Up the Montgó Mountain

Check out the story of our ascent to the Montgó. The Montgó is our "little elephant", a mountain stretching from the East to the West protecting our Dénia from the scortching Southern Sun.
The Montgó has three peaks.
1. The summit itself, the CIM Montgó, at 753 m of altitude, is the closest to the sea. If you look from Dénia, it is the leftmost.
2. The summit with the remains of a fortress, possibly from the Iberian period, which was called the Eagle’s Nest.
3. The summit with cross, Creu / Cross Montgó.
The most usual climb is from Dénia’s side, from the parking in the streets of the neighbourhood of Ermita de Paré Pere (a mandatory visit afterwards).
The second path starts from Jávea’s side, near the shooting polygon / Tir.
There were three of us and what we did, was that we left our car on the Dénian side, near Pare Pere, our friend kindly agreeing to give us a lift to the other side, up the serpentine on the Dénia - Javea road.
From there we began to walk, then to go up. The ascent there is shorter and more intense. All the time you see the path, you walk along it, no climbing involved. There are only a few parts where the path goes along a drop, say, 20 meters in total.
We climbed to the top / the Cim and admired the panorama: Javea, Gorgos River Valley, Cape de San Antonio, and in good weather you could see Ibiza.
From the Cim you have two possibilities: either following the path, which descends to the Southern slope, but then you will have to climb to the Cross, you simply can’t miss the views from there!
Or, what we have done, you moving along the ridge, almost without a track, which is a slightly more complicated option. You get to the second summit, with the remains of a structure. An Iberian fortress?
And then, to the Cross! The views are magnificent! Dénia is straight below us, in the distance you see the half-moon of the Gulf of Valencia. On the left, the Denia Valley with villages here and there.
There are usually lots of people near the Cross, and there is even a book of records. We left our autographs there. And started out the descent.
It’s a long walk along the plateau, at least two kilometres, if not more.
Everywhere the paths are marked with red-and-white or yellow-and-white stripes. Please watch out for crosses or little stone pyramids showing the dead end paths. At last, the passage along the plateau ends in a descent.
Actually, maybe you have gone up here, if you have chosen the option of going up from Denian side. This descent-ascent, well, let's say, reminds going down or up a giant ladder. You may see children and even dogs going up or down. And finally there you are, a bit above the Ermita de Pare Pere, the walk is over!
We covered 10 km which took us a total of 5.5 hours, although we actually walked less than 4, stopping to admire the views, eat our sandwiches, just take a rest.
The walk is highly recommended, but you check the weather! Now, in March, most of the days are not too hot, not too cold, and it didn't rain on the 17th.
Enjoy your walk up our dear "little elephant", the Montgo!

Echa un vistazo a la historia de nuestro ascenso al Montgó.
El Montgó tiene tres picos.
1. La cumbre, la CIM Montgó, a 753 m de altitud, es la más cercana al mar.
2. La cumbre con los restos de una fortaleza.
3. La cumbre con cruz, Creu Montgó.
La subida más habitual es desde el lado de Dénia, desde el aparcamiento en las calles del barrio de Ermita de Paré Pere (visita obligatoria después).
El segundo camino parte del lado de Jávea, cerca del polígono de tiro / Tir.
Éramos tres y lo que hicimos fue dejar nuestro coche en el lado Déniano, cerca de Pare Pere, nuestro amigo accedió amablemente a llevarnos al otro lado, por la serpentina en la carretera Dénia - Javea.
Desde allí empezamos a caminar, luego a subir. El ascenso allí es más corto y más intenso.
Subimos a la Cima / La Cim y admiramos el panorama.
Desde la Cim tienes dos posibilidades: o bien siguiendo el camino, que desciende a la ladera sur, pero luego tendrás que subir a la Cruz, ¡simplemente no puedes perderte las vistas desde allí!
O, lo que hemos hecho, que se mueve a lo largo de la cresta, casi sin una pista.
Y luego, a la Cruz! Las vistas son maravillosas! Dénia está justo debajo de nosotros, a lo lejos se ve la media luna del Golfo de Valencia.
Usualmente hay mucha gente cerca de la Cruz, e incluso hay un libro de Registros. Y comenzó el descenso. Es un paseo a lo largo de la meseta, al menos dos kilómetros. En todas partes los caminos están marcados con rayas rojas y blancas o amarillas y blancas. Por favor, tenga cuidado con las cruces o pequeñas pirámides de piedra que muestran los caminos sin salida.
Cubrimos 10 km que nos llevó un total de 5,5 horas, aunque en realidad caminamos menos de 4, deteniéndonos a admirar las vistas, comer nuestros sándwiches, tomar un descanso.
El paseo es muy recomendable, pero se comprueba el tiempo!
Disfrute de su paseo por nuestro querido El Montgó!