Return to the Sierra de Bernia for a proper hike this time!

So last Fall, when I was looking for other groups to go hiking with other than the Centro Excursionista de Alicante (because they only went out once a month), I managed to snag a spot on a hike organised by the Diputaci�n Provincial de Alicante (provincial representation of the government). The destination was the Sierra de Bernia, a mountain that separates the green northernmost part of the Province of Alicante from the drier south (in fact the northern face of Bernia is the rainiest place in the province!). It turned out to be an interesting, albeit somewhat frustrating, hike. Frustrating because it was an "easy" hike, just crossing the mountain via the easiest pass and then hiking downhill to a river. Forget about getting close to the summit! And yet interesting because of the chance to visit the ruins of a 16th century military fort and because of the crazy weather (dark clouds kept moving around giving us really interesting views). In any case it left me wanting more! Wanting to go back and try the summit. Wanting to go back and cross the mountain through the Forat (a hole through the mountain!). And on the Sunday before Easter I finally got to go back!!! :o)

April 1st. Palm Sunday. No procession for me this year. Up bright and early to meet up with other members of the CEA at the bull ring downtown at 8 a.m. Everyone piles into the cars, and off we go, heading north to arrive around 9h30 at the "Casas de Bernia", about the closest we can get to the mountain by car (although there were a couple more options on the southern face). A gloriously sunshiny day, with no signs of those pesky rain clouds that hid everything from me on my previous visit! :o)

Sierra de Bernia, north, seen from Casas de Bernia

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When hiking turns into mountain climbing: up the Maigmo, Alicante's "balcony"

I still can't seem to get these hiking posts up within a couple of days of the actual hike! Part of the problem is timing... I get home Sunday evening exhausted, and then Monday I have to start preparing the week's classes and I don't have much time for the blog until Friday comes round... Add to that the many photos to sort through, choose the ones for the Facebook album (and narrate them in Spanish) and try and reduce the selection as much as possible so I can tell the story I want to tell here on the blog. And then edit them... and then write... I've got to try and streamline the process (perhaps taking fewer photos would help!)

So this is last Sunday's hike, March 11th. Our destination: the Maigm�, one of the closest mountains to the city of Alicante (I can see it out my back window, would have added a picture but it's been hidden by clouds for 2 days now!), and part of the mountains that create a climate barrier between the very dry (and brown) coast and the more humid and green interior. It's also the only area in the Province I'd been hiking around before I started doing these hikes last Fall. I've gone several times with a friend and our dogs to an area on the interior face of the Maigm� known as Planisses, nice fields and forests with lots of paths for some good hiking (just don't get lost, not many markings to guide you!). The dogs love it! And it's only about 1/2h from home. :o)

There are quite a few weekend/summer homes in the area. We parked near one and then hit the trails through the pine forest and shrubbery, which I noticed was quite a bit browner than other years I've been in the area (this winter has been the driest in decades!).

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6500 Steps into Hell (part 2)

Continuing the tale of the amazing March 4th hike along the PR-CV 147 around the Barranco del Infierno a.k.a. "Hell's Ravine". Where did I leave off? Oh yeah! We'd climbed up some of those 6500 ancient steps and spent some time goofing around with the cameras in a daisy-filled field of flowery almond trees! In other words we were pretty much at point 3 on this map:

Now, that would have been a lovely place for lunch... but as you can see we weren't even halfway around the route so decided to continue on until we reached the next spring. As I mentioned in the first half of this tale, once we'd reached the top of the ravine (nice steep climb with lots of steps) I was thinking the hike wasn't nearly as tough as I'd been led to believe, figuring that we'd probably follow a road or path or something up top to get back to the village of Fleix where we'd left the cars... Ummm... NOPE! I hadn't seen that map above (it's a shot from the end of the trek) or I would have known that the route involved climbing in and out of THREE RAVINES! So that's how they made it to 6500 steps... OUCH! And here's a pretty good view of the next two (right before we start climbing down the 2nd).

