Dear all,

I know it's been a really long time since I wrote the last post. For work-related reasons, I was pretty busy and the little free time I had left, I wanted to use, I hope understandable for you, with other things than to sit in front of the laptop.

Many of you have already noticed that in March I was for 4 weeks on Fuerteventura and then directly from April to the end of May for 8 weeks in Austria, which was actually super nice but the long time far away from my loved ones, was quite hard for me or think for all of us.

That's why I’m so happy to be back on Gran Canaria, even if it’s not as beautiful green as in Austria, but I’m back home and so glad to be by the sea again.

I've been windsurfing a lot the last few days, which makes me stay at home for today just to recover a bit because I feel completely destroyed today. So I use the time on the sofa and write a blog post, about the last part of our Europe road trip we did last year.

As I mentioned in my previous post’s, After we spent two weeks on the north shore, we wanted to leave the north coast of Spain to explore the mountains of Spain. We thought it would be a good plan to start our return trip to Cadiz from the Mountains to discover also something of the interior of that beautiful country. We still had more than a week left. So we drove quite slowly from Galicia back to Asturias. From Gijón we left the coastline on the right hand to Oviedo.

Via Oviedo it went into the mountains, more precisely into the Parque Regional Montaña de Riaño y Mampodre where we wanted to do some hiking in the following days. As soon as we left the motorway, the landscape changed abruptly and the higher we went up, the greener it became and nothing reminded us of Spain. On the pass roads, the cows were lying on the road together with the wild horses and made no effort to get up. Slowly we slalomed around the animals and we left the province of Asturias and continued into Castile and León.

In the late afternoon we had found our new dream site where we have set up our little camp. The reservoir was gorgeous and we had the place all to ourselves, except for a few cows grazing on the shore. The lake, called embalse de porma, is a dam and is located at about 1100m above sea level and as soon as the sun disappeared behind the mountains it became much chilly not to say quite freezing. But we had chosen this place because we wanted to hike in the next few days on the nearby, 1.878m high Mount Susarón (in the background on the first picture). So that we didn’t have to be cold at night we decided not to sleep in the roof tent but rather inside the Lenny, which we had converted with a cozy bed and cupboard a few weeks ago in Germany.

The first morning when we woke up and opened the doors on the car, we were met by fresh and clear mountain air. The lake was so quiet and you can't hear anything except for a few birds in the distance. Even the cows from the day before were probably not awake. After a few days on the road, it was time for a swim again and what could be better than in a freshwater lake. The air was still so cold, I don't think it was 10 degrees Celsius, but the lake was at least twice as warm and the bath in the morning was a blessing. For these unforgettable moments, it's worth getting out of your warm bed and overcoming your own stubbornness. A day can't start any better.

After a cool swim in the lake, we treated ourselves to a hearty breakfast and started the day very relaxed. Later, we inflated the sup and explored the lake. We wanted to really relax and recharge our batteries, because the plan was to climb Mt. Susarón on the other side of the lake at sunrise the next morning.

So it was time for the alarm clock to ring at 5 a.m. and the ascent of Mt Susarón was imminent. As soon as we opened the doors of the car, icy cold air hit us and we were awake in one fell swoop. We made ourselves a warming coffee and then went to the village of Puebla de Lillo, 15 minutes away, where the entrance to the trail was. We parked on the small village square and equipped with headlamps we started. The first 30min we walked along the valley until we came to the junction where the trail started. The trail was described as medium, but after a short time it became steeper and steeper, so we had to take the first breaks. After a short breather and water break, we continued up and up. Slowly it became brighter but we would not make it to the summit before sunrise because our condition left much to be desired. About 300m before the summit we decided not to continue and to turn back. The ground became looser and looser and the passages on the ridge steeper and more challenging. We were simply not prepared for such conditions and before anything else happened, we preferred to turn back. Nevertheless, we enjoyed the incredibly beautiful view and the morning light shining on the surrounding mountain peaks.

Slowly but surely we headed back down and after more than 3 hours of challenging hiking we arrived back in Puebla de Lillo and to our surprise it was market day and Lenny was parked from the countless stands. So we stocked up on regional and fresh products until a market vendor guided us out from between the food stands. Then we drove back to our campsite by the lake where we spent the rest of the day relaxing.

Having spend a restful day at the lake, we packed our things in the evening because the next day we wanted to drive further south. We loved this place and didn't want to leave but it was time, because in a few days our ferry went back to the Canary Islands and it was still a good 1000km through Spain to the port of Cadiz.⠀

On our last morning when we wanted to leave, the lake showed itself again from its most beautiful side. Our last 4 days we had such a quiet and relaxing time what we really enjoyed in this stunning surrounding.