[Note 3/7/2008: I discovered just now I never published this post, it was languishing in draft form!]Today Jamie was on a shoot so I had the day to myself here. I decided to head out on a day hike from Valldemossa, a tourist town near the north coast, up to Puig d'es Teix which is a 1000m peak, the tallest in the area.
I hopped on a bus and picked up some supplies at the local market and headed out. I was happy to not speak a word of English all day (my Spanish has been quite functional), but there were so few other hikers on the trail that I didn't get to speak much Spanish either.
I had little more than a guide book's description of the trail, and the accompanying map which was light on details - it looked like an old treasure map I might have drawn when I was 8. Naturally, I got lost within 30 minutes.
It was a gorgeous day for a hike - 65 degrees and partly cloudy - and so I didn't really mind losing the trail and just climbing amidst the boulders, rocks, and twisted trees, finding some pretty amazing views, and stalking a herd of goats. The trails were devoid of signage, and basically deserted except for myself and the goats (in hiking 10 miles I could count my human encounters on one hand) so I felt like I was hiking around Middle Earth or something, which has it's own sort of appeal.
Still, after an hour I got pretty tired of being lost and made a concerted effort to get found again, thankfully succeeding by triangulating using visible mountain peaks and using the sun as a compass. Next time I'm going to be sure to have a better map, and GPS.
The best part of the hike was along the cliffs, about halfway to the peak, where there's a thousand foot drop on one side. But the rocks are scented by wild rosemary that grows in the cracks, and the views are spectacular.
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