Today we conquered the 7 Hanging Valleys hike. We got up and got ready to leave the house by 8:45. We got in the car and set off to the trail, quite uncomfortably for most of us I will say. Four people in a three seat row isn't exactly my favorite way to sit in the car but you gotta do what you gotta do. The 7 Hanging Valleys trail is a 7 mile round trip, up and back with lots of cool scenery along the way. We passed caves, beaches, secret pathways, and almost walked off the cliff a few times into the ocean (mainly Griff and Connor). The trail starts at a beach called the Marinha Beach, a top 10 beach rated by National Geographic. Gage and Kayla decided that they wanted to stay at the beach while the rest of us head out on the hike and that we would meet them down at that beach when we get back. So off we went.
Out of the many cool things we passed, my favorites were definitely a beach that used to be a private beach but then got turned into a public beach called Praia Do Carvalho. You get to the beach by a pathway through a tunnel and there are still outlines and indents in the rocks of things back when it was a private beach owned by someone such as a bar, a walkway that leads you through a path inside the cliff with window areas looking out (it was blocked off unfortunately), and some what looked like storage places and a L shaped couch looking area. My other favorite thing that we passed on the hike was these super deep sinkholes that were gated off and they went down all the way to the water underneath the cliffs. Luckily they were fenced off (mostly) so no one fell into it. However Connor and Griff may have had to climb up a small wooden, semi-stable ladder on the actual edge of a cliff because they somehow went so far off trail. The only way to go was either all the way back to get on the trail (boring and too much effort), off the cliff into the ocean (would lead to certain death), or up the sketchy ladder (possible death). I mean who can say they've scaled a ladder up the side of a cliff 60 feet up that overlooked the ocean. Exactly it was a very easy decision. All it took was eye contact and they were in agreement. Up the ladder we go. Mom might've had a heart attack if she was there but luckily for us, she understands how to follow a path. (Parent note: thankfully I was unaware of this until after they had safely rejoined the trail. Yikes!)
We finally reached the end of the trail, had lunch, and headed back. Kayla and Gage got in touch with us and said that they went to a different beach called Benegil beach, one we passed on the hike, because the waves were too rough at the Marinha Beach. Funnily enough when we met up with them, no one was in the water because it was super rough but Gage and Kayla said they didn't feel like walking back to the other beach. Griff however decided to avoid all signs of danger and dive right in. We then headed back to the Marinha beach because everyone else wanted to check it out. After exploring the beach for a little while, we headed back home. Everyone got cleaned up, then Griff went to sleep on the couch on the balcony, and I have no idea what anyone else did because well, I slept. Then we all ate dinner and that was our day. No one got super sunburned and we are still alive!!
(Parent note: Griff missed out on another great walk Connor, Kayla and Jen took on the boardwalk along the cliffs. The sight never gets dull! Connor and Kayla went on to one of tue beaches to catch the sunset, while Jen returned to the Airbnb where she and Matt identified things to see and do in Sevilla, and also booked an Airbnb for a week just north of Barcelona. We are now homeless for just four nights in Barcelona and two nights in Milan; everything else has been scheduled. So that is a relief! The other very exciting news is the. We booked a rental car for our week north of Barcelona. We will see what we actually end up with, but Gage - who spent the last trip lying across the laps of the back-seaters - was very excited to hear we booked a 7 seat minivan. Woo-hoo!)
Join us tomorrow as we head to Sevilla Spain!
-Griffin Price
(Parent note: heading to Spain is daily exciting, as the idea for this trip started 10 years ago with the notion of spending a summer in Spain because Griff and Gage were in Spanish immersion school starting in kindergarten. What a great way to really crystallize your language skills and soak up the culture! The trip has obviously morphed into something very different, but the boys have been told they will be expected to use their Spanish extensively for the next several weeks. We will see how they do!)
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