Ouch! Why Do We Do It?

24 comments

We’re acheing! Our legs are screaming every time we move! We’ve been on another gruelling walk up a mountain – why, when we ache like this for two days after??? Well, have a look at my photos and maybe they’ll show why all the aches are worth it:

We decided to try an old favourite – Pena Sagra (there should be a tilda over the ‘n’ making it ‘penya’ but can’t seem to track down ‘Symbols!’) which was one of our first ever walks in this region and took us four attempts to summit, finally carrying a tent up there, camping up overnight and summiting next morning. That was 12 years ago on holiday and now we see Pena Sagra every day from our casa.

That’s it on the horizon – quietly waiting under a cap of snow and cloud!

It was a glorious day for the end of November and the views at the start of the walk made us feel good to be alive.

It got a little chilly through the forest – stopping to look at this fungus on a tree – but once out on the track we started to warm up.

This lovely lady saw us heading her way and came over for a chat before we continued the upward drag:

Not many flowers around at this time of year, but we came across this lovely bell Heather

then the anomaly of a still-flowering Scabious near blackberries!

The pretty waterfall was a good place to catch our breath.
We decided that we would have a coffee stop at ‘the hut’ – a place where we used to have a breather 12 years ago when it was almost derelict. I have to say the hut has been spruced up since then, with a new roof, chimney and new door and must be a real boon to walkers or shepherds caught out in bad weather on the mountain.

Rejuvenated by the coffee we continued the slog upwards with the rewards for our efforts being the wonderful views.

I think it may be a little difficult to see, but there is a waterfall rising almost from the very top of this part of the mountain and running down the dip in the middle:

If the old story of a berry-loaded holly bush indicating a bad winter is anything to go by …. we’d better get more wood in for the fire!

We’d had no intention this time of attempting the summit, but had decided that the church would be our final stop. This is the Iglesia del Senorita de la Luz – Church of the Lady of the Light – and holds a statue of a Madonna holding an orb, and is collected from the church in May every year, carried down the mountain, taken to the church in Potes where she is displayed for a few days, then carried back up to her lonely church amid a noisy fiesta and left until her next day the following May.

This will be her view for the year. I don’t think I’d complain about that?

Resting on our backs in the warm sunshine after a lunch of sausage rolls, orange cake and the remainder of the coffee, even the sky looked magnificent:

Then it was time to start the toe-crunching jelly-legged walk down with the mid-afternoon light changing to a mellow gold.

What a day! But …. ouch!

1 Dec, 2011
18 likes

Comments

Gattina

Nariz, this is superb. You could be walking in the hills around here - the countryside is superb! We are aiming for another longish walk today - your pictures have inspired us - before the clouds and rain arrive tomorrow.

1 Dec, 2011

Mavisc52

Loved this blog all those grand view's,I liked the gold one, thank's for sharing your climb :-)

1 Dec, 2011

Karenfrance..

These views are stunning, Nariz. You've chosen a beautiful place to make your home. In which mountain range is Peña Sagra?

On my keyboard, the tilda (never knew that was what it was called!) is on the same key as the number 2. I hold down the right 'alt' key to access it. It doesn't show up until I type the letter 'n'. Hope this helps. :)

1 Dec, 2011

Terry60

I agree Nariz, those views and that natural beauty are well worth all the aches and pains -

1 Dec, 2011

Stickitoffee

Beautiful, lucky lady to live so near that wonderful countryside.
those misty blue hills and mountains are amazing.

1 Dec, 2011

Nariz

Thanks for your lovely comments, guys.
Sorry, Karen, it doesn't seem to work on my keyboard, but thanks for trying to help. Pena Sagra is in the Cordillera Cantabrica range stretching along the northern coast, about 25 kms inland and the Picos de Europa is a small part of that range - thus called because - apparently - the mountains were the first thing sailors could see on returning to Europe.
Hope you enjoyed your walk Gattina. Blog with photos?
Thanks, Sticki. I do feel VERY lucky and priviledged to be living in such a beautiful place.
Terry, I tell myself that every time I start to moan about another ache, but sometimes I'm not listening. ;o)

1 Dec, 2011

Karenfrance..

We once drove down from France to Hondaribia and then toured around Sos del Rey and another town whose name I can't recall (sorry if I've spelled those wrongly). The mountains were spectacular...would they have been a part of that the Cordillera Cantabrica, Nariz?

1 Dec, 2011

Sheilabub

Nothing quite like a snow-capped mountain under blue sky. GORGEOUS photos Nariz - thanks for letting us join you . . . without the aching legs!

~ is this a tilda?? Over the hash sign on my keyboard. n~ oh no, it doesn't work!!

1 Dec, 2011

Driad

Nariz , so refreshing , thank you . It makes our daily walks look so tame [they are mostly fairly flat ] and certainly without those wonderful views . The only aches are from the heavy boots that we have to wear now , [no more flip-flops for the time being] .
Your blogs are like travelogues .

1 Dec, 2011

Lincslass

Enjoyed the walk Nariz, wish I could have joined you, the views are spectacular, thankyou for sharing...

1 Dec, 2011

Cmsue

Yes i also enjoyed the walk, wonderful photos you live in a fantastic part of the world :)

1 Dec, 2011

Gattina

Didn't take the walk after all, Nariz - all kitted out and the sun was shining, when I suddenly felt very odd, and the sight in my left eye became weirdly distorted. Scared me something dreadful and all sorts of thoughts started going through my mind, so went and lay down in a darkened room instead. Dreadful waste of a gorgeous day. Eye back to normal now, but head still spinning and I feel washed out. Probably fear! Nothing a good night's sleep won't cure, but have to be up early to go off to the builders' merchant, so can't take a pill. No housework or gardening or ironing been done, so the place is a bit of a depressing mess. I'll play catch-up tomorrow. The walk will still be there at the weekend.

1 Dec, 2011

Nana_d

Wonderful blog stunning pics:)

1 Dec, 2011

Nariz

Thanks guys, glad you enjoyed my 'travelogue.'
Hope you're OK Gattina? Shame you didn't get your walk. Maybe another day?
Karen, don't recognise the names - the map's in the car - I'll look later.
Yes, Sheila - that's a tilda. I can find it with ease when I'm in Word - just click 'insert' click 'symbols' find the 'n' with the tilda, click 'insert' 'close' - job done! The one over the hash - as you found - just sits on its own. :o(

2 Dec, 2011

Pixi25

Lovely blog..I'm tired jsut looking lol.
Thanks for sharing..amazing views :))))))

2 Dec, 2011

Hywel

It must have been worth it for those wonderful views. I hope you're not aching so much now ....

2 Dec, 2011

Sheilabub

Yes, in Word finding symbols is fine. It's the same with accents, if I put something in French without its accent, it looks funny. I suppose if we wanted to be really clever, we could type something in Word, then copy and paste?! But doubt it's worth bothering somehow!

2 Dec, 2011

Nariz

Just how I feel, Sheila! A lot of bother just to be correct! Near enough is good enough sometimes!
Yes, thank you Hywel, my aches are now a thing of the past.

2 Dec, 2011