We lined up in Torla before sunrise with the usual bus-stop muttering and lukewarm coffee. First shuttle up, cold hands, Pradera de Ordesa still asleep. Plan: grind up the Senda de los Cazadores, cruise the Faja de Pelay balcony, drop to Cola de Caballo, amble the river home. Simple loop, big day.
Quick bits: start/finish Pradera (summer/holiday buses, no private cars), 18–22 km, about 800–1,100 m up, 6–8 hours if you keep moving. Do it counter-clockwise: up the Senda, across Pelay, down into Circo de Soaso, back along the waterfalls. Best late spring to autumn; avoid snow/ice unless you know exactly what you’re doing. Wild camping is restricted—don’t wing it.
The climb: Pradera → Calcilarruego
Bridge, woods, switchbacks that don’t pretend to be friendly. Six to seven hundred metres straight off the line. You earn the first view at Mirador de Calcilarruego—stone parapet, full-valley theatre. Steep and narrow in places; fine dry, not fine icy. If exposure bothers you, today isn’t the day to experiment. Poles help. So does not rushing.
The balcony: Faja de Pelay → Circo de Soaso
After the mirador the day relaxes. The ledge holds a neat contour for ages, like someone carved a shelf at the perfect height. Opposite walls, river glittering far below, corners that catch the wind. We ate early, kept the heads-up pace, didn’t treat it like a stunt. It’s a balcony, not a tightrope.
Down to water: Cola de Caballo → valley path
The path tips into the cirque and suddenly you’re with the crowd that walked the valley. Cola de Caballo does what it says—good place to shake out the legs. Home is easy: Gradas de Soaso steps, river noise, shade, the long glide back to the meadow.
Buses, rules, things that quietly ruin a day if you ignore them
In peak season the road to Pradera is bus-only. First buses go early, the last ones creep earlier as the summer shrinks. The valley has a live capacity cap; once it’s hit, service can pause. Translation: go early. Check the official page the week you go; times change, blogs don’t. Scan advisories for closures or reroutes. Camping/bivouac is restricted in this sector—save your hut fever for a trip built for it.
Safety (the bit nobody reads until they wish they had)
Go up the Senda, not down it tired. Loose marbles underfoot are not charming at 4 p.m. If wind is up or your head goes weird near edges, take the valley to Cola de Caballo and call it a good day—because it is. Carry more water than feels necessary; sources dry up. Pack a warm layer even if Torla starts in T-shirt weather. Shoulder seasons hide ice in shaded corners; one tiny patch can end a holiday.
If we did it again
First bus again. Second breakfast at Calcilarruego again. Extra thirty minutes for the waterfalls on the way out. Light puffer in the bag even if it feels silly at the car. That’s it. No big moral. Just a canyon that does what good mountains do: send you down quieter than you went up.