Ever since I first saw the mountains of Cercedilla on my commute to university, I knew I wanted to explore its lands. The tall, wide and green peaks were so far away in my view but yet they seemed so inviting - to go and discover some Spanish countryside, to escape from the stir and fumes of the city…
Since winter has arrived in Madrid, it is only now that I was tempted to venture to the place, due to not wanting to hike in such hot weather earlier on in the semester – I doubt I would last a mile! So, this past weekend, my boyfriend and I decided to take the plunge and go investigate this wondrous countryside by going on a hike.
After researching how to get there, making packed lunches for the trip and dressing ourselves for the cold temperatures of four degrees Celsius we took a metro to a central train station and then hopped on a train which only took an hour and 15 minutes to reach the town of Cercedilla – on the outskirts of Madrid.
Upon arriving at the train station and walking through the town, it wasn’t any more than what we expected; a quaint, small town although it did have a rather uncomfortable ghost-town feel to it which was not very welcoming. I think this is because it is a small community and they are essentially living in the mountains, so it’s only to be expected that it would be so quiet! Unfortunately, as we expected, the weather was very cloudy that day meaning our views were restricted – however we did not let this stop us as we were so eager to explore! We wanted to just experience the place even if it meant not seeing all of it this time around, there was no fog or rain so nothing could stop us! It turned out anyway, I think, that the photos I took there were very atmospheric due to the weather so it worked in my favour this time...
We swiftly made our way to the Tourist Information Office, aware of the fact it was midday and not wanting to be walking back in the dark in a forest we didn’t know. The woman working there was very helpful and explained to us the best and easiest route to do on a first visit to the mountains. There are many different routes to take, but we decided to go with her suggestions and took the ‘Water Itinerary’ route for the way up the mountains and the ‘Puricelli Itinerary’ route to bring us back down – taking us right back to the train station to finish. The route to the peak (the dam) took us up one side of the mountain and meant we had a lot of high viewing points, walked through a beautiful pine forest and took us to a breath-taking dam; which on one side had the cascading water falling and on the other the stillest water I had ever seen – making a stunning contrast.
The route down meant we crossed to the other side of the mountains with more amazing high viewing points, another astounding pine forest but also streams of beautiful running water from the dam. Arriving back at the train station was a relief after walking for 3.5 hours in the cold and just before sunset, so we timed it well. Photographing next to the train tracks at this time, looking out on other mountains was also a very picturesque view to end the trip with. In reflection, the walk was not too taxing physically which was probably a good thing for our first hike! Also, the community of Cercedilla have helped walkers find their way by spray-painting the corresponding coloured dots to the route you’re taking on trees, sign posts, gates etc to guide you which is very easy to follow alongside the map you can get from the Tourist Information Office – as we did.
I am so pleased I went on this hike, Cercedilla is a very peaceful and scenic place. I found that this was a relaxing and detoxing break from city life. I also feel very fortunate that I am able to get to this place so easily and cheaply (€11 return train ticket!), as I have a lack of mountainous countryside to visit back home in England or when I’m studying in Coventry. It was also a really lovely opportunity for me to practice my technical skills when using my DSLR and to practice landscape photography which I am sometimes drawn to within my photography works; documenting my experiences of place. I will definitely be visiting again, perhaps in the spring when it’s sunnier and there is new vegetation out for a different experience.
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