Ir de Monte

The clouds give way to sunshine every time we reach the summit; our autumn hikes have been lucky, indeed. Waking early almost every other Sunday, we spend no more than an hour in the car before arriving at another one of Asturias radiant peaks. With montuneros (mountaineers) young and old, we've summitted six crests since arriving: Our colleagues had us huffing up 1,565 mt Pico Pierzo on a sunny October morning; a school outing with another colleague and his young sons ended in roasted chestnuts and sweet cider with 10 other families; a few solo hikes to El Naranco (the Christ statue on the hill looking over Oviedo), giving us a birds-eye view of our new home; two treks with dear friends Eduardo, Azucena and Manuel (an 82-year-old mountaineer from Catalunya who nearly beats us to the summit) on Pena Mea and Pico Mua; and the enchanted Camino de las Xanas along a rippling stream with Pablo and Maria.

The darkening skies and hailstorms have impeded us from trekking this weekend. Even our Christ statue is snow-covered. Many more mountain missions to be completed this spring, once the weather invites us to leave the cafes and enjoy the outdoors again.