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The Road to Hell is Paved with 6500 steps

I was hesitating between that title and "6500 steps into History", but couldn't resist the word play on the name! What name? El Barranco del Infierno, which pretty much translates as "Hell's Ravine"! :D

Yellow=PRCV147, with Ravine in centre

Although we didn't really do "Hell's Ravine" itself (you have to have the necessary equipment + quite a bit of canyoning experience to do that!), we did the PR-CV 147 which basically does a big loop around the part of the ravine know as the Barranco del Infierno. But when you go hiking there you usually call it by that name instead of its code, or its other nickname La Catedral del Senderista ("the Hiker's Cathedral"). With a nickname like that you just know this is going to be one spectacular hike (it's considered one of the "must do" hikes in the Province of Alicante), and it sure as hell didn't disappoint! Of course this means I took waaaaay too many photos... over 300! Which I knocked down to 210 after deleting fuzzies, repeats etc, and I managed to only put up 170 in my FB album, but try as I might I can't seem to bring it down to a reasonable number to properly illustrate the hike blog... so I guess I'll just have to divide this hike in two posts! It's that or not show you any of the almond and cherry blossoms (and goofing around, lol!) I know you're dying to see... :p

So last Sunday (March 4th) we got together in "petit comit�", hopped into two cars, and set out to do this gruelling (distance ~15km -9.32mi- with a total climb of ~750m -2460ft-) but magnificent hike. We totally lucked out with the weather! Sunny and warm (18�C ~ 64.4�F), but not hot, with a light breeze from time to time to help cool us off. In fact, we started off from the town of Fleix in t-shirts! (well, some of us did)

Just outside of Fleix we came across their old "lavadero" (village public laundry area). A beautifully conserved structure:

A few metres past the lavadero... and it was time to start tackling those 6500+ steps!

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Up the Montcabrer: the ice, snow, mud and thumbs.

I can't quite seem to catch up with these hiking posts! I guess in a way I should be grateful I had a rough night last Saturday and decided at the last minute not to go hiking on Sunday 'cause that way I'm able to post this before another hike (tomorrow) gets added to the waiting list... :p

This is a tale of climbing a mountain. On a gloriously sunny Sunday. With ice and snow. Saved from breaking anything thanks to trekking poles and thyme bushes. But still managed to find myself with my ass covered in mud... and ended up with sprained thumbs! ;o)

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Hiking off the beaten track between the Xorret de Cati and Rinc�n Bello

Still running three hikes behind on these posts... I seem to get out on hikes more often than I have time to write about them! :p

This was the second time (of the 3 hikes I've done with them) that the guy in charge of the "Trenet Senderista" took us on a hike that included a fair bit of "off the beaten track", by which I mean not following "official" marked paths or anything... just a trail through the vegetation (or crossing fields to go join a different trail). And I LIKE IT! Even if it means having to be twice as careful about watching your step, as one lady learnt on this hike...

started at Hotel, followed "red" towards the left until "caser�o" then took a ravine round a mountain and finally came up to Rabosa for lunch

Sunday January 22nd, 9 a.m., we all piled into a bus (and a van, way too many people on this hike!) and head west out of Alicante, straight towards the mountains you can see behind the city (the Maigm�), a drive through them until we reach the Xorret de Cat�, a gorgeous recreational area with lots of hiking trails through trees and fields and over mountains, some choice mountain climbing spots, and a hotel and campground for those who want to spend a night. Locally it's famous for having hosted the end of an "etapa" (relay?) for the Vuelta Ciclista de Espa�a on several occasions (Spain's famous cycling race, one of the three "biggies" with the Tour de France and Giro de Italia).

Shortly after we started our hike we came upon an almond tree with a single blooming branch in the middle of a field. I just love these flowers (pink this time!), so of course I had to stop and take a few photos! ;o) (click them bigger)

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Hiking to the Cabeco d'Or... and discovering it's greener than I thought!

Is it really February already?! When did that happen? Where was I??? I guess busy with classes, hiking the trails or lost in my new Kindle (that thing should come with a disclaimer! "Warning: having a Kindle will result in many sleepless nights due to excess reading" or some such thing, lol!). In any case, I'm way behind on my blogging! I've barely even been able to keep up with what you guys are writing, let alone organise my thoughts (and my photos) to write my own posts! Time to fix that!

