Nightly Boars & Daytime Pals! (bikepacking Montañas Vacías)

Nightly Boars & Daytime Pals! (bikepacking Montañas Vacías)

Buenos dias! I’m finishing, breaking up camp. Very nice place to camp. It was a very dry night, which I really appreciated. The other night was the fox. Last night was the was the sheep. I started hearing the bells of the sheep when I was cooking my tortellini last night.

They arrived here around midnight. There were thousands of them. So I had to come out of the tent and just throw some rocks with the light and scare them away. So it took them an hour to go through. Skip and go in Montañas Vacias, adventure during the day and during the night.

There you go, leave no trace, unlike the sheep. Let’s go to the next village. It’s very very tiny, I’d be surprised there is any shops at all. What a climb. I think it was a good call to camp where I camped last night because then the road was going down

And then up to this hill. There is the van of the baker in the square. Let’s see if I’m fast enough to get there before he leaves. Some of these villages, they have bread delivered in the morning and I just saw the white van in the main square, I think it’s the baker.

Look, look, this woman is coming back with bread. It’s a guy. Look at this, panaderia. I got two big breads and then I saw a bag with little croissants and I got it. It’s the most expensive bread I ever bought. 5,50€ the damage. Anyway, I have food. There was another truck selling

Fruit and vegetables. To be honest I wanted to go there, I thought I’ll get some bread and some vegetables or some fruit, but I decided I didn’t want to mortgage my bike to buy some fruit. Today it’s loads of climbing, a lot. And that’s the first surprise. Nice wall, it’s a little wall.

It’s not fully a wall and it’s quite steep. I’ll be proud of myself if I don’t stop. I barely have traction. Beautiful landscapes. How I’ll miss Spain. Not sure exactly when I will leave. I will fucking miss it. Loving it. So peaceful. This guy barely said hello.

Well, one of the guys said hello. That’s it. Where are you going? Where are you coming from? Are you doing this route, that route? I really don’t understand. I mean, just asking how are you. It wouldn’t hurt, you know. I would have not slowed them down that much.

Already someone that travels with two backpacks on a bicycle is now making the smartest decision on bike travelling on my book. It’s not super pleasant when going down is as slow as going up. Sardines are not my favourite food. I never never eat them. Well, rarely, very very rarely.

But apparently they’re good for you. So I’m forcing myself to eat a little bit more healthy. Another paved segment. Beautiful views though. Comunidad de Teruel. Back in the province of Teruel I guess. Still a good few days away from completing Montañas Vacías. Alobras, five kilometers and they have a signpost for Montañas Vacías.

Mirador de las Tejadas. MV point number four. I think MV points are corners in shops or bars along the Montañas Vacías where you can find something that could be useful during a route like this. And I think it’s bike parts like tubes or tyres or chain, things like that.

And even I’m not fully 100% sure but I think there might be like camping gas canisters, things like that. Back on dirt finally. Beautiful, very very beautiful. This is a nice orchard. Technical pit stop. Very nice village with a swimming pool.

A lot of villages in Spain, even very small ones, they have a swimming pool. But they have a natural swimming pool as well. Little snack. Oh, let me see. I have some figs and some hazelnuts. Let’s check out the hazelnut tree. Oh, even those apples look sweet.

But I want to see if I can get some hazelnuts here. I’ll take a few of those. I got a handful of hazelnuts, four or five apples. Torre Baja. It means the lower tower. And actually, I think this is the lowest point on Montañas Vacías. This is left. Buena!

I’m following the river upstream a few kilometers and then up the mountain. 7:26 Let’s say another hour, yeah, 8.:26 Yeah, around 8:20 or 8:30 I always call it a day. I think here there are lots of snakes. Look, one skinned. Yeah. And two here.

You see the head and also here, now they’re dry because with the sun, but these are non-poisonous, see that the head is round, no problem, no problem, I could put my hand there. I guess the fun starts here. This fucking guy is follow me around all the time. Beautiful.

Beautiful on this side as well. It’s already 8 o’clock. The sun will set soon. Wish list for my campsite tonight. Level, free of stones, sheltered from the wind, and exposed to the east. That’s it. Ah, no foxes and no sheep. What an incredible spot. Beautiful Montaña Vacias, beautiful. Look at this, it’s incredible.

Guys, get on a bike and explore the world. Fuck the pension, fuck the retirement, fuck everything. I wonder if I should camp here. Let’s keep going. This is the most enjoyable time of the day to ride a bike. 8:27 If I was true to my word, I should stop now. But where?

Let’s keep on going a little bit more. Be nice if up here it flattens a bit. But apparently not. Meanwhile, the sun is about to disappear. I see a house up there. At the very top, not the hut here. Like an old farmhouse. But, it might be another 15 minutes.

