Hiking in Cantabria, Spain: my first day out

by Sean McLachlan on

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I’m no longer living in Madrid and have moved to Santander, a port in Cantabria on Spain’s northern coast. Cantabria is part of Green Spain, the area that includes the regions of Galicia, Asturias, Cantabria, and El País Vasco.

This strip of land situated between high mountains and the sea gets plenty of rain and doesn’t look at all like the common perception of hot, dry, sunny Spain. Santander is only five hours’ drive from Madrid but feels like a different country.

The main things that attracted me to this region are the outdoor activities: the sea, hiking, and caving. It has a much lower cost of living than overpriced Madrid, which is good news for travelers as well as part-time residents such as myself. It’s also more social than a big city. Thanks to the friendly folks at Couchsurfing, I already have a couple of offers for hikes and a spelunking group I can join.

Yesterday was my first day in my new home. The friend who helped me move was still around, so after a glance at the map we headed out to the Parque Natural Collados del Asón, about 30 minutes inland and deep in the mountains. This park covers 4,020 hectares (9,934 acres) of the Cordillera Cantábrica and some of the most beautiful mountains in Spain.

The drive took us up winding mountain roads past sheer cliffs and forested hillsides. Nestled in the valleys were a few stone farmhouses and herds of cows. Tall peaks, some well over 1,000 meters (3,281 ft.), towered around us. This is one of the best regions for caves in all of Europe and I could see the entrances to several as we drove past. Some were dark holes high up on cliffs, while others lay at the bottoms of sinkholes by the side of the road. Many are open to the public and some even have Paleolithic cave art of prehistoric men hunting extinct animals 15,000 years ago.

%Gallery-134360%The village of Asón is on the edge of the park and surrounded by tall peaks. While this was the least remote part of the park, it felt truly rural. The village is only a couple of dozen buildings and the few residents we saw stared at us with open curiosity. We parked the car and chose one of the shorter hikes, an 8 km walk to a waterfall.

The path gradually climbed through thick forest and over a couple of streams. We passed only two small groups of hikers in the three hours we were out there and saw nobody else. We did have company, though, in the form of herds of cows and the biggest slugs I’ve ever seen. Check out the gallery for a photo of one of these monsters.

At the river Asón we had to hop from rock to rock using a stick to steady us. Once while doing this same stunt in Missouri my foot slipped and I fell headfirst into the water. The bottom half of me landed on a flat stone so I was only wet from the chest up. Luckily I didn’t embarrass myself this time and my camera survived to take shots of the waterfall just upstream.

As you can see from the photos, it was a stunning cascade hurtling over a sheer cliff. Vultures wheeled about overhead, riding the air currents and hoping one of us would conveniently die. The whole scene was so alien to what I’ve experienced in Madrid in the past few years–lush forest, cheer cliffs of gray rock, a mild temperature, and no people.

My friend looked around and remarked, “I think you’ve landed in the right spot.”

Yes, I think I have.

Several long-distance trails crisscross this park and I’ll be sure to explore more of them in coming months. I may not be back for some time, though, because living anywhere in Green Spain you’re really spoiled for choice. All of the mountains have trails and caves, and little villages have restaurants serving up local specialties. I’m also planning trips under Cantabria and will be writing up my reintroduction to spelunking in future posts.

U.S. national parks are fee-free this Saturday

by Kraig Becker on

Looking for something to do this weekend? Want to get outside and enjoy the first days of fall? Well, you’re in luck, as the National Park Service is celebrating National Public Lands Day by waiving entry fees to all national parks this Saturday, September 24. That means you’ll be able to visit more than 400 different parks across the country absolutely free.

Since it first began back in 1994, National Public Lands Day has been an annual event that has focused on protecting shared outdoor spaces across the country. Each year, groups of volunteers get together at various sites in all 50 U.S. states to work together to improve trails, clean-up parks, plant trees, and a variety of other projects. In 2010 alone, more 170,000 volunteers, spread out over 2080 sites, participated in these events. Similar numbers are expected this weekend as well.

Some of the projects that will be worked on this weekend include the removal of fences near Yellowstone National Park to facilitate the movement of wildlife, the cleaning of trash along a Green Belt trail in Austin, Texas, and the repainting of a fence at the Appomattox Course House in Virginia. As of this writing, there are more than 1800 sites registered on the NPLD website, with more being added every day. To find a project close to where you live, click here.

Of course, if you would rather just take advantage of the fee-free day to enjoy some time in your favorite national park, that is perfectly acceptable too. The complete list of parks that are participating can be found here.

The park service has three more fee-free days scheduled for 2011. On November 11-13, entry fees will be waived in honor of Veterans Day weekend.

Injured hiker crawls 4 days before being rescued

by Kraig Becker on

A solo hiker at the Canyonlands National Park in Utah was injured in a fall last week and was forced to crawl for four days before eventually being rescued. Ironically, the incident took place not far from where hiker Aron Ralston famously cut off his own arm after becoming trapped under a large boulder.

64-year old Amos Richards was visiting the national park while on vacation from his home in North Carolina when he decided to go hiking in the Blue John Canyon area. At some point on his trek, while trying to scramble down to a lower section of trail, he fell approximately 10 feet, fracturing his right leg in the process. After the fall, Richards discovered that he was unable to support his weight on his injured leg, and so he proceeded to crawl out of the remote area in which he was stranded.