So three weeks ago I finally managed to hit the hiking trails again, heading out for the second time with the group "El Trenet Senderista" on a gorgeous sunny January day... which didn't feel at all like winter! In fact, in spite of what you see in this photo I spent most of the hike in short sleeves! (I will admit to both shirts being Iceabreaker merino shirts so warmer than a regular t-shirt).

We started out on the Sierra de la Grana, near Jijona (where the turr�n comes from!), and were off for a ~16km to the Cabe�� d'Or which you can actually see behind me in that shot (lighting's not great since the camera focused on me). For me the novelty this time, was a special hiking companion:

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Ready for the Kings?

I think the biggest difference between Christmas in most Northern European / American countries and Christmas in Spain / Latin America resides in one night: Twelfth Night. Tonight. La Noche de Reyes or La Vispera de Reyes. The night before the Epiphany, the night before "Kings' Day". The night before January 6th.

Tonight (Jan 5) and tomorrow (Jan 6) marks the end of the Christmas holidays. Tonight man families are having another Christmas dinner and exchanging gifts. Either tonight or tomorrow people will be eating a "Rosc�n de Reyes" (typical sweetbread, click on the name for more info) and whoever finds the bean in their slice will be crowned King or Queen. I can't find a photo of my own of a Rosc�n, but a quick Google image search turns up many candidates:

Tonight children all over Spain and Latin American will be putting out their shoes and hoping they've been good enough for the Three Kings to leave them a present instead of a lump of coal. This evening the Three Kings (or Three Wise Men, your preference!) have made a grand entry into many Spanish cities, either by boat, helicopter, camel, horse or on a parade float. They've paraded around the cities cheered on by the children watching them and they've handed out sweets and small toys and they've visited local hospitals giving presents to sick children there. I wrote a post two years ago about the Cabalgata de Reyes ("The Kings' Ride") here in Alicante. I didn't have time today to go see the parade, so I'll just have to refer you back to that post.

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The Bel�n, a big Spanish Christmas tradition

Kim from Snug Harbor Bay asked me a while back about difference between Christmas in Spain and the US. Well that's a question for another post (I'm still trying to figure it out!), but decoration-wise I'd say the biggest difference lies in the holiday centrepiece in one's home: the Christmas Tree (in Anglo-Saxon/Celtic tradition), or the Bel�n (for the Latin community i.e. Spain, all of Latin America and I think Italy as well). You'd call it the Nativity Scene or Cr�che, but that word is too small for us! Bel�n is the Spanish name for Bethlehem. We don't just recreate the Nativity in the Stable, we go for the whole town!!! When space allows it of course. ;o)

My mother shares memories of setting up the Bel�n with her Grandmother in Altea (small town up the coast). She remembers that for a long time before Christmas kids would save the silvery wrapping paper from chocolates and candies to use as part of the construction material for the Bel�n. And they would get bits of coal from the train tracks... Now most everything needed for the "construction" is bought in the supermarket.

When we lived in Mexico we had lots and LOTS of space to set up the Bel�n, now in a somewhat overstuffed apartment it can be hard to find just the right spot. This year I set it up (over at my parents') on a table under a window on the balcony, close to the tree (for extra effect with the twinkle lights!).

That table seems a bit "blah"... let's put in a background!

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Mission: possible? Hiking up the Puig Campana!

So last Sunday was THE hike, the one I've been kind of worried about all season since I saw it on the Centro Excursionista's calendar of activities: hiking up the Puig Campana, Alicante's second highest peak (1410m above sea level, ~ 4625 ft). Possibly the toughest hike you can do in this province (at least that's what I'm told). Anybody who's visited the northern coast of Alicante (or driven down the AP-7 on their way north or south) has seen this mountain, it's very recognisable. For starters it's big. Kind of dominates the highway and the view back behind Benidorm. Then there's that big cube-shaped hole in it. Seriously! See for yourselves:

Puig Campana behind Benidorm, seen from the island

I won't go into the various and sundry legends as to how that happened (a kick from a giant, Roland slicing it with his sword...), I'll just tell you that they all end up with the missing mountain chunk flying through the air and ending up in the bay just in front of Benidorm (and geologists say the shape and type and age of the rocks are a good fit).

