hard and, following a slightly pronounced runway, we will arrive in a few minutes to the top of Allarte (1,236 m). Aratz is getting closer and closer.

Final earrings to Aratz

We only have to overcome the summit of Allaitz to face the ankles of the top of Aratz. A path surrounds Allaitz in the south, and leads us directly to the clearing of Azkosaroooooo-which is equipped with a symbol of painting– but we, halfway to Allaitz, will head straight up to the top of Allaitz or Imeleku (1,319 m). The descent is as fast as short, and we only have to climb Aratz to end the incidents. The slope is quite pronounced, but not so much as the live climb to Umandia. The most convenient option is to follow the symbols of the Zegama Marathon. In the past, the path was not so pronounced on this side of Aratz. Today, being the road through which the marathon takes place, the mark is very evident, not only for the day of the race, but also for the mountaineers and runners who spend the whole year... In a few minutes we will reach the highest summit of the tour, the main summit of Aratz (1,444 m). The view is crazy in all directions: Aizkorri, Urbia, all the main mountains of Gipuzkoa, Anboto, Gorbeia, Arabako mendia... and never ends one of them if one of those transparent days is found.

Calva de Azkosaro

Aratz invites us to stay for many hours, but we have to continue the journey, and it is up to us to return to Araia in another way. We will depart from Aratz and pass through the top of Elurzuloak, near Aratz, until we converge with the road leading to San Adrián. There, however, we left the road that goes to San Adrián and headed south, through a beautiful forest (once again! ), until, as a pleasant surprise, we find the clearing of Azkosaroi, at the foot of the south wall of Aratz. In Euskal Herria there are many beautiful places; some, more than beautiful: very beautiful. The Azkosaroi clearing is one of them.

As it passes by the Azkosaroi chabola and advances along the path through the clearing, one can think of how little a mountaineer needs to achieve total happiness.

From now on we begin to find the wood signs that will be plentiful, as the crosses multiply. Our goal is to go down to Araia and follow the path without the danger of making mistakes, through the forest, slowly losing the meters we had already won before. If we want to visit the old fortress of Morutegi, we must abandon the road that goes to Araia and turn right before reaching the valley, but we propose to visit the spring of the Zirauntza River, for which, before reaching the factory of Ajuria of Araia, at a crossroads – wooden sign – we must turn left, following the trail of an anti-pit to channel. It's a wonderful, magical place, especially in spring and fall, just as the creek comes loaded with water. Once we reach the nacedero, we will find the thematic route that comes from Araia and, with peace of mind, we will go to the urban area, where we will taste every corner of the shore.