Weekend Adventures: Hiking in La Pedriza

On Saturday I went hiking with a group of people in the countryside to the northwest of Madrid. A couple of years ago I had encountered this hiking group on Facebook. It popped up in my suggestions, possibly because I had posted something about doing the Camino de Santiago or possibly because every now and then FB’s algorithms can be spookishly spot on. I had liked the group and every now and then had seen it pop up in my newsfeed. On Wednesday while I was checking email and waiting for my documents to arrive at the Biblioteca Nacional a post popped up from the administrator of the group to say that the group’s email account wasn’t working so that anyone who wanted info about the upcoming hike should contact him on the FB page or by his personal email. I emailed him and asked him for details about the hike and decided it would be a fun way to get some exercise, breathe some fresh air, and meet some people. Plus, he was offering pb&j’s as part of the lunch fare. In my opinion, peanut butter always tastes even better in a country where it is harder to find and spendy to purchase.

Saturday morning I got up, got ready, and caught a bus to the meeting point at the bus station at Plaza de Castilla. From there the group took an 11:00 bus to pueblo called Manzanares El Real and walked about 20 or 30 minutes to the real starting point of the hike in La Pedriza. We were a group of about 30 people, and we were very international in nature. There were people from Spain, Ireland, Scotland, Poland, the Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland, Venezuela, Columbia, and the states. Many members of the international crowd had been living in Spain for several years. Everyone was very nice and it was a fun day of switching languages and climbing up and down rocks.

The Castillo in Manzanares El Real

Hikers

The group’s leader, a super nice guy named Beau, had described the hike to me as having a medium level of difficulty. But it was a pretty hot and humid day with temperatures getting up to the 90s, and I struggled a bit at some points to keep up the pace. We did a line hike, and the scenery was stunning. The group was moving a bit too slow for us to go to the point that we had intended which was about 7 kilometers out from the official starting point of the hike. By vote we decided to take an alternative route to another spot which Beau promised always had a terrific breeze. We were all sweating a bit and wanted to stop more frequently to rest and drink water during that last hour or so on the way up. That last half kilometer on the way up was the most difficult for me. I was fading fast and let several people pass me. We had been walking about 3 hours and had made it to the turn-around spot, though, and once I had some lunch – sandwiches, chips, fruit, and chocolate – and some more water, I felt revived and only slightly nervous about the descent. (I frequently bite it going down on hikes.) However, I was less nervous about the descent than I was for the people climbing near the peak of the rocks.

Still sweaty but fortified by food and ready for the descent

The descent was mostly physically easier if a bit more mentally taxing. I put my camera away and focused more on my footing. I did bite it a couple of times and got a nice scrape on my hand the second time. I wasn’t the only one, though, as several other people got a bit scraped and bruised on the way down. Fortunately, though, no one was seriously injured in any of the falls. On our way down, we suddenly heard a loud noise as if someone was tumbling end over end in the brush just a few yards from where we were standing. Although I never spotted it to be sure, several people in the group were convinced that it was a mountain goat rushing down. All I can say is I nearly had a heart attack because for a few seconds I thought a hiker was tumbling end over end down the hill. During the last hour of the hike it started to rain, and I actually didn’t mind, as I had been hot and sweaty during the better part of the day. We arrived back in the village and had a caña (a small glass of beer for those not in the know) and caught the 6:45 bus back to Madrid.

It had been a full day and I was exhausted, so I turned on my hot water heater, ate some dinner, took a blessedly hot shower, and climbed into bed. The restorative sleep definitely helped and I was only about as sore as I am after a half-marathon the next day.

What did you do this weekend? Any races? Any museum trips?