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Cruz de la Muela once again. This time we made it to the top. 

I found some very interesting history of the cross.

The cross is made of iron and weighs 1,200 kg.  Dimensions are 14,8 meters in height, almost 8 meters of arms, supported by a cement base of 1.60 meters.


The cross has been related to the Dominican Valencian saint Vicente Ferrer, who in a sermon, in his passage through Orihuela in 1411, could have said: "Devout Oriolans, my children, I am certain that on that high mountain dwell many demons, who with their infernal cunning will cause innumerable spiritual and temporal ruins among you.If you want to be free of them, place there the sovereign banner of the Most Holy Cross".


It is not known if the cross was originally built on land and then taken on the top of the mountain or if it was carved from a leafy olive tree on the same top. However, we must wait until 1715 tohave a reference of the first wooden cross. 


Time and man has destroyed the symbol on more than one occasion. The Blessed Oriolino Inocencio Carretero proposed in 1910 the manufacture of a large iron cross, which disappeared during the years of the civil war. In 1942 it was placed again, (of iron) until the 2nd of January in 1985 it was mysteriously cut by uncontrolled barbarians and thrown from the top.


That same year it was rebuilt by popular fervor and placed there again by an army helicopter.


--- Here ends my translation of an article in Alicante Vivo.  I wanted to leave the rich transcript of the history in the translation. It sounds so funny.

Anyway. Very interesting place. Very nice hike. We climbed to 465m above the sea level. It took us 2 hours and 40 minutes from the car to be back at the car. Coming down took us 1 hour.

The area where the cross is is kind of small and it has some steep hills looking down. I got nearly panicky. I had to fight the panic and get to a more secure ground to eat some snacks. The idea was to have some fruit next to the cross, but I just couldn't. My fear of heights tried to get the better of me. I get a little dizzy just by thinking of the surroundings now. Perhaps next time it wouldn't feel so terrible?

The view would have been better with clear sky, but it was kind of nice to be above some clouds. It wasn't windy at all, so it was nicer hiking weather than last time when we had the yellow alert for wind. Even on Friday morning there were people coming down and going up. It's clearly a popular place.

There's 3 paths to the cross. We have no idea where the other paths begin. Hubby suggested that we hike up, go down the other path to see where it goes, come back up and down to the side where our car is. I think that sounds quite ambitious.

There were some poison larvas (caterpillars) near the top. One hair of them can kill a dog, so we had to be very careful and watch the ground all the time. There were couple of close calls. I don't understand how the locals let their dogs be free near the larva areas. Yesterday I learned that the poison caterpillars can spit the poison 1m distance if they feel threatened.  

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