4 girls vs. wild

this weekend was a purely granada weekend. on friday, after a very relaxing day the girls went out for tapas at this very local highly recommended place called bodega espadafor. we were the only blondes and non locals in the place but it was cool cause the owner was the one running the whole place with just a bartender and we talked to him for a bit which was really interesting. after that, since i was still not feeling too hot we went home knowing we had a long day at the beach again the next day. this beach day was much smaller scale than last week. we went to La Herradura which is also part of Almunecar but is a little more secluded and supposedly "high end." it was really nice there and definitely more quiet but i didn't feel extra special being there. we went with much less people and instead of trying to cram in a million activities we just swam and laid out and hung out and it was really nice. everyone came back with a mild sunburn but nothing feels better than a good nights sleep after a beautiful day in the sun and ocean.

La Herradura

ella and i had every intention of watching newsroom when we got back but passed out before we even let the show load (btw highly recommend watching this show it is making me less of an ignorant american than being in europe is). we went to bed early because we had another early day of activities ahead of us. today we woke up at 8 am to catch a 9 am bus to go hiking in the Sierra Nevada. When you look on most tourist websites about Granada it will say it is perfectly nuzzled in between the mountains and the beach making it great for all time of year. so, we had a very Granada weekend taking advantage of the best of both worlds. ella, kathryn, rachel and i went for this hike hoping that we were going to actually make it to where we wanted. ella, kathryn, and rachel had all apparently done thorough research on this hike so i was just their clueless friend that tagged along but it was probably better that way, for me at least. they guided me and i just followed so no complaints there.

we got dropped off at the bus stop at the edge of the sierra nevada somewhere around 10 am. we had to walk a ways to figure out exactly where we were going and at the beginning i was pretty nervous cause they kept saying oh we haven't gotten to the trail yet blah blah and i was like but we've been walking for 40 minutes...... anyway, as far as my hiking days are concerned my experience pretty much ranges from the dunes at white crest in wellfleet to the fells in medford. though i do love a good climb around the fells, this was that on crack. in total we hiked for 5 hours about 16 km, half of which was uphill and not like slight incline like grabbing on to rocks for support and everyone around us had equipment and we were scaling the side of a mountain winging it. 

so as i said before, i'm sick. pretty hearty cough and infected sinuses, so all this dryness and exercise did not feel great at first but once i got over the uphill battles i recovered pretty quickly. but, in the first mile that was uphill i warned everyone about how i was probably going to be breathing pretty heavily but like i was panting. this made me nervous cause i knew we had a long ways to go. luckily we made our first stop pretty quickly so ella could make her mark on the sierra nevada. we all went to the bathroom au natural once on this journey up and down the sierra nevada and it was a pretty glorious feeling if i do say so myself. 4 sorority girls roughin' it, who woulda thunk? 

we kept trekking on not exactly sure if we were gonna make it to trevenque which was our destined mountaintop we were headed for. kathryn being the spanish social butterfly she is stopped every other person we encountered on our trek to ask if we were going the right way. luckily these two mountain bikers pointed us in the direction of the right peak. from down below i was like okay no way we're actually making it to that peak that can't be the right one its so high and steep and small. it was the right one. after another hour and a half or so hiking uphill we reached the incredibly steep part. we stopped and let rachel make her mark on the sierra nevada before we ventured up what seemed like a 90 degree angle.in reality it was probably 75 degree angle but seriously pretty damn steep in the hot desert sun.  i put my ipod on an "eye of the tiger" genius playlist to set the mood so we kept on roughin' it.

we made it up the gravel hills and to a rock with a patch of shade. we decided to sit down and eat our bocadillos and regroup from there. from that point it looked impossible to actually get up to the peak of trevenque. it was so steep and we thought we must need equipment to do it cause it looked like it was all rock. we finished our lunches and were content with going back down, except kathryn. she just haaaaaad to go to the top. so one of my biggest fears is watching other people do really dumb, dangerous stuff and watching kathryn rockclimb the side of the sierra nevada actually came close to inducing vomit for me. just in time a shirtless spanish man with ski poles comes rushing on down the side of trevenque and kathryn asked if we could get to the top. he said yes, but definitely not by scaling the rocks like she was trying to do. he pointed us in the direction of a path and we made our way up. this part may have seriously been an 87 degree angle on gravel/sand. made for a pretty interesting trek in my nike free's with no traction. 

so we kept going, rachel and i lagging a little further behind than before. finally after what seemed like an hour trying to climb 25 feet we made it to the top of trevenque! the view climbing up was amazing to begin with but our view from the peak made it totally worth it. we sat up there for a while listening to  tunes by the likes of cat stevens, fleetwood mac, bob dylan, etc. it was one of the more accomplished feelings i've ever had in my life. we were all so dirty and sweaty and disgusting and it was one of those dirty feelings you know you worked hard for so it felt awesome and worth it. after about another 45 minutes of picture taking, sayings like "we're so lucky", music, relaxing, and good conversation a random old spanish man busted up our little party so we figured that was our cue. after kathryn dismissed herself and made her mark on the sierra nevada, we took his picture for him and we were on our way. 

see that peak at the verrrryyyyyy top? thats trevenque and somehow we made it there

going down made me a lot more nervous than going up. once we were up there and expressing this concern ella threw in her carpe diem two cents saying "if we don't make it down, at least we made it up!" so we were prepared to take that one to the grave with us. at first the old spanish man led us the wrong way and we were heading down a really steep cliffside with one slip you would fall into your imminent deserty, rocky, miserable death. after a few minor freak outs on my part we turned around and went in the direction we came from. i'm sure they wanted to kill me at the time but whatever ladies you have your lives now. the way down was slippery, dirty, dangerous, a little painful, but pretty awesome. i felt pretty badass trying to scale my way around the rocks and find a way down without falling. every time we took a step it reminded me of that scene from lion king before the stampede where those rocks shake a little bit and make that ominous noise. it was freaky but kinda cool. we finally made it to flat trail land and walked on this trail most of the way down. this trail was on the side of the mountain and had awesome views of the rest of the sierra nevada on the way down. lucky for this trail i made my mark on the sierra nevada on the way back. you're welcome sierra nevada, now you won't forget the 4 girls that trekked your great peaks, as the saying goes "take only memories, leave only dirty tissues" .......right guys? 

our view on the way down, finally some flat land

once we were at the bottom we were all pretty delusional and tired. we stopped for water and fruit and then made our trek back to the bus stop. we were early and we waited there in the middle of the street cause there was no well marked stop. unfortunately for the family whose house we were in front of, our dirtiness, exhaustion, and mild dehydration got to our heads while we belted the lyrics to michael buble songs until the bus came. it was such a quick bus ride back and round trip was 3.20 euros. we had an unbelievable day for almost nothing. the day was totally priceless but for how easy it was/close it is i almost can't believe it. what was even better than the day itself was the shower i took after. only kidding but the shower was prime. so thats the story of my super active Granada weekend. as the real saying goes "take only memories, leave only footprints" and that we did. unbelievable soreness in the butt/leg region ensues tomorrow. hasta luego