Parque La Peña

There’s a solitary tall green hill we can see from our patio that is in the distance but not far away. Around it, the land is flat and clustered with farms, businesses and cottages, and apartment habitats.  In this scape, the hill seems to stand green and alone.  We vowed to hike it someday. Sunday was a good day to do that since buses are on a limited weekend schedule, and almost all stores and attractions are closed.

With no clear way to get there from our place we innately started walking toward it. After meandering through nearby residential areas, we took a road with a railroad track on one side and businesses like wine distributors, automotive repair shops, and small auto dealers on the other.  As we made our way toward the hill we eventually entered farmland with cows and sheep. A brown path at the base of the hill that we took seemed to lead upward.

Of course, it did. There was a sign.  This is a park! I had read about Parque La Peña but never realized that the park and our backyard green hill are the same. The park’s steep path led us around the side of the hill where we found a quaint church all locked up for the rest of the day. Near the church was a sign marking the circular path around La Pena.  It warned that the path was dangerous.  Determined to make it to the top, we struck out.  Along the way a train passed noisily on the track in the industrial area we passed below and we climbed upward we could see the tall apartment buildings that surround the place where we are staying.  But in the western distance farmhouses, green fields, and small communities with red-roofed houses sat in pretty clusters.   We decided that horses and sheep must graze on this tall hill; we saw their hoof-chopped paths and could smell their smells.

Near the peak, our trek was interrupted.  People we met coming down the path animatedly warned us of big swarms of insects on the path just a few steps from the top. From their excitement, we thought we were being warned about swarms of bees or hornets.  We could see the top just ahead; we were so close!  Although we could not go forward, we saw to the right that the back half of the hill had once been an active quarry.  That half of the hill had been mined and hauled away.  The back side of the green hill we see from our patio view is gone.  It looks like a half-eaten apple. The danger the park sign warned us of was here.  Only a sheer cliff remains. 

Not giving up, back at the base of the hill we took the eastern route around the hill to the top. This path was steep and made of more dirt than rock.  Recent heavy rains made the way wet and very slippery. We climbed and placed our steps very carefully. Near the top swarms of insects flew on this side of the mountain as well.  Big clouds of bugs buzzed all over in some kind of madness but we were relieved to see that even though there were thousands of them, they did not sting or bite. 

Just as we were making our final steps to the top we heard a shrill shriek!  Stan and I froze.  In a split second, we both thought . . . wild animal???

What a relief!  It was a wild animal indeed!  The shriek we heard was a young boy’s wild celebratory hoot because he made it to the top of the other side of the hill far ahead of his mom and sisters!  Woo-hoo!