An injury of this kind would be difficult to overcome in any environment, but in the remote backcountry of the Canyonlands, it was especially challenging. To add to the complications, Richards hadn’t bothered to tell anyone where he was going, nor was he properly equipped for extended stays in the wilderness. For instance, he carried no extra clothing, had no map, nor any kind of overnight gear. Fortunately, he did have five liters of water and a couple of power bars in his daypack.

Despite his determination to reach safety, this story could have had a potentially disastrous ending. However, park rangers came across an abandoned campsite that Richards had used, and suspected that someone was in the area. The began a search and rescue operation, and Richards was eventually spotted by helicopter. Later he was airlifted to a local hospital where he was treated for the injuries to his leg, as well as internal trauma and dehydration.

Obviously Richards hadn’t seen 127 Hours, the movie about Ralston’s ordeal, or he would have learned to never go into the backcountry without first letting someone know where you are going and when you expect to be back. He was also woefully unprepared for any kind of emergency as well, leaving behind important items that could have been the difference between life and death. Perhaps he should have reviewed the ten essentials of hiking before setting out. Lucky for him, he is expected to make a full recovery, but this is an important lesson to all of us on being smart about our outdoor adventures.

Tasty trail food and thoughts on trail food

by Elizabeth Seward on


Enertia Trail Foods isn’t like most things that come out of my hometown. Not a lot of things come from where I come from. Marietta, Ohio is a town tucked away alongside the border of West Virginia. Downtown is centered around a convergence of the Ohio River and Muskingum River. Because of this, Marietta is a bona fide river town. Boats meander casually up and down the waters on weekends and the Ohio River Sternwheel Festival draws in thousands of visitors each year. And that makes a big economical and cultural impact on a small town like Marietta. According to the 2010 census, 14,085 people call Marietta home. I still do. But for all of the reasons I look fondly upon my hometown, booming, promising business isn’t usually at the top of the list. There are businesses in Marietta–there are some great ones. But not many. So when an old high school friend and fellow vagrant let me know that he is now working for a trail foods company based out of Marietta, he immediately had me interested.Familiar with my roughing-it-much-of-the-time travel style, he asked if I wanted to try the stuff. And of course I did want to try it. But I was, admittedly, half expecting plastic baggies filled with nuts and dried fruit, sealed shut with a bread tie. I would have loved that too, but what showed up at my front door was definitely trail food; not trail mix.

He sent me:

  • New River Granola with Milk
  • Veggie Pizza Pasta
  • Pinnacle Pasta
  • El Captain 3 Bean Chili
  • Chocolate Peanut Butter Pudding
  • Grand Canyon Cheesecake

“… and I was all like, whaaaaaa? I can take this kind of stuff into the woods with me? On the road with me? How come I didn’t know about this stuff back when I was spending the night in Wal-Mart parking lots and graciously accepting free hot water from gas stations for my OATMEAL PACKETS???…”

The answer is, it doesn’t matter. I couldn’t have afforded it back then anyway. Not that it is exorbitantly expensive (most of them cost $4-$5), but I couldn’t have afforded it back then. But these days? I’d be hard-pressed to not splurge for the sake of having something other than peanut butter and bread while out in the wilderness. And by splurge, I mean, at least have some of this stuff packed away for the extra tough days. I’ve done just fine on peanut butter for a few days at a time, mind you, but after a few days, I find that I lose focus and start dreaming about things like… macaroni and cheese.

As it turns out, Enertia Trail Foods has now teamed up with Coleman and their packets of food are becoming increasingly popular and therefore available. And I know why: they’re actually really good. I’m not just getting behind them because they’re based in my hometown. I know about them because they’re based in my hometown. But, with that said, if you visited my hometown, you’d be impressed that a company with products this tasty is coming out of a town so small. It just doesn’t usually work that way. But it’s so very nice when it does.

In addition to Enertia’s curious home base, Enertia has a another attention-grabbing quality: ingredients. Whole wheat couscous, whole wheat bulgur, organic maple granules, sunflower seeds, organic rolled oats, organic pumpkin seeds, West Virginia honey, toasted almonds, organic peanut butter, ginger, fresh ground basil leaves… there’s some good stuff in these packets.

But here are some questions I leave you with:

How much does trail food like this actually enhance the overall experience? Do you find that varying your food like this provides more mental clarity, better morale, stronger determination, or an increase in satisfaction throughout and after the trip regarding the adventure? Since trail food isn’t usually cheap, at least not compared to it’s trail-friendly competitors (peanut butter, bread, cheese, nuts, dried fruit, etc.), how worth it is trail food like this for you? Are you getting more bang for your buck? Alternatively, do you find that you focus and perform better without the distraction of varying food options?

Photo of the day: Pyrenees camping

by Elizabeth Seward on

Camping in the Pyrenees Mountains. Backpacking in the Pyrenees Mountains. This image transports you there. It shows you what it’s like to tuck yourself and your tent into a valley and to wake up there in the mist in the morning. It’s beautiful.

The Pyrenees Mountain Range is in southwest Europe. The mountains form a natural border between France and Spain. The small country of Andorra is also witness to these beautiful mountains. The Pyrenees are popular for winter sports, but plenty of people flock to them during warmer months, as well. Photographer Christoph Sahle spent part of his summer a couple of years ago exploring the mountain range on foot, with his tent and camera in tow. His photos from this trip can be found on his Flickr and they’re breathtaking. I’d love to visit these mountains.

Have you visited the Pyrenees? What was your experience like?

And, as always, if you’d like to submit a photo to us for our Photo of The Day, just upload it to the Gadling Flickr Pool.