Feb 6 – today we put our boots on, grabbed our trekking sticks, and set out to climb Montaña Roja, or the Red Mountain, so named as the bits of iron in its volcanic rock composition give it a ruddy hue.
We started out early, before the kite surfing rental shops opened. Looks like it’s going to be a nice day.The Mandela Man left us a new early morning message: Love yourself first, then love othersThe start of the trail. The mountain is a piddling 400 foot climb, and doesn’t look red at all from here. This will be a walk in the park. My brain started singing, “Saturday in the Park” by Blood, Sweat and Tears.Some hikers left their mark next to the trailAs we climbed, the wind increased – you cannot imagine how windy it was! The song in my head switched to Marilyn McKoo: Blowin’ Away. “I feel so high, I feel like I may be blowin’ away…”This poor tree doesn’t stand a chance of growing straight in this wind!Almost there!Our destination! It was so windy up here that I repeatedly had to stop and crouch down to avoid getting blown off the summit. My full water bottle, stored in a side pocket of my pack, sailed up, up and away at some point, never to be seen again.We made it! I almost lost my hat at one point, and the wind almost tore my glasses off, but, standing on the lee side at the top, this is the look of success.Jim is so happy when he’s standing at the very highest point!Time to head back down. We passed a young couple with an infant in arms on their way up, and all I could think was, “you better hold tight onto that baby!” See the cluster of white buildings that is our little town of El Médano?Now you can see the reddish color of the rocksTa da! Back to the signpost! Some friendly Brits snapped our picture.Returning to the beach two hours later, where the kite surfers were just getting started.To celebrate our victory, we had lunch at a seafood restaurant. Jim had the grilled squid……and I wrestled with the king prawns. I prefer my shrimp when they are not looking back at me. Delicious, but too much work!Tonight we encountered some buskers entertaining the crowd, which is growing larger by the hour as the weekend nears. This group had a very danceable tune, and, yes, we danced!Time to watch the sun go down, as the last of the kayakers bring their boats back to shore.An excellent day!
Taking Our Time 