La Pedriza

La Pedriza, Spanish wilderness. The area is amazingly beautiful. And conveniently close to Madrid. Only a one hour bus ride, which drops you off in the pueblo nearest to the park--Manazarnes. I had to walk two miles along the roadside to reach the entrance to the park. The park itself consists of grand mountains made out of granite. The landscape is similar to that of Toledo, with large hills and giant boulders protruding from the sides. Only, in La Pedriza, there is a whole lot more rock action. Walking along the trail nearly every step is cluttered with smaller rocks, some the size of apples and some the size of bowling balls. Sometimes the trail will just stop at the base of a row of rocks, and one has to climb the rocks to find the trail alive on the other side. And sometimes huge slabs of granite lie slanted and flat across the trail, and one has to walk very carefully across them to not slip and slide off the edge to a long fall. Simply walking the trails is so much fun. At times I had to jump from boulder to boulder, or climb over large rocks. In pedriza the trails, at least the ones I found, are not simple and clear trails to observe the wilderness, but they are littered with obstacles, and require some extra physical exertion to tread. And, along the trail runs a stream/river. Not a large enough to be a river. Not small enough to be a stream. I think technically it is a river, but a small one. Regardless. Given the rocky environment, the river bed was also obstructed with countless rocks and boulders. Which made for a beautiful backdrop of nature’s songs while hiking. The river had many waterfalls from all the rocks. And some large rocks sat in the middle of the stream which cause the river to split into two separate paths around the rock and then to come back together on the other side. All of this with a loud rush and undercurrents and white rapids peaking. and, the water was the clearest water I have ever seen. Even when the river was at it’s deepest, maybe three feet, I could still see clearly to the bottom. It was bizarre. I’d look down into it and could see it’s moving along its current, but at the bottom were oh! so slightly distorted red and orange pebbles.
An hour into my hike I found a large green meadow, where I sat, ate some cheese and crackers, and the wrote in the old journal for a bit. The meadow had short green grass, which at first I though was moss. And the ground was damp. In every direction I was surrounded by massive mountains. Completely boxed in on all sides. The peaks of the mountains are only large boulders stacked upon other large boulders. Without pattern or design. Looking up at them they were stunning. The base of the mountains were green with trees and the peaks turned to brown and gray and white with only the boulders. I realized the stacked rocks meant one could climb to the top with ease. Then, my monomania hit, and I was determined to climb. Ha. It wasn’t easy, by any means. It was much much harder than I had anticipated. The lower part was very fun because it required climbing up one rock and then jumping small gaps of meter to the next rock. It required squeezing between two rocks, or trying like hell not to get cut by the thorns that were all over the landscape. But, the top. The top got very difficult. A few times I’d climb several boulders, nearly vertical, which required finding grooves to grip with my hands and one groove to plant a foot and to pull my ass up any way I could, anyway, a few times I’d climb a few rocks and then hit a wall. Literally. Massive boulders fifteen feet high and straight up. So, I’d have to turn around and attempt to find another way up. But, like I said, I had monomania and I was determined and every obstacle induced great fear in me, but after making the leap (literally, jumping sometimes) upon realizing my safety I felt enlightened. It was all very enthralling to me. But, alas, I did make it. To the top of one of many peaks. And very very very high up. From the top I could see clear across the valley and I could even see Madrid. From the top I sounded my barbaric yamp across the treetops of the valley. It echoed and rang off the hills. I felt a power and invincibility within me.

Unfortunately, my camera battery was dead…yeah, I know one should check those sort of things before leaving…so I only had time to take a few pictures which I was saving, and thought the top of the mountain was a damn fine place to do it. So, no pics of la pedriza, but I assure you, it wasn’t my last time going…


Simple poems I wrote in zen like fashion while sitting in the shade of a tree along the river curling around rocks:

a rock faced leap
from fear to ambition
ensured like the billy goat
or like self actualization
on a mountain
in a county
that is not your own

running down a mountain
each step quicker
a joyous flee from
the self left on top

grip harder the protrusions
of granite stone from earth:
its god’s hand helping
the ascension
to summits of solitude
and reverence