Here are a few pictures of our hike to the Monistir of Montserrat and beyond.
Starting in the village of Monistrol de Montserrat, we hiked to the Monastery, which is about 3/4 of the way up to the top of the Montserrat massif. About halfway up, we got some amazing views of Santa Cova de Montserrat, the cave in which the Virgin de Montserrat was supposedly hidden for protection during the Moorish Invasions. Legend has that is was later discovered by shepherds in 880 AD.
Once at the monastery, we were able to take a funicular (gravity car … and best word ever) to the massif ridge line. We then hiked up the ridge line for another few miles to the summit of the massif, Mount Jeroni at 4055 feet.
Enjoy the pics!
Our hike starts with a fairly decent view. Monistrol de Monserrat in the foreground ... Monistir de Sant Benet de Montserrat in the background.
Perched on the cliff in the middle of the pic, you can see the building that marks the entrance to Santa Cova de Montserrat.
Another view of Santa Cova, with Barcelona way off in the distance.
Riding the furnicular up to the Montserrat massif ridge line.
Looking down on the Monistir de Montserrat ...
La Ermita de Sant Jeroni is nestled in a wind protected saddle just below the summit.
The final steps to the summit ...
On the summit! Looks sunny and warm, right?
Wrong ... cold and crazy, crazy windy!! We were only on top for about five minutes because of the ice cream wind-ache ...
