Hey uncle Steve,
The other day I did something that I'm very proud of. I hiked up Monte Naranco in Oviedo! Only a small group of us went on this hike. The top of Monte Naranco you can see all of Oviedo, parts of Gijon and Aviles, but it was too foggy up in the mountains so we couldn't see them. It was so hot and muggy while we walked up to the first two monuments that some of the people decided not to go up the mountain. In total we had five people hike up the mountain. We were going to go along the road to find the beginning to the marked trail that lead to the top. Before we got around the corner we found a path that looked like it may have went up towards the road and intersected it, so in short terms we thought we had a short cut. We started going up this trail and it started to get over grown a little bit and it wasn't so bad. I was in front, so I was looking out for things we could trip over and dangerous things. We got about a third the way up this path we found and we started running into thorn bushes that were kind of over grown the path, which were no big deal. Then I started to run into a bunch of spider webs. These things were so annoying! The first one caught me by surprise and one of the others had to pull the spider off of me because it was behind my ear still on a piece of his web. We continued and it the path cleared for a little bit but then we kept going and there were even more spiders and more thorns. When we were almost to what looked like the road we ran into thistles and my instructor had to take the lead because there was spider after spider and I couldn't catch them in time. Finally we made it to this road. We map ourselves on someone's phone and figure out that we have to hit the trail that is a little farther up the road. We start moving and walk past this house that is pretty and then a little farther down we notice all of these black shoes hanging in a tree. At first we thought it was just odd and didn't think much of it, but then we notice a figure made out of some type of rolled plastic that's holding up a block of rock. Starting to feel the odd and creepiness we all decide to move on and find the path. Now the path was good for a while until it began to get really steep and the spiders were back. We were almost all the way to the top we just had to push through these bushes that were sharp and try to stay away from the spiders and thorns, which didn't happen. My instructor and another fellow stayed in a spot and rested for a bit while myself and two others pushed to get to the top. FINALLY! We get to the top and notice we could've driven here. Who else can say that they followed an unmarked path and made it all the way to the top? Only us out of our group! It was gorgeous at the top. You truly could see all of Oviedo and to some of the mountains on the other side. It was such a satisfaction to be at the top knowing I struggled and made it there from a path you could tell that no one had been on in a while. It's definitely been one of the better days of the trip so far. Well I should get to bed so I love you and I'll see you when I get back home! Buenos noches!
-Love,
Brianne L. Bigelow