The Weekend Report from the one, the only and perhaps reigning champ....Ty

Well if you are one of the three or four people that actually read by blog and check out my pictures online you might have a general feel for how the weekend went for me. All my pictures are uploaded on http://picasaweb.google.com/tywolosin in case you did not know. This was another great weekend of taking advantage of the higher than normal (for me, not Almeria) temperatures that Almeria is known for. As the northern countries pass into the cold winter, the flocks of RVers appear out of nowhere to claim their parking spot for the winter. They are easy to pick out normally because of the sandals with socks, shorts and abnormally pale skin.
So Saturday was a day of hiking in the Sierra Nevada Mountains of Spain. These are the mountains that begin in Granada and stretch to the east into Almeria and South towards El Ejido (another town in Almeria...where the majority of the greenhouses are) and the Mediterranean. It is in these mountains where the majority of the moisture is sucked out of the air to leave Almeria with little moisture. All three of my amigas came along and we met bright in early Saturday morning to catch the bus. Immediately I realized the first fault of the hiking trip, 27 people!!! Way too much for this Soltero. Anyhow I figured I would make the best of getting out of the city and into the mountains....
We were planning on doing a hike on a ridge line but after stopping for about 20 minutes we were told that the hike was a no go. This was due to the danger of Javelin pigs that were spotted in the area. Although I doubt seriously that they would attack a large group I understand that the University and the group have to take precautions. So back into the bus we went and 30 minutes later arrived at are new hiking destination. The hike started out like the kind of hiking I like to do, leg burner straight up the mountain but of course we had to take stops for the group to recover (not the whole group but older people, smokers, etc.). The trail made its way along the side of a mountain following a old Aqueduct that was used to power a small hydroelectric plant. The path/aqueduct passed through a few caves, and around some deep drop offs, finally ending in a beautiful little river and our lunch spot. On the way back we just followed the road....not to exciting but hey it is like the old man says, a loop is always better.
On Sunday I went bouldering with two of my rock climbing friends. We went about an hour away from Almeria in the Parke Natural Cabo de Gata. It was a lot of fun until my hands started to deteriorate into something that resembled a dog toy. I put too much chalk on my hands....which along with volcanic rock worked to rip off a good bit of my skin on the finger tips (dedos). After two hours the other two were not in much better shape so we decided to take off and come better prepared next week (tape for my fingers, food for other friend, and climbing shoes for the third). We went to the nearby pueblo and ate at an excellent Italian restaurant.
Well that is a general rundown of the weekend...
Three interviews planned for this week, so I should have plenty to talk about at the end of the week. Stay Tuned.

PAZ AND AMOR
TY