We all woke up earlier today to go hiking and birding! (It was 8:30am. Fine, I know that that's not super early, but we're on vacation, okay?) After breakfast and packing a lunch, we drove a couple hours to Ordesa National Park. We stopped at an information center to see if we could find out anything about Wallcreepers or Lammergeiers. For you poor souls who have never heard of these birds, Wallcreepers are freaking awesome birds most closely related to treecreepers and nuthatches. They are quite small, and slate-gray like the rock cliffs at high altitudes on which they crawl to look for tasty insects. Their most stunning feature is the fuchsia-pink color on their wings that they occasionally flash. How amazing, right?!!!! (No, I will absolutely not apologize for getting extremely geeky about a bird. Get used to it :) ) Lammergeiers, who already make awesome-status for their name, are perhaps even more fascinating. They are vultures who live at high altitudes and crack open bones and eat the marrow to sustain themselves. I know, it's jaw-dropping. In Spanish, their name is Quebrantahuesos, which comes from que rompe huesos, or who breaks bones. Pretty cool. They're also known as Bearded Vultures, and they're even bigger than the enormous Griffon Vulture that is common all throughout Spain. One of best ways to distinguish between the Bearded and Griffon Vultures is their tails: Griffons have short, rounded-off tails while Lammergeiers have elongated, notched tails. This feature is very useful when trying to identify the species, since it is often difficult to get a great of vultures' other features because they are often really high and backlit in the sky.
Anyway, while our parents went into the information center, O and I ran over to the end of the parking lot to look at the fuck-ton (there's a long story behind this word, but the gist is that one of Edward's friends, Sam, is absolutely hilarious and he made up this phrase to describe an enormous amount of birds) of Griffon Vultures circling there. There were also about seventy-five swallows of some unknown species fluttering through the air, catching insects. After birding a bit, we went and asked someone at the center about where Wallcreepers and Lammergeiers had been seen recently. We were told that Wallcreepers are extremely hard to see and we would have to rely on luck, which we pretty much already know, but that Lammergeiers were pretty common in a part of Ordesa about an hour and a half away. My family and I decided to leave that trip for another day, and drove a bit further into the park to a parking area for hikers.
Right before the main hiking trail was a small building where two rangers were stationed. We asked about the two birds that O and I wanted to see, and one of the rangers said that his friend had seen two Wallcreepers on one of the trails. He even drew which route to take on a map of the trails. So, time to climb a mountain!
After two hours of rough hiking, in which we saw an adorable salamander in a stream and ate a simple lunch of sandwiches and chips, we reached a bridge near the top of the trail. Near the bridge was a squat, tiny structure that had a sign out front saying, in Spanish, "For emergency use, in case of dangerous weather." My family and I laughed a bit at the small building, then went to the bridge. We took in the gorgeous view of the cold river and awesome (the way the word used to be used) mountain cliffs rising above us. It was a beautiful moment, right after a challenging hike . . . until it started hail. Yep, legit balls of ice falling onto us from the sky. We took a perilously slick path towards the only shelter available. Thank goodness for that tiny building! My family and I did a penguin huddle in there, then sat together against the wall. Daddy and Olivia sat on the outside, with Mama and me sandwiched in the middle. At first, we sat on the left side of the building, but then realized that the wind was hitting from the door-less entrance to the structure. So, we switched sides and sat together, listening to the hail hit the tin roof three feet above our heads. Mama and Olivia read, Daddy journaled, and I stared off into space contentedly. I had not brought my book, unfortunately. About fifteen minutes later, I saw a fellow hiker with a walking stick coming from farther up the trail, standing in the hail/rain. He saw us, all huddled in there, and smiled and said hello. We said hi back, and he was on his way down the trail. Soon, it stopped hailing, then it stopped raining. Daddy, Mama, Olivia, and I continued our hike up the trail.
We climbed up to a beautiful area with a view, and my parents hiked farther up the trail while Olivia and I stayed to scan the cliff walls for Wallcreepers. Soon, we followed Mama and Daddy up the trail and arrived at a place with an indescribably awe-inspiring view. We watched clouds below us rise up, break across the face of a mountain across from us, and join the clouds above our heads. Wow. Though O and I searched for Wallcreepers, we didn't see any. My family and I sat, taking in the landscape in front of us, and suddenly, my sister and noticed a large bird drifting across the sky above us. "That's not a Griffon Vulture," I said. We noticed the size, the notched tail . . . a Lammergeier!!!!!!!!!! OH MY GOD!!!!!!!!!!!! It was freaking awesome. What a lifer! Unfortunately, soon after that, we heard thunder. Thunder + top of a really high mountain = bad, so we hurried down the trail.
It only took an hour to get to the bottom of the trail, even though the trail was slick due to the rain and hail. We talked a bit with the rangers again, telling them of our adventures and our poor luck with the Wallcreeper.
After driving home, we all took showers and then when to a pizzeria in a nearby town. The town where we are living is so small that it doesn't have a restaurant, but another area about ten minutes away was much more hoppin'. So, we drove over there and ate some of the best pizza we've ever had. Really, Daddy said that he was sending a picture of his to his friend in New York City, because he had never eaten better pizza. We relaxed and ate, plus took advantage of the free WiFi that was available. After that, it was time to go to sleep. What a day.
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