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On our third take on the Comeaus and Co. in Mallorca, the team decides to take a rest day off the bike, hang the bikes and go for only a little hike… to the second highest peak in Mallorca 😮 … Somehow you’ll be hearing about their tired legs and the hike for the next few days:
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Monday. Day off the bikes. R and R day – or maybe not!
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So. I forgot some little details from the past two days
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The bike ride up to Cap Formentor – 3000 feet of elevation gain in only 25 miles of cycling! . That’s a lot!
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Yesterday’s ride over to Selva. 2000 feet of elevation gain in about 29 miles of riding. Almost all of this elevation gain happened in that one “punchy little hill!”
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Today we hiked to the top of the second highest mountain in Mallorca.
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Puig (peak) Massanella. 20,000 steps. 2500 feet of elevation gain! Close to 10 miles of hiking!
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So much for our little rest day . . . .
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Heading off… pretty flat so far 🙂
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Dinner last night was another tasting menu in a small restaurant in the small town of Caimari. We took a taxi there and waited for our meal to start. Sometime after 8:00. Seven or eight small courses . . . Took more than three hours to have dinner. We were getting a little peaked, I have to say . . . . By the time we got back to the hotel, it was close to midnight. Sleep came an hour or so later . . . Not really our style . . . No dinners over here begin earlier than 8:00. However, most don’t last quite so long . . . . Tonight we are dining here at the hotel. If our dinner is anything like breakfast, we will be in good shape!
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So – we decided to hike today – give our cycling legs a break. We debated over a couple of options – finally decided to climb up to the top of Massanella. We were after good views! Fonzie gave us a ride up this 8 kilometer hill we will ride on Wednesday. Amazing views! The hike took off from the top of that hill. It was fun to view the hill from the van . .. Fonzie thought we might tackle that climb twice over the next two days . . However, only John and Tom thought that was a good plan . . . . Dave and the girls are taking it easy tomorrow with a short bike ride, maybe just for lunch . . .
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This little guy was pretty friendly 🙂
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Somehow, flowers grow up here…
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We headed off along a rocky road, heading up gradually at first. Only sheep and a few goats for company . . Then, we hit the first hill. With switchbacks meandering across the slope. Going and going and going. Eventually, we arrived at the spot where we would do a big loop up and around the top of the mountain. The trail was rather rocky and it was occasionally difficult to find the cairns, which marked the path. There was also an occasional red mark on a rock to help you find your way. Up and up. Eventually, we crossed a little open area that was basically flat . . . However – up ahead was a very steep rocky slope. Were we actually heading up there? Of course!
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Getting there!
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We hiked for awhile with a German family – a mom and dad with their two sons, maybe 8 and 12 years old. They were scampering up that slope. We were not! It was pick your way up the easiest way you could figure out . . . Finally at the top – the wind picked up and the fog rolled in. Would we be able to find our way back down? Oh no . . And we needed to get some food into our bodies . . Reminded me of a hike we did in Norway (when we barely made it off the mountain) Also – one last February in Patagonia. When we scrambled to eat and get down off the mountain ahead of a major storm.
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The fog. Can we take a minute to eat?
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So – we added a layer of clothes and headed down . . Picking your way dow n over these rocks was challenging. Fortunately the weather held up – but it was tough going. Very technical. Hurrying was not an option! At one point, I took about five minutes trying to maneuver a tricky spot that was a big reach for me. Had to throw my poles down and hug the rock to get down . Yikes!
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Anyway – from there it was just get yourself down over the rocks to safer ground. Then we retraced our steps back over the switchbacks and down down down. It took us about four and a half hours to complete the hike. Just about what the hiking book said . .
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We celebrated with a beer at the hotel and now we’re awaiting happy hour – one of our favorite times of the day!
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Not surprisingly – we got lots of good pictures!
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#selfguided
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