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This hike is, by far, the easiest one I’ve done since I started this project. For this, I had to choose a trail that was nearby, short and undemanding because we had to make it back to Bilbao by around lunch time.

Seven of us met up at Bolueta station where we started looking for the gate to Parque de Montefuerte. After crossing Río Nervión, we got lost because there were no signs pointing the way to the park. We eventually saw an old man who was walking towards Bilbao and asked him where the trail towards Malmasín is. He asked us to follow him and at a certain point, he gave us the directions that lead us to the park entrance.

Once we were inside the park, it was impossible to get lost because there were wooden signs and markers everywhere. Ironic, no? We walked along well-worn paths up Gaztelu (250 m) where our group had to split after taking our sandwich break. Two girls had to start heading back because they had Spanish classes at around 13h00. The rest of us decided to do what we came there for and finish what we started.

We walked another 600 m uphill to Malmasín (362 m) where we had another good view of the Greater Bilbao area. From there, I saw the five summits we reached the week before. I also knew that beyond that range was Serantes, which we reached two weeks prior. It gave me a good feeling, having this image in front of me. On top of that, my legs felt as though they were slowly getting stronger and getting used to walking uphill and downhill. I like that.

If I were to list the things I am liking about hiking, these would be the items on that list:
1. It provides good exercise at almost no cost;
2. It reconnects me to nature and gives me a chance to breathe fresh air after a week of being stuck indoors;
3. It presents incredible photo opportunities;
4. It allows me to explore the area surrounding Bilbao and gives me an appreciation for Basque Country and its landscape; and
5. It gives me a chance to hang out and bond with friends.

Fueled by excitement from the first hike, I planned the second one for the week after. I looked through a bunch of blogs about hiking in Basque Country and found a trail near Bilbao along Sierra de Sasiburu. This one started in Cruces in the municipality of Barakaldo in the Greater Bilbao area. With a smaller group of four this time, we took the metro to the Gurutzeta-Cruces station and started looking for the trailhead from there.

Because of confusing landmarks – ironic, I know – it took us a while to find exactly where we needed to start. Thankfully, one of the girls I was with spoke and understood more Spanish than me so we got good use of the directions given to us by the old men of Barakaldo.

Eventually, we found the small dirt path that lead to the rocky trail towards Arroletza (459 m). From there, it was an easy 1 km hike to the next summit, Sasiburu (459 m). Then, we walked downhill to the cross with the Virgin of Begoña in Goikomendi (391 m). From there, we had to hike up rocks again to Peñas Blancas (469 m). I think it earned that name because from afar, the limestone rocks – seemingly white against the green backdrop of well, everything else – really stand out.

From Peñas Blancas, we hiked up to reach our last summit for the day, Ganeroitz (561 m). That final descent was short but very demanding. By the time we reached our fifth summit, we were quite spent. We admired Eretza (887 m), the highest mountain in Sierra de Sasiburu, and started heading back along a dirt trail shaded by trees.

While this trail was categorized as an easy one by hiking blogs, it was a lot more challenging than the hike the week before. There were some points in the trail where we felt like dying because our lungs were too weak and our muscles too unfit for that kind of activity. In a sense, the minor suffering made reaching those five summits more rewarding.

Challenging as this hike may have been, it was what made me realize how much fun hiking could be. It was what made me understand George Mallory’s response to the question, “Why do we climb mountains?”

He said, “Because they are there.”

As a step towards achieving this goal, I signed up for the university’s mountaineering club. All their hikes are scheduled on a Sunday, the first being September 18. The trail for that day involved climbing Serantes (451 m) and Punta Lucero (307 m), and finishing at playa Muskiz. I planned to go on that hike but that it rained that day. Having no waterproof pants and boots with me, I imagined being wet the entire time would just make me miserable and decided not to push through.

The weather forecast for the Tuesday following that Sunday spelled nice and sunny so I decided to give the trail a go then. I managed to get a small group of friends to join me. We were 6 in all, most of us first time hikers.

Following some instructions I found online, we took the metro to Santurtzi and from there, proceeded to find the trailhead. We managed to do it with the limited Spanish we had (i.e. “¿Dónde es Camino Serantes?”). It’s one thing to know how to ask directions but another to understand the directions you’re given. Thankfully, Spaniards talk with their hands.

We started climbing on a cemented road until we saw the point where can “take a shortcut” by hiking up a grassy hill. Doing this several times during the hike saved us some time, or rather gave us more time for picnicking. We took lots of breaks so what would have normally taken less than two hours to climb took us around three.

Along the way, we saw ruins and cows and a lot of cow poop. Arriving at the view deck of one of the mountains, we thought we reached Punta Lucero already – see, we didn’t have a GPS receiver and we couldn’t find the summit mailbox anywhere – decided to call it a day and started retracing our steps back to where we came from.

It was only when I got home that I realized that we only got to summit Serantes. (That’s why we didn’t see the canyons!) But, it didn’t matter. We had great weather, great views and great company… all for less than 2€!