Hiking the Sierra Nevada

The resort town of Sierra Nevada

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Considering that we would be heading to Nepal in the coming months, we thought it would be a good idea to hike around Granada to test drive some of our hiking gear.  The road to hell is paved with good intentions.  For the better part of last Sunday, that road for us, was a six hour hike through the Sierra Nevada.

The Sierra Nevada is a legitimate mountain range.  It was worthy enough to host the World Cup of Downhill Skiing a number of years ago.  But you don't really clue into that when you're in Granada and it's a sweltering 45 degrees in September. "What!?  There are mountains 45 mins from here where it snows in October because of the altitude?  No creo.  Esta loco."

So we got up early on a clear Sunday morning to catch the only bus to the Sierras.  We slept most of the 45 min ride and woke up as the bus entered the ski resort town of Sierra Nevada.  Looking out the window, the place reminded me of Banff and I said "Whoah... this place is pretty big."  The bus drove us past the resort and up a little ways into the mountain and dropped us off in an empty parking lot near the trailhead. 

Long and winding road

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Our destination was the Veleta peak.  At 3394 m, it is the second highest peak in these mountain ranges.

The view at that point was already pretty good so we could only imagine what it would look like higher up.  So at 10 am we followed the rest of the hikers up a well worn trail into the mountains.

Slowly into the climb, our enthusiasm was replaced by the realization that we might have underestimated the effort required to climb a world class ski venue.  The mountain was steep, long and neverending.  We were slow, awkward, breathless, a month into tapas, seistas and doing little else.

Climb, rest, climb, rest.  Climb, curse the smiling family that just bounded past us, rest.  This was pretty much the way things went for the next 4 hours up the face of the mountain.  Our path was a combination of a paved road and loose gravel.  "Paved road?", you say? Why yes, of course.  The paved road that the Sierra Nevada tourist bus uses to shuttle smarter people up 100 metres from the summit. The paved road that runs the frequent Sierra Nevada tourist bus that we opted not to take.  Oh well. 

Happy from lack of oxygen

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Relief came when we finally turned a corner and could see nothing more to climb except for a little path to the summit marker.  After a quick scramble up a rocky trail, Jenn and I finally made it to the peak.  Our reward was a clear, stunning, 360 degree view of the Sierra Nevada region.     

Sadly, our time at the top was shortlived as we had to make our way back down to catch the bus back to Granada. 

On the bus ride back, we discovered that the clear day not only gave us a great view of the area but also enough sun for a wicked sunburn that we're still nursing today. 

All and all, still doing well.

Best regards,

Lenny and Jenn