No Mountain High

"Es facil," he said. (It's easy).  "There's a path, and we both walk quickly, so I'd say we'll be at the top in about an hour and we'll be home in time for lunch. Let's say three hours round trip, to be safe."

"Ok", I said to my husband. "Sounds great!"

going up...

So we organized ourselves for an easy hike - running shoes, hats, and our backpack with water, sunscreen and a couple of apples. No picnic - we wanted to work up an appetite for the huge paella we knew we'd be digging into the next day.

The next day we woke up early for Spaniards, but late for hiking.

"Hasta pronto," Tall Guy said to his parents - see you soon!

We parked at the base of Montgo and started up a nice, wide, gravel path. We were among families with children, groups of older people, and even some runners. "Easy-peasy", I said.

"What?" asked Tall Guy.

"Never mind". Sometimes I just can't be bothered to explain...

up...

We kept walking.

And walking, and walking and walking. After about an hour, the quality of the path changed - most people turned around at this point, but we were nowhere near the top of the mountain. Tall Guy, never one to leave things half-done, decided we should press on.

"Surely it's only an hour from here," he said. We came to a cave, where we took a rest and ate our apples in the shade. We continued and the path changed again. It kind of went straight up. Gone were the old people, the families and the runners. Now we were among hikers.

up!

We like hiking. We have all the equipment, and had we been wearing our boots and a backpack with a picnic to feast on, we would have had a much more enjoyable time. However, instead of despairing or turning back, we decided to work up a sense of adventure - we were nearer to the top than the bottom - and onwards and upwards we went.

It was a hard climb. When we came to the cross signaling the top of the mountain, we flopped down onto the ground to rest. I lifted my chin, "Hey, the view is amazing!"


at the top...

Tall Guy's cell phone rang - it was his mother, wondering where we were, it was time for lunch.
With a flash, we both realized how hungry we were, and groaned in unison thinking of the descent.

and back down again!

If you go: Montgo is in Denia, and is located in a national park. At 752m, with hiking boots and a picnic, it makes for a great day hike. We went in early spring - if you're there in the summer, get an early start to avoid the heat and humidity.