In any case, it's a mountain that I've been conscious of since my earliest visits to Alicante in childhood, and one that I rarely gave any thought of hiking up because I've always been told it's very gruelling and difficult.

still not convinced I want to do this in my present physical condition (or lack thereof)

Here's a map of the route so you can kind of have a visual in your mind of where we are as we go around. Basically we circled the mountain clockwise along the PRV-289, starting at the southern tip just above point 1. At point 4 we left the main track for the mountain peak track, and then returned down it to continuing the base circuit. All in all about 16 km (~ 10 miles) and a climb of about 1250 m (~ 4100 ft). I apologise in advance for the large number of photos, after several days of weeding through them I just couldn't bring myself to delete any more and still tell a full story! :p

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A sunny hike around the Sierra de Olta

Well this Sunday was the complete opposite of the previous one weather-wise! Gorgeous sunshine and temperatures near 20�C (68F) in the middle of the day! A perfect day to hit the trails! :o)

This time I joined up with a new hiking group, one I'd found mention of online last Spring, but could never manage to get hold of! Finally someone in another group helped me locate them and after a couple of weeks I finally joined one of their hikes! They're called "El Trenet Senderista" (the hiking train) because originally they would take people up the on Alicante's small coastal "narrow-rail" train and then start the hikes at the train stations. Now they go by bus. Not as "romantic" but much more practical (plus it allows them to pick up people at several points along the route)! The downside of this group is the fee, 15� each time I want to join a hike? Once in a while ok, but if I went every week with them, ouch!

Sierra de Olt�, seen as we approach from the North on the bus

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La F�brica de Sue�os - Loter�a de Navidad!

You know Christmas is on the way in Spain when the advertisement for the special Christmas lottery finally airs! I've seen it twice in the movie theatre so far, and it's lovely! It's a short film that metaphorically tells the tale of the Loter�a de Navidad. They say the Loter�a de Navidad is a "F�brica de los Sue�os" or "Dream Factory" whose doors open so that the dream-hunting children can go out and reach every city and town in Spain (or further afield since Spaniards living outside of Spain frequently have their family members send them a "d�cimo"). The children collect the dreams and bring them back saying that our dreams are what bring the lottery to life, a lottery which will fulfill many peoples' dreams.

I wrote in detail about Spain's famous Christmas lottery (celebrated yearly since 1812!) two years ago, if you missed it or want a refresher on an major piece of Spanish culture then you can find it here (plus Wikipedia has a great entry here). This year's film is as moving as always, with a haunting melody, but I kind of miss the bald guy from years gone by! Whenever I spotted an Observer on Fringe they always reminded me of him. ;o)

If I buy a ticket (or two) this year it will be from some non-profit association which tags on a couple of extra euros to the sales price to help with their fundraising (traditional here, we - the Biology students association - did it in University to help raise funds for our trips), like that of an animal shelter where a friend of mine volunteers or my hiking group.

Hiking in a Cloud atop the Sierra de Bernia

Well that was different! I was wondering when Alicante would catch up with the rest of the world season-wise, and it turned out to be now! I can't say I mind much having to put on a few extra layers... I actually prefer the weather to be cooler when I'm out hiking rather than warmer (within reason). In this case instead of just my merino t-shirt, I also had on my merino long-sleeve shirt and a fleece-lined wind-stopper vest as well as a merino beanie on my head. I even pulled out the gloves at one point, but just for a little while! ;o)

It was particularly hard getting up at 7h30 this past Sunday for the hike, my whole body was begging me to stay in bed and continue recuperating from Saturday's Thanksgiving extravaganza! Yes, yes I know, the big turkey day was supposed to be Thursday, but what else can you do when you live in a country where it isn't a holiday? When my mom gets home from work she just wants to eat and rest (not necessarily in that order), so no way were we go to submit her to the crazyness that is a Thanksgiving feast! Then there's the fact that we've never celebrated Thanksgiving with "just" the family, it's always been a friends and family deal, probably because we only lived close enough to our American family to celebrate with them for a couple of years and so made up for it with dear friends who are like family to us! And of course, we're back to Thursday being a work day! ;o)

