First Hike: three peaks, via public transit!

Barcelona is bounded by the Mediterranean on one side and by mountains on the other -- a lot like Los Angeles.  Up in the hills are lots of parks, with some strategic peaks hosting former military sites including Montjuïc and Turo de Roviro. A friend here pointed us to a site Senderisme En Tren that shows you how to go hiking "using the train as the only means of transport": we could get to the trail head by train, and return just as easily -- fantastic! 

We decided to start with something close, using just the subway rather than figuring out the railway service. The map showed a path through parks surrounded by the extended city which took in three of the hundred peaks around Barcelona. It was marked "easy" but I'd call it moderate; it was different than the hikes we frequented in Great Falls, Turkey Run, or Prince William Forest. Probably the biggest challenge was that trails were very difficult to follow -- many just dusty "informal paths" up the side of a steep hill: it's easy to lose track, and the soil here is so terribly dry (over two years of drought) that it's easy to slip and slide.

So after breakfast at a cafe across the street from our flat, we headed out to the Metro for our adventure: 125. Travessa de Barcelona pels Tres Turons: la Creueta del Coll, el turó del Carmel (100 Cims) i el turó de la Rovira -- a 5.7Km (3.5 mile) trek that hit three peaks with amazing views. We headed from the Metro station (altitude 160 meters) to our first trail where it got steep quickly -- even in the neighborhoods -- then turned into an aggressively steep narrow trail around an ex-quarry they're turning into a park, then to our first peak: Turó de Coll (250m). I "billy goated" up the narrow dusty trail while Irene paralleled on more built-out paths and we met at the top. 

We descended through what appeared to be old shanty town settlements -- the paved road literally ended there -- which were rich with fruit and nut trees (fig, almonds), and one which had a yard with chickens, right in the middle of this metropolitan city! 

We followed the GPS trail we downloaded from Senderisme to my WikiLoc app and eventually hit a quiet neighborhood, and I decided to forego a beer, given the difficulty of the terrain behind and presumably ahead. The town was on a steep slope, but of course (since this is Barcelona) was well served by bus and metro. But what town has multi-stage outdoor escalators? 

There were some tranquil pedestrian only pathways which led to outstanding vistas. 

Then it got serious. The GPS map showed a path pretty much straight up the side of the mountain hill, again with desert-dry dust and scree. We had to try a variety of routes before getting to the summit where we could rest a bit.  But, wow, those views from our surface-of-mars-like location, at 270 meters: Turó de Carmel. Barcelona just sprawled out on all sides, expanding from the sea, and skirting the mountains. 

With shaking legs we headed down; it wasn't easy, and the trails were ill-defined. Maybe we weren't gonna be able to tackle all three peaks after all. Finally, we entered a neighborhood, and followed the GPS track, then came across a sign for the final peak.

We followed the small street (yea, no more scrabbling!) up to the old military cannon emplacement for some spectacular views.  I'd been to Turó de Rovira (260m) three years before when I came to Barcelona to get my fingerprints taken for my residency -- an unbelievable place to watch the sun set! During the day, we could get a full panorama and take in the history of the site. 

Panorama from Turó de Rovira

During the Spanish Civil War, Franco had Mussolini bomb the shit out of Barcelona -- the first time in history a civilian population was attacked like this. Engineers built cannon emplacements on the Turó because they had commanding views of Barcelona and its approaches -- even though they knew that they might be shelling their own city.  After the war, there was an influx of people to serve the growing industry in Catalunya, and some of them set up shanty town settlements up here. You can still see the "hydraulic tiles" and terrazzo floors, the stairs, in the residences they fashioned out of the abandoned military outpost; I especially enjoyed seeing how the circular cannon emplacements had been repurposed. For a long time, they lacked for running water and sewage on this peak, surviving out of necessity. It was only around 1990 that the last residents were resettled elsewhere.

The walk down took us through some woods and beautiful parklands. There should have been a sequence of cascading waterways, but -- due to the drought -- everything was turned off. 

Dated "1739", this must have been public baths

We continued down until we hit civilization, in search of a cold one: we didn't have to look far. This cafe had a friendly owner and an even more friendly dog that crashed out on the warm sidewalk like an old cat.  I've gotta love a place that substitutes truffles when they run out of foie gras.  Some zingy patatas bravas, a generous portion of croquetas (the sepia with ink were very good, the gorgonzola with nuts were outstanding), and two large beverages restored us. When Irene asked for a second glass of wine, the owner refilled her glass, then just left the bottle on the table for us to finish -- no charge. 

A half a block to a bus stop, then a transfer to the Metro, and we were home.  No time wasted driving, just "A Grand Day Out". 

I'm not lyin', though: our muscles were tired and our bones stiff! It's been at least 6 months since we did any hiking like this.  Now that we've found how easy it is to go hiking without a car, we'll do more. Next time, we'll take our hiking poles for the more difficult terrain. 

I should have turned off the GPS tracker for the ride home!