I’ve visited the east coast of Spain every year for over ten years, ever since my parents were searching for their retirement home in the mid to late 90s. Whilst the Spanish have gone over the top with the number of new buildings, spoiling many parts of the Costa Blanca coastline, one natural beauty has remained unchanged: Montgó Massif. I’ve wanted to climb it every year, and this time I finally did it.
Autumn is fast approaching, but fortunately the weather is excellent, so there are plenty of opportunities to also explore some isolated beaches, eat at the many restaurants along the touristy Arenal, and take in the strong Spanish sun.
The actual trek up Montgó is relatively straightforward, but it contains plenty of variety, including a short 100m section of scrambling to get to the peak. Standing tall at only 753m, the mountain looks much higher due to its prominent location right next to the Mediterranean Sea. I call it ‘the elephant’ as its peak looks like the head of an elephant, and the steep drop to the sea seems like a perfect outline of its trunk. There’s even a big cave causing a shadow where the eye should be!
The sun is strong but a cloud hovers as Susanne and I reach the top, which slightly spoils the views. Nonetheless, it’s certainly a mountain that begs to be climbed again, so perhaps I won’t wait another 10 years for route number two!