So, up bright and early for a hike, still stuffed like a turkey. Wait! Did I say "bright" and early? Hmmm... let's make that dark and cloudy and kind of scary! As the bus we were on got closer and closer to our chosen mountain, the Sierra de Bernia, part of me was going "gulp! get ready to get wet!" (plus thinking I finally had a reason to be lugging around my rain jacket in my backpack).

southern face of the Sierra de Bernia

Nice cloud huh? Just sitting there. Right on top of our mountain. >:(

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Colourful hiking in the Font Roja

I had to get up at a shockingly early 6h30 yesterday morning, for my third hike of the season. What's that? THIRD hike? I only remember you telling us about ONE (Cumbre Reconco), did you invent the second? Nope. Second was a stunning hike along cliffs overlooking the Mediterranean, but have been too busy to write! I wanted to start with this one while it's fresh in my mind and will take a step back in time for hike #2 soon. ;o)

So, back to business. 8 a.m. rendez-vous with the Centro Excursionista de Alicante at the bull ring, wait around for people (including myself, oops!), and then pile in the 12 cars (yikes!) and head inland to the Parque Natural del Carrascal de la Font Roja. About an hour north (inland) from the city of Alicante, it's one of the province's hidden treasures, which doesn't get as much attention as the beaches do. Covering about 2500 acres (of which 1300 are private property), it's got one of the best preserved Mediterranean forests in the region (albeit a relatively young one since a forest fire destroyed most of it in 1840), dominated by the eponimous Carrasca (a.k.a. Quercus rotundifolia), accompanied by other members of the oak family. Its Northeast-Southwest alignment (along a mountain ridge) results in distinct climates on the Northern (shady, quite a bit of rain, rich forest vegetation) and Southern (more sun, much drier, vegetation dominated y shrubs/bushes) slopes.

We got to the park around 9 a.m., and found it to be a very chilly 14�C! Thank heavens for layers! But the early hour, the chilly air and the threatening rain clouds from the night before all combined to give us some gorgeous skies as we started our hike down below the Sanctuary:

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More dudes with skirts! Football fiesta in Alicante...

So, no guesses on the reason for the Scottish invasion? *sniffles* I'd hope at least someone on this side of the Atlantic would have chimed in... after all, similar events were taking place in a dozen or so cities around the continent!

I'll give you a few more clues and let's see if you can't figure it out before the end of the post...

Number one, although lots of them were turning crispy red on the beach or downing bears on one of Alicante's many terraces,

many more were to be seen hanging around this place:

Ok, yeah... that's in Spanish and it translates as "World Champions - Welcome to the Club Selecci�n", Selecci�n as in Spain's national football team (soccer for those on the other side of the pond). So why were Scots hanging around a place dedicated to Spain's current darlings? Well, among the many tents set up on this Esplanade on the harbour, most people (including lots of Spaniards) came to line up and go in here:

Yes dear, that man is wearing a sheep on his head! lol!

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Favourite Summer Moments 2011

One thing leads to another... in this case reading a post over at Snug Harbor Bay which led me to the Outdoor Blogger Network and their Goodbye Summer photo prompt, which got me to thinking about my wonderfully busy summer this year! I was way too absent from the blog this summer thanks to / because of "real" life keeping me busy and away from my computer screen! Which resulted in a lot of photos and a lot of adventures I wanted to blog about but haven't had the time... So consider this a summertime "greatest hits" and preview to one or the other future posts. ;o)

Summer in Alicante started off as usual with the Hogueras de San Juan

"Official" Hoguera 2011 (more here)

and I got to enjoy a couple of masclet�s from real close! ;o)

Then there was the travelling...
Morocco:

crossing the Atlas mountains in July

fun with henna tattoos for a Berber wedding

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Cumbre Reconoco: first hike among Alicante's mountains

So I've finally started hiking again! If it hadn't been for that damn cycling accident I would have been doing this all Spring, and wouldn't have been so apprehensive of starting up again now... nothing like a bum knee (added to an iffy ankle from last year's incident) to make you think twice about hitting some rough terrain and climbs...

