Written by Dave:
We previously wrote about hiking along the Rio and the mossy steps that we found along the trail. Well…..
We had another beautiful day, so after school we decided we would hike back into the forest to further investigate the steps. Previously, from a distance they looked to have moss and debris build up on them making them appear slanted. Upon closer inspection, they were in fact slanted. VERY slanted. It took cautious and difficult climbing to ascend.
Luie thought it was great, and took off to explore. Those of us with a little more experience approached them with more caution. The moss was a bit damp, and slippery. Light little Luie had no problem, but the rest of us slipped a bit more. Frequently when the land allowed, we proceeded up the side, holding onto the concrete for support.
At a certain point, the appearance of steps disappeared completely, and the concrete became a constant slant. That was the end of the road for Nancy and I, but the kids wanted to continue on the adventure. They promised to be careful, and continued on up.
Nancy was hoping for ancient ruins of some type at the top, but instead the kids found a concrete water tower. They briefly looked around, didn’t see anything else, then made their way back down. They met up with us, and we all continued down together. It was a slow trip down involving various encounters with thorn bushes, but we made it. Mystery solved, and no need to go up there again.
On the way we happened upon a group of mountain goats. They come to the river this time of year for mating season. They were about 80-100 feet from us. It was fun to watch the males fight over the females. You could hear the crack of the horns as they came together, and it echoed through the valley. The males were really putting on a show, but the females were not paying any attention, casually nibbling on the grass.
Although the stairs did not lead us to any magical place, on the way we experienced nature in action. I don’t believe the kids will ever forget this trip.
I’ve been waiting anxiously for the mystery of the moss covered steps to be solved!! And I think the mountain goats were the treasure you discovered. I remember lots of wild mountains goats in the mountains of Norway and I’m interested to discover they are in Spain as well.
Yes, those steps looked so inviting until we actually attempted to climb them. It was a great adventure and memory though! And the mountain goats were awesome!
Here in the Northwest, we would be concerned about cougars or wolves. You are such brave souls. Quite possibly at on time something else was there. It seen the steps were well built, and very old to just lead to a water tower. Annette. Good pictures of the animals fighting!
Hi Annette and Steve! So fun to hear from you guys! Those steps were so slanted, it was extremely difficult climbing. I had a sore back and sore legs the next day.
Were you at all concerned that the mountain goats would get interested in pursuing you guys or did they seem pretty focused on only roughing each other up? They look amazing. So cool that you got to see them in action. The only time we’ve seen mountain goats up close like that was hiking the Highline Trail in Glacier National Park a couple of years ago. Fortunately, they were quite happy to ignore us. When we saw them headed straight for us, we backed up as close as we could to the stone wall behind us and let them pass on the trail in front of us, giving them as much room as possible on the 4′-8′ ledge path. They passed quickly and it was uneventful, but they also looked just fierce enough, I wouldn’t have wanted to be in their way.
That thought did occur to me actually. But there was about a half mile distance between the steps and the goats.