Turo de l'home

The Turo de l'home.

What better to do on a sunny Sunday morning in Autumn than go for a nice hike in the mountains? Well, I couldn't think of one, so that's just what I did! Sure, it was a little difficult getting out of a nice warm bed at 8am to climb a 1700m mountain, but once I was up and the coffee and scrambled eggs were down me, I didn't think about bed again.

The top of the Turo de l'home and the highest point of Montseny.

It was worth it, I can tell you that much. We can sleep in a little late more often than we can hike a mountain. I know what you're thinking - "But I can do either of those things!" Well, then you are living the wrong life! Not to say having a good job (I am currently unemployed, much to my delight!), kids (being an uncle is far more fun), and a mortgage (I will be homeless in a week...) aren't good things, but if you can't hike a mountain every now and then, you are seriously missing out!!

Let's get this straight though - I'm not a mountain "junkie" who feels the need to clamber up every bit of rock sticking out of the ground. Nor am I a "pishapin" who gets in my BMW, grabs the dog(s), puts on my brand new, overly expensive hiking boots (which never seems to get dirty...) and matching hi-tech walking poles, and heads out for a Sunday stroll in the mountains just to say "que macu! (how nice!)" and take a picture with your iPhone (or iPad...yes, truely...). Ok, so you understand "junkie" but the other word, "pishapin," is a Catalan/Spanish word which means a weekend walker, but with derogatory connotations (as many slang words here, such as "giri" which means [f-ing] tourist...). I love being outdoors, breathing fresh air, taking photos, and hearing nothing but silence... unfortunately today I didn't get the silence part, as Sunday in the Montseny National Park here in Catalonia is like a Friday afternoon in a betting shop - noisy and no escape! 

Having a breather.

Lunch time!

The walk was a pleasant one, not exactly a 'hike' but still a walk in the mountains on Catalonia. To get to the starting point, I drove for only 20kms out of the village into the very small village of Santa Fe. There wasn't much parking (refer back to "Pishapins"), but I managed to get one fairly close to the start of the walk. Walking to the top was the easy part - finding a quiet spot to enjoy the sun, a bit of water and a sarnie was slightly more difficult. Unfortunately on Sundays, all of Montseny is invaded by screaming kids, dogs shitting everywhere, and parents talking far louder than is absolutely necessary - you can hear them 'chatting' in the carkpark from a good couple of kilometres away.

I wouldn't eat this mushroom...

The views of course were beautiful, with only a little haze. I enjoyed the walk, and the company - this time I went with Philippa, who also lives in Cardedeu. On a side note, if you want to have a look at Philippa´s Blip Portfolio, its http://www.blipfoto.com/Miralgato. Blip is a website with a huge amount of subscribers, all posting and commenting on photos. A great little community that I have yet to get into myself.

Thank you Catalunya for your mountains, the weather for being warm and sunny and making it such a lovely Sunday morning, and Philippa again for the company - I will miss our photo hikes!

looking towards the Pyrenees - but hidden by the haze.