¿Como se dice "exhibitionists?"

Collin and I went hiking today in Monachil while the kids were in school. It was the first exercise I have had in about a month and a half. The weather was perfect, warm in the sun and not too cold in the shade. It took about 20 minutes to get there and the roads in Monachil were super narrow (only one car at a time in most spots), bumpy (I felt like I was 4-wheelin' again with Brian Powell) and without a lot of sign posts. We drove past a goat farm and parked with some caravans. Collin asked a hippie who was living in her van how to get to los Cahorros and it turned out that we had taken the wrong road. So we got back in the car and drove down what looked like a one horse gravel track. Branches and weeds whipped the sides of the car as we made our way cautiously around the twists and turns. We tried parking at a restaurant at the head of the trail, but a groundskeeper shooed us out past rotting piles of olives with swarms of yellow jackets around them.

Near the trailhead was a hippie commune complete with yurts, a washing area, garden and tons of toys for all the little kids. I think living there would be every little kid's dream. It is situated right in the mountains, you get to live in what is basically a giant tent and you have a bunch of families with kids to play with on the same property.

At first, we tried hiking los Cahorros bajos, which was pretty, but boring and a little too easy. So we went back to the trailhead and hiked up los Cahorros altos which lived up to their name. It was really steep and had a beautiful view. Los Cahorros altos trail was definitely too hard and dangerous for the kids to do, I'm glad Collin and I went by ourselves to scope it out. We crossed over a few rope and plank bridges, definitely not for people with gephyrophobia (fear of bridges) or acrophobia (fear of heights). There is a sign posted with a bunch of warnings about the longest bridge, specifically that no more than 4 people can be on it at a time. There was a building that looked exactly like a ruined jail with graffiti all over it. On the rock face there were metal loops for rock for climbers. The trail was made of cement and was attached to the rock face on the right with a stream lower down on the left. It was awesome and a little challenging. There were places where the rock face curved out over the trail and we had to hold onto metal handles to get around the bumps. There were also places where you had to crawl under the rock face jutting out. We went through a huge cave. There were a few spots in the stream about 4 1/2 feet deep with clear freezing water. There was absolutely no one on the trail. After the commune and the olive groves, we didn't see a soul. Collin asked me if I dared him to go in the water and I said sure. I didn't really think he would do it, but he stripped down to his underwear and waded in to his chest. Then he dared me and since there was no one around, I stripped down to my underwear and got in up to my neck. It felt like bathing in a glass of ice water. I'm sure the stream is melted snow from the Sierra Nevada. We dried off and got dressed and not even five minutes later, some hikers from England came up the trail. As we walked back we ran into tons of people: a couple with a dog, more European hikers, a very large group of school children. I really don't know what I would have done if anyone had seen us 1/2 skinny dipping in the stream. If we had lingered at all, we would have been discovered in (almost) all our glory. Phew!

On the way back to the trailhead Collin dared me to eat an uncured olive off of one of the trees. It tasted like ink from a ballpoint pen, bitterest thing I've ever put in my mouth. I love olives, especially the light green ones, but seriously whoever thought after trying a raw one that they could be made edible by soaking them in brine or whatever they do? If I didn't know better, I would think I was being poisoned--it tasted SO HORRIBLE!

We are going to go back to hike in Monachil on Friday after school. I'm going to pack a picnic so we can spend the afternoon there as a family. The kids are going to love it! I don't know why we don't do more outdoor things. When always end up enjoying ourselves. I don't know if it is the preparation that is so daunting or what. I don't crave the outdoors like some people I know, but I do love the experiences I have when I camp or hike. I know it sounds cliché but I really do feel more alive when I spend time outdoors. The air in Monachil was so fresh and and clean, it is hard to believe that it is only 20 minutes away from the city. Some of the houses are tiny and old, it is really rural in some parts of the pueblo right outside of Granada.