The Mountains Part Dos

"The only failure is not to try." - George Clooney

For Part 1, I was able to climb most of the way up a smaller mountain that is near Granada. On Saturday, I decided to go all out, and climb one of the tallest mountains in Spain. Veleta. The mountain peak of Veleta is very close to Granada, with a ski resort located on part of the mountain. This was a much more intense hike than my previous one, because it was at a much higher altitude and it provided great views from the top.


Unlike my experience the week before, I began this trip by buying two 1.5 liter bottles of water from the grocery store, and was able to gain some food from my host mom for the excursion. I also researched this mountain a little better, and was able to figure out where I wanted to go before I got there. The only thing I really had to do once I arrived was hike, so after getting a few hours of sleep, because I went to my first spanish concert, I went and caught the bus to the Sierra Nevada Ski Resort. The ski resort is located at around 7500 feet, and it is about a 40 minute drive by bus up into the mountains to this location. The bus took us right to the trail, and away I went up the mountain. Unlike my last hike, this was not scenic in the sense of beautiful trees, rivers with waterfalls, etc, because the ground was all rock and tundra.
Also, this trail went back and forth across a road that went through the area, but all the same the views were incredible. As I reached the top, I was really excited to try to look out to Africa, because on clear days it is easily visible from this location, but it was my luck that there would be clouds everywhere on the opposite side of the mountain. I spent about an hour up at the top at around 11,000 feet, and then headed back down, all told the hike was about six hours. I had a great time though, as once again I got a chance to do some rock scrambling, and I met many nice people, from many different countries. I have uploaded the pictures from this trip onto my picasa site and you can take a look. I also used my camera for a while for some self portraits, so enjoy.


As you can tell it has been a while since I have updated this blog, and that is more or less because I have been very busy. I have as you know class six hours a day, and outside of class, I have been busy sleeping, eating, walking and enjoying Granada. This past week I enjoyed watching two movies in Spanish, as I went and saw Che. with Benicio Del Toro in a theater, and then in one of my classes we watched a Spanish comedy called Say Yes. In both movies I could understand only a little, although in Che I understood the parts where he was being interviewed in English quite well.
I only have one more week of my intensive Spanish classes, and then I will go to only 4 hours of class a day for 4 days a week, and that will be a relief. I am ready to really explore the area. Which brings me to my next point, I think I have found a bike, and by my next post, I think I will have purchased it. Adios.