When I got back from Belgium / New Zealand last January, I immediately started looking for groups of people based out of Alicante who go hiking together, hoping to find some like-minded people I could discover our backcountry with. Not an easy task! Sadly, I think for most people in this city the mountains are just there to decorate the landscape inland, and go play in the snow whenever that happens... Otherwise they're mostly city and beach folk! Fortunately I did find the Centro Excursionista de Alicante (basically a group of people who enjoy mountain-related activities i.e. hiking, mountain climbing, spelunking, mountain biking...). Unfortunately for me they only do one hike per month! (they organise 1 activity per weekend, so the other weekends are mountain climbing or biking or spelunking). There were only 2 hikes I could have gone on before my accident, and I was out of town for both of them! So I ended up bookmarking their website and waiting for the leg to get better and then summer to be over to try again (almost no one goes hiking here in the summer, the heat and sun make it suicidal!).

Last weekend was it! First hike of the season , so a relatively "easy" one to allow people to get those muscles going again... I found their "local" (offices/meeting rooms) and went in to get some info, and then showed up last Sunday bright and early (ugh!) at the Bull Ring to meet everyone and hop in a car and head into the mountains.

We may not have the Pyrenees in Alicante, or any of the other major Spanish mountain ranges, but I did learn that Alicante is the 5th most mountainous province in Spain! Never go to bed without learning something new, right? ;o)

So we piled into the cars, and headed inland, straight for Biar, a small town about an hour west of Alicante. We started the hike walking into the morning sun, headed towards the Cumbre del Reconco, height 1210 m above sea level (you can just make out the antennas marking our destination if you click this photo bigger, just off-centre):

Usually I'm a shutterbug, can't keep my itchy shutter finger still! But because of the knee I was trying out my parents' walking sticks for the first time, and having your hands full isn't conducive to photography! By the time I took my first photo we'd been walking for almost half an hour... and as you can see we're already pretty high up... it was pure climbing!

My face was its usual bright red after half an hour of non-stop climbing... I guess that's what happens when you're off your legs for over 6 months! :p

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Quickly Speeding By

No, I don't mean the summer, although that is flying by real fast. I'm referring to a bunch of crazy people who went zipping down my street at lunchtime today! :p

"La Vuelta", Spain's major cycling race, started yesterday.  Think "Tour de France", but in Spain. It's the last of the "big three" cycling races that take place during the summer, the first being the "Giro" (in Italy) in May. An arduous month-long race around the country. Starts in different spots around the country depending on the year, always ends in Madrid (just like the "Tour" ends in Paris and the "Giro" in Rome).

This year, the "Vuelta" started out in Benidorm, with a "contrareloj" (against the clock, so a timed race on a city circuit) around the city's streets. Then this morning they headed out from a spot just outside of Benidorm, headed up into the mountains and then back down to the coast, and pretty much zipped through Alicante in a matter of minutes! 

The official itinerary said they were supposed to be at the Playa de San Juan at approximately 14h50. From there the itinerary had them crossing through my neighbourhood (right at my back doorstep!), then along the coastal road that goes all around the Bay of Alicante. 

I'm not at all a cycling fan, but when an event like this lands at your doorstep, then one should definitely participate! ;o) So my dad and I headed down to the avenue behind the appartment building and waited for them to zip by. 

smart spectators waiting in the shade

And waited. And saw police cars and motorcycles. And waited. And saw publicity vans. And waited. We went down at 14h50 because we didn't want to risk on missing out. I figured they'd show around 15h10. Pretty close! At approx 15h13 the lead cyclists just zipped past us.

Followed by more service cars than cyclists! :p

And about 6' later the rest of the pack. Seeing that many at once was a bit more impressive.

And then again plenty of service cars... those guys sure do have a lot of extra bikes! :D

All in all 30' of baking in the glaring sun and African heatwave, for 30s of excitement. Was pretty fun! ;o)

Here's a little video I put together of the clips I took: