Since today was my day off I decided to get up early and do something that I’ve been attempting to do for a couple of weeks now: re-hike one of the mountains in Jávea. I hiked this mountain with some of my friends when they came to visit me in January and I’ve been wanting to do it again for two reasons: one, to perform a more challenging physical activity and two, to prepare my body for the 5-hour hiking trip that I plan to make next weekend (one of the things on my Spanish bucket list).
I almost changed my mind about the mountain hiking because I woke up a lot later than I had planned to but I eventually pushed myself to go. Not only was it such a beautiful sunny day but I also really needed to work out. Once I woke up I ate breakfast, got dressed, and prepared my bag with things that I would need for the trip like a small snack, a two-liter bottle of water, my telephone and pepper spray.
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| Starting the Hike |
As if hiking up and down a mountain wasn’t enough, I also had to walk all the way to the port to get there, which took about 20-25 minutes to do. I took a different route to get to the port, so it took a little bit longer than it normally would. Once I got there, I prepared myself for the journey ahead and began to hike.
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| The Rocky Trail |
While I was climbing up, I instantly remembered another one of the reasons why I wanted to climb the mountain again: because the trail was so serene, green and beautiful and it also had the most breathtaking views of the sea. Every once in a while I would stop walking and just look out at the sea and think. It was good that I went up this mountain by myself this time because I could stop whenever I wanted to. Occasionally, I also took some pictures.
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It took me about 35 minutes to get to the top (which wasn’t bad at all) and once I got up there I sat down, ate my mandarins and then walked around for a while. The last time I was there with my friends we didn’t walk around as much; we mostly sat down, took pictures and went back down. This time, however, I walked outside of the area onto an open road (you can also get to the top of the mountain by driving) and I saw a couple of people walking around and reading a sign.
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| El Faro de San Antonio |
When I crossed the road and read the sign I saw that I was actually at the location of the natural park in Jávea. I’d heard about it a couple of times but I didn’t know exactly where it was. I walked past the sign onto the rocky land surrounded by bushes and saw that I was at the cliff of a mountain. Here you could also sit down and get a good glimpse of the beautiful sea. Although most of the cliff was fenced, it was still quite dangerous.As I looked around I also had a great view of the Faro (lighthouse) de San Antonio, another popular attraction in Jávea. After sitting down for a while and admiring the view I began to make my way back to the mountain that I had come from.
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| A Beautiful View |
For some reason as I was going down the mountain I kept thinking that I was closer than I actually was so my journey down wasn’t as quick as I thought it would be, but it was still fairly easy. Once I finally made it down the mountain and quickly walked the 25 minutes back to my piso, I was famished and exhausted. I’d been gone for about 3 hours. I immediately collapsed onto my floor and stayed there for about 10 minutes. Then I took a shower and cooked myself a big healthy meal for lunch.
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| Cala Tango |
Although I am a little nervous about the 5-hour group hiking trip that I’m going to do in Jávea next weekend, I am still really excited. I can’t wait to see some of the beautiful sights that I haven’t been able to see yet. I’ve heard that most of Jávea’s beauty is hidden, and from what I’ve seen today I definitely believe that. I also can’t wait to feel a sense of pride and accomplishment that will come from knowing that I’ve completed one of the most difficult things on my bucket list. I’m just hoping that I’ll be able to walk when it’s all over!
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