Hiking THE Monte.

The group at the top!

After going to Irish Stones the night before (mainly so that Jacklyn could sneak out a prized Murphey's glass) to hang out with friends both Spanish and American, we didn't wake up in time for the 8am hike with hiking club. However, Jacklyn, Nina and I were determined to get a hike in this day, especially after seeing the beautiful pictures our friends had taken the day before on their hike. The same group of guys that went hiking Saturday, plus a few more, agreed with us that a hike was a good idea so we all headed out to the mountain after lunch. This was a plus (we thought) because they knew where the mountain was.

Bilbao is bordered by the Bahía (Bay) on one side and by mountains--well, they look more like grassy hills from afar-- on all others. As we were marching to the mountain, it became increasingly more daunting. We decided to climb the same one that the boys had already climbed, even though they had said it was a really rigorous hike. Despite their warnings, I was not prepared for the sort of hike that was in store for me...

First, we arrived at a construction site at which point the boys said we had to march through it, climb up a water pipe, and get onto a hill (on which I could see no path in site). That was when I knew I shouldn't have listened and found my own path with the girls. But no, we went up the water pipe and found ourselves facing a steep slope, without a path, and with barbed wire being the only thing keeping me from falling of a cliff. However, we journeyed on and found ourself face-to-face with a pissed-off donkey that was angry we were invading his territory.

We stayed on the other side of the fence from "Mr. Chocolate" and started climbing up the grassy slope (on a donkey path...). I was fine until the last bit, at which point began clawing at clumps of grass to hoist myself up and prevent me from collapsing and tumbling down the hill. Once we got to the "top", though, it wasn't the top. Of course!

Clawing up "Donkey Hill"

Luckily we found the path and followed that from then on, though it wasn't much more of a flatter surface and all I was missing was the grass to help me climb. We made it to a rest area with picnic tables and we all took out the snacks we had brought in our backpacks. A few of us walked a bit to a lookout nearby that had a fantastic view of Bilbao.

We decided thanks to "Leader Matt" to continue on, and we followed the path even further up the mountain (it was really never-ending) to an even better lookout point! We had made it to the top!! It was a great feeling, and I couldn't help but feel like I was in The Sound of Music, with rolling hills and breathtaking mountainsides. :) There were even ruins of an old church, strangely enough. Not sure who made it to mass at that place.

After taking it in, we headed down... and found the path we were originally supposed to take had we not been so adventurous. I'm glad we didn't take it up, though... it was certainly an adventure and without a doubt worth every gasp for air! I need to hit the gym.

Nina, Jacklyn and I ended the night with our first, and well-deserved, Chinese food of Spain! The dumplings and fried rice certainly weren't Peking Gourmet, but I was grateful for anything slightly ethnic-tasting.