Does this mountain have a summit?
When we were in Monsanto on Saturday, I noticed a hiking trail below the village. I thought we’d check out today where it leads. At eleven o’clock we set off. I parked where I had on Saturday, and next to the kindergarten we found the little path marked with a small sign: „Idanha-a-Velho, 18 km”. Well, I don’t really feel 36 kilometres in me, but let’s start out and see what we find. The dogs were running around freely, Panka within visible distance, Gerbeaud not so much. But I took treats with me, and when I called, he came. We walked and walked, followed the markings, but then at one point I was so impressed by a rock formation (photo below) on the basalt mountain that I wanted to photograph it from every angle, and I think we missed a marker. I didn’t panic; we’ll discover something else. Here we already had to walk on a proper asphalt road, between houses and fields, but only two cars passed us the whole time. Gerbeaud was on a leash, Panka was free. In one small village we weren’t greeted by security guards, but by a sweet little choir. Two dogs were howling with such feeling „wuuuuwuuuuwuuuvu” that I had to capture them at least on a photo. Then the bigger one jumped down from the fence and started to follow us and bark at us as we were walking away. When I stopped and turned around, he suddenly began sniffing something with great intensity. „It wasn’t me! Everything’s okay, go in peace.”
We walked, just kept on walking — not ten kilometers, but when the opportunity came up, we turned right onto a road at the foot of this big basalt mountain (photo below). We went up, further up, then suddenly the road ended, and among the rocks and huge boulders I saw a very narrow path. That’s when it dawned on me: „My God, this is the backside of the big mountain of Monsanto!” The village is on the other side. From far away this mountain looks gigantic; up close it looks even more gigantic and even steeper. Well, I am happy to say that we successfully climed this big mountain. Panka was free, Gerbeaud's leash was clipped to my waist, so I did have some help. Minimal, because he weighs only 12 kilos, and I’m, well, maybe fifty-one. By the time we got up, all three of us had our tongues hanging to our knees. The dogs sweat through their paws; I sweated everywhere. That was a serious achievement. I patted them, then patted my own shoulder too. Once again I managed to fill the day with an exhilarating experience. We slowly walked down to the car through the village (I took more photos); everyone drank up their water bowl/bottle, and we set off for home. The sky was cloudy all day, which seemed especially good for a climb like this.
