Cantabria en Octubre

It’s been a while since I posted, mostly because it’s a pain in the heiney to keep up with this thing. I’m going to attempt to catch up and then post somewhat regularly. Anywho, since I’ve arrived in Spain I’ve gone on a few nature excursions; the opportunities here are plentiful and very economically feasible. You can usually stay in an “albergue” which is like a hostel but for large groups. We (Callie and I) went with a “senderismo”(hiking) organization in mid-October to Cantabria which is in the north of Spain (a.k.a. Basque country).

Let the adventure begin!

This is what I wrote at the time when I returned: “Just got back from a weekend of hiking, and I must say I'm very proud of myself - I don't think I've ever done anything so challenging in my life, both physically and mentally - I was on some ol' survivor ish! Eight hours of steep climbing, sideways climbing, rocky terrain, muddy terrain, slippery rocks, holes hidden under lush grass so every step was a potential accident waiting to happen. My legs got so weak toward the end that I was tripping constantly. The pain in my legs was excruciating. My neck was also sore from having to constantly look down because every step had to be meticulously calculated. At some points I was on the verge of tears from the thought of not being able to go on but knowing I had to. To top it off, I lost my group. As it began to get dark, I realized that I would probably be lost in a dark forest in foreign lands for a while as my phone was dying and it was my only source of light. But to be honest, I was o.k. with it because it meant I would have no choice but to stop. Finally, when it just started to get officially dark, I spotted part of my group in the distance and mustered up the energy to make a run for it before losing them again. Today, I'm completely sore, but feeling great that I was able to experience nature at it's finest and myself at my greatest! Feeling like a badass!“

Although it was rough, I took in some amazing sights and felt a wonderful connection with nature.

My favorite was seeing all kinds of animals, that although they were “farm” animals, they were roaming freely and grazing on the land/mountains.

Cows grazing and wind turbines atop the mountains as far as the the eye can see - F'ing beautiful!

Donkeys? Mules? Ponies? ¡Ni idea!




I also really enjoyed seeing this horse mounted herder in action as he tried to lure the bulls in the right direction. I have to admit, I found it kinda sexy :P

A dog decided to follow our group on the entire 8 hour hike. At one point when I was lost from my group, I slipped and fell on a rock. I stayed seated just as I had fallen because I was too upset and exhausted to move. As I was sitting wallowing in self-pity and sizing up the long narrow path that seemed like an endless stretch of nothing but trees, out of nowhere, this angel doggy appears at the end of the path from which I had come and makes his way down to me. He gave me such hope! He stayed with me for only a little while before moving on (which I pretty much pleaded with him to not leave me, he didn't oblige). Either way, I was grateful because he motivated me to keep going - a little divine nudge - Thank you universe!

That's me(my leg) still collapsed on the ground as he was looking forward and onward.

After we finally finished the hike and got back to our albergue, we had dinner and just collapsed for the night.  The next day we were supposed to do another hike to El Buciero, which is supposed to have some really beautiful views, but Callie and I were just too exhausted to do another hike, even though this one was supposed to be shorter. 

Instead we stayed behind and went into town, which is a port town, to do a little exploring before heading home.