Thought I would take some time to talk about some of my personal adventures. So far we have gotten the chance to go on trips planned by the school to see sights such as Alhambra, in Granada. Since we had a long weekend in Granada I was feeling like 2 days was too short to explore the whole area.
I wanted to get outdoors, so I decided to skip the van back to Sevilla and go into the mountains the only problem, I was underequipped and freezing cold, in the rain. I didn't have a place lined up to stay either, but I thought I would just figure it out like I normally do, and am soo glad I did.
Ended up finding a sweet hostel up in the valley to stay in and ended up meeting so many new friends that I definitely have reason to go back to Granada now!
The first day I took a bus up to Monachil, to go hiking in this giant canyon with towering black and orange walls. I was lucky enough to meet a group of girls on the bus who were also hiking there for the day, so we all got to spend the day together experiencing the beauty, the snow capped Sierra Nevada peaking over the horizon.
Spooky cave tunnel we hiked through
Long plank swinging bridge over gorge next to waterfall
After seeing the Sierra Nevada in the distance I had to get a closer look. 5 Euros and an hour bus ride later I arrived in the ski town with the goal of a solo winter ascent of Pico Veleta. I ascended a little over 1000 meters from the town to nearly the summit, but high above the clouds the wind was harsh, and I was ill equipped. People were bailing off of the mountain in full kit with ice axes and crampons, meanwhile my tennis shoes were frozen stiff as boards. I ended up bailing maybe 80m from the summit, because it didn't feel safe to continue, and I had to catch a bus back to Granada.
Approaching the summit ridge
Stumbled into the hostel absolutely haggard that night. But was eager to go rock climbing the next day since the rock had finally dried off. Something about the way climbers dress and act I can pick them out of a crowd. I ended up spotting Edu and Javi some locals at a cute little cafe. They were wearing puffy jackets and approach shoes, so I asked them if they were climbers. Sure enough we struck up a conversation and they recommended that I go to the Solana, a climbing hostel near some sport crags where I might meet some partners. Ended up meeting a partner the next day and we went out for my first taste of the famed Spanish limestone. I felt like I finally found my people this weekend and it was hard to say goodbye to go back to school on Wednesday. They offered to take me around Granada in their van for the rest of the week. The temptation to skip school and go rock climbing with my new friends was very strong, but ended up making it back to Sevilla, exhausted.
Almond tree in full bloom. Was fascinated by this and wanted to eat all the almonds :)
Our Czech friend, Veronika, flakes the rope before her flash attempt on the 6b.
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