Sierra de Guara

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Sierra de Guara is a mountain range in northeastern Spain. Most of it is included within a natural park... and it really worths a visit. These mountains are full of canyons and gorges and actually, are one of the best places in Spain for canyoning. I am not so brave for that, I am not a friend of hanging ropes (although I feel kind of attracted by jumping into deep pools in a river). Anyway, I don't have a neoprene wetsuit... and that sounds like a good excuse... so I went there just for a full day trekking: The Mascun Canyon.
I never counted how many kilometers I have trekked in my life... but for sure several hundreds. However, I think I have never had a more painful trekking than this one. It was my fault, though. The path follows and crosses a river course at the bottom of the canyon... and people go there with water-resistant boots. I didn't. So I had to cross the river barefoot. The stony river bed, the river current and the icy waters were my nightmares. For some moments, I felt like my toes were detaching from my feet. Later, I simply did not feel my feet... .
I thought about dropping after crossing the river about 10 times, it was good I didn't do it; some time later the path went up to the mountains and got my reward: amazing views of the canyon, the valley and the mountains. Rocks had funny shapes, some of them with interesting names. The path also reached an abandoned village; that was impressive too... the whole village in ruins, at the top of a mountain... without roads in the vicinity, of course... the only way to reach that place is walking or by horse... I guess the former unhabitants must have had a hard life there.
Some time later there was a dolmen, a tomb from the neolithic era made with huge stones, called "Losa Mora" (moorish tombstone). Although this one has been dated from 5000 BC, there is a legend about a moorish king in loved with a christian princess, both prosecuted and later killed because of their love... I guess that many years ago it was easier to explain the presence of the dolmen with this sort of stories.
Anyway, it was a very interesting trekking...!!! 5-6 hours, 11 km.
After the trekking, I took my (rented) car and visited Riglos, a very beautiful village that I always wanted to visit. It was not far from there, and met all my expectations. The village is right at the bottom of some impressive, very impressive and huge rocks called Mallos. The landscape is absolutely amazing... . I remember the first time I saw a picture of that place in a book... I was a child and thought something similar to the children in the animated movie "Up", hahaha...

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Comments

[PremK]

Wow.
Exciting, breathtaking scenery! Who needs tables and chairs to have lunch when you can do it on a mountaintop! Anything comparable to the experience?