day of sun

I took a taxi to La Caldera after breakfast, and decided to walk into the park because I could see a patch of blue sky in that direction. I headed up mountain to the south under dripping trees, all alone as usual. After about two hours I reached the tree line, 800 meters of steady elevation gain now behind me. Occasionally the warm sun was felt through a thin layer of cloud. I saw a patch of snow, which surprised me. It was good to sleep in a hotel last night!

as I went higher, the clouds thinned and I could see the many observatory buildings, looking quite space age. 

in the picture above, I'm on a summit which I reached cross country to avoid a military area. My goal is the collection of cloud bedeviled peaks in the upper left. Keep walking!

wow, so great to be in the warm sun... Clouds on both sides of me.

lots of up and some down here. I was getting tired...

very much like the American West, I think.

Foolishly, I decided to book a cheap room in Vilaflor. I was at the high point of my way at about 18:15, and needed to reach town before 21:00. Oh wow, but I really had to run now! I drank all my water to lighten the load and jogged down, dancing over and between many rocks in the trail. The occasional uphill was withering... No energy left!

I made it at 20:45... For a total day of 11.5 hours, 38 kilometers, 1800 meters elevation gain and loss. I crashed into bed, eating a bit from my stores for dinner.