I’m ready to camp now. I’ve arrived to the house. Don’t like this. There are stones everywhere anyway. Oh, what do I see here? This could be fun. It’s a bit windy tonight. Ah, no, fuck it. I mean, I could use four of those bricks to stake down the tent.

And the wind is only until 11 o’clock. It’s now dark but I climbed another hill after the house. 200 meters I have, 200 meters I’m on top and there I’ll camp. The moon looks like a little dot to you, it’s a facking big ball to me. Good morning, buenos dias.

This is where I camp. Beautiful spot at the end, arrived here in the dark. The trail is where there is the trees basically, the first line of trees and then I saw this dirt road and I thought… fucking hell, disaster, disaster. I’m back, sort out the problem.

It’s the click stand, it’s a bit precarious. So yeah, I arrived here in the night, good progress. I think I can finish the Montañas Vacías in three days now. Beautiful night last night, very dry, I didn’t even pitch the, I didn’t fit the flysheet on my tent. I slept very well until the…

Yeah, I slept well but… different night, different animals. There were some wild boars, they were coming at some point, it was like 4:30 and I had to scare them away. So yeah, so many fucking animals and wildlife in Spain. Every night I’m bothered by a different kind of animal and I was thinking

This morning if I was in Africa I’d be like… I’d be shitting myself with all these noises close to my tent. And I camped the whole way through Africa and I didn’t really have any very close animal to my tent. New day on Montañas Vacías. Let’s go!

That farm over there, I can’t see exactly what trees are those. To be honest, it’s too far. But they have a cannon, I guess to… yeah, did you hear? To keep away the birds, I think. It goes off every few minutes. The whole fucking night I could hear it.

I mean, it was distant. I could hear it. Also, they have speakers with music. That’s some commitment to keep the birds away. Here they planted some trees to protect them from animals to eat them. They put those cans of drinks on top of a metal stick so they rattle and they make noise.

Fellow bike traveler. Doing Montañas Vacias. From Catalonia. Welcome to Spain Lluis! Montañas Vacias is spectacular Would you recommend it? Definately but more like as a life experience rather than a mountainbike ride Take your time, right? Take your time, ride, meet people, talk to anyone you meet. And go alone.

And then you go alone and think about your stuff. Of course. It’s a spectacular life experience. Yes, yes. I totally recommend it. A thing you have to do at least once in your life. Sure. Or two. Or two. Come on, people. Take courage, don’t fuck around. Look at the…

Look at the view, guys. Look at the view while we talk about politics. Look at that fucking road. Getting higher and higher, but still a long way to climb. Climbing up. I don’t know what’s going on today. I’m tired. First major climb is done. Ah, look, Lluis. Ah we’re going down, bad news

This last climb was quite challengingl It’s quite challenging. The sun is warm, but the air is freaking cold. It’s quite chilly. The sun is gone as well. It’s a long climb, I think another 10 km more or less. I just found a fossil. Very cool. There you go. If you do the

Montañas Vacias, the fossil is there. Actually it’s full of fossils, look. Another one there. And another one down there. This climb is long. Definitely too long. I can breathe now a little bit. And then it will start going up again. GoPro, stop recording.

On top of this hill, but there is more to climb. Now we are at 1965. Beautiful ride. It would be nice to make a bit of progress. Only 30 km and… It’s 3.30pm I doubt we get to 70 km today. That was my goal. That’s the peak. But there are the antennas.

All right, last push. At some point I’ll have to stop and eat lunch. It’s 3.30 I fucking made it to Pico Javalambre. I think it’s called. It’s very cold, it’s very windy. That was a long climb. Too easy with the motorbike, huh? The motorbike is easy

A lot of weight on the bike, huh? Yes. We are on top. Pico de Javalambre.

Cycling the world – Europe: 136 episode
Another unforgettable episode along the Montañas Vacías bikepacking route in Spain. This adventure starts with a unique morning challenge: scaring away a massive flock of sheep that surrounded my tent overnight. After a steep climb and a descent into a quaint village, I fortuitously find a baker’s van and buy the most expensive bread I’ve ever had – a small price for much-needed sustenance. The journey takes me through several valleys to the lowest point of the route in Torrebaja, followed by a relentless climb towards the highest point. Pushing my limits, I cycle into the night, setting camp on an unexpected spot: an airstrip used by firefighters. A 4 am visit from wild boars adds to the night’s excitement. Exhausted but determined, I meet Lluis, a fellow bikepacker on the Montañas Vacías trail, and together we conquer the peak of Pico de Javalambre at 2020m. Experience the highs and lows of this thrilling bikepacking journey in Spain.

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