Dagmara is a connector: she met Missy at The Ashram in California and they it hit off. She wanted Jenny and Missy to meet and encouraged us to go to The Ashram together, but this time on the Island of Mallorca, in the middle of the beautiful mediterranean sea. Sign us up!

Our first full-day hike started in the quaint and traditional village of Bunyola. These stone stairs worn with time made us think of the history of this beautiful island, settled over 1000 years ago by the Moors.

It’s still early in the morning and Jenny and Maarit respectfully stay quiet as we hike through the village of Bunyola to the nearby trailhead.

Jaclyn, Jenny, