Adventure Mountain

Yesterday we climbed the Basque mountain Txindoki (1342m). It was one of the longest, most exciting, dangerous and adventurous hikes we have ever done. It was said to take about 4 hours, which wouldn't have been a problem for us. It started off beautifully with forests and nature and great views of other mountains. Cows, horses and sheep were running free everywhere, and even higher up there was actually a hut (the only one on the whole route) with many dogs, chickens, pigs... that were also running around freely. We were able to buy homemade cheese there, which we did. They told us that we were quite late and it would soon get dark. We didn't expect the ascent itself to take longer than the planned 4 hours in total. So we kept going uphill, blisters had already formed on our feet, and finally we reached the steep summit of the mountain. We were already pretty exhausted from the climb, when we noticed that the sporadically recurring trail markings were no longer visible. So we tried to climb the rocks in front of us to finally reach the top and find the trail again, which we thought would lead down on the other side. Directly below and next to us, it went steeply down into the abyss, and the rocks above us became bigger and more impassable. I felt like a mountain climber in a climbing documentary, but without ropes and protection. My fear of heights came out and I got total panic and fear of death. Fortunately, Sebastian was able to calm me down and we decided to slowly climb back down to find the markings again. Further down, we found a 'easier' way to the summit and after some time we finally arrived at the top. Unfortunately, I couldn't fully enjoy this success due to my ongoing fear, and a sign reminding of accidents there didn't provide any comfort. Also, at that time the sun was already setting, which worried me even more for the way back. So I hoped that it would be short... However, on the summit we couldn't find the trail markings again and around us it only went steeply down. So the way back had to be the same as the way up (if I had known that beforehand, we would have turned back earlier). In hindsight, we understood that the hiking trail didn't lead to the summit, but only around the mountain, and we probably missed the turn. So we climbed back down and took the whole way, which took us 4 1/2 hours to climb, back in the dark (which was always my worst nightmare - trudging through the pitch-black forest). Fortunately, we had packed flashlights and Naomi, for whom none of this was a big deal, led us back down. When we reached the bottom, we were incredibly exhausted and happy that everything went well. The view was breathtaking despite everything and many beautiful photos were taken. It was definitely an experience that we will not forget quickly! :-)