Leaf peeping in Montseny

After living in Barcelona for more than 3 years, Alexis, Jack and I have finally seen firsthand some fall foliage in Cataluna! Autumn has always been one of my favorite seasons, and seeing the leaves changing colors and smelling the crisp cold air right before the onset of winter has been one of the things I have missed most about the Northeast. Lucky for us, we were able to time our trip to the mountains perfectly...no rain...and we even managed to spot quite a few yellow and orange leaves in a sea of green and brown.

The first stop of our day was to the highest peak in Montseny, el Turo de l'Home, because what better place to see all the leaves from than a bird's-eye view. Our hike was definitely not as intense as it might sound, we drove to the highest point possible and then hiked the rest of the 20 minutes up. It was a good excursion for Jack and his trying-to-get-back-into-shape parents. The last time Alexis and I climbed to the peak, we were just a few weeks away from welcoming Jack into our life...so it was a bit funny to be carrying him on my back this time!

Up we go!

The view from the summit...

Let's fly!

A quick refuel...being carried around is a lot of work!

Papa?...We are awfully high aren't we?

Right before the clouds covered us all...

What we weren't expecting on our trip to the mountains was the mass of people flocking there as well for Mushroom Picking season!...a real Catalan tradition. Alexis and I have been to this park many times in the past, but have never seen so many cars parked along the road and families armed with baskets and sticks rooting around in the wilderness. We considered joining in on the fun, and even picked up a Mushroom Picking pamphlet from a guard station, but were quickly discouraged. The pamphet, although very official looking, offered only one piece of advice...do not pick or eat poisonous mushrooms. Unfortunately for us, there was no pictures or additional aids for our little side adventure so we quickly decided it was safer to buy mushrooms from our Fruteria and leave the wild ones for the locals.

After our summit hike, we headed to a nearby lake for a more relaxed walk and lunch. In the time it took to find a good picnic area by the lake, we managed to find quite a few varieties of mushrooms and decided our initial assessment was correct...we had no clue the good from the bad ones. Next fall, if we are still in Cataluna, we will definitely be going back with one of our Catalan friends.

The lake...

Watch out Papa! It's slippery!

A flat path means that Jack gets to walk!

Just some of the changing leaves...

Look at me go!

I walked all that way?

The lake turned out to be the perfect place to see autumn in action...and to let Jack stretch out his legs as well. He is well on his way to becoming an independent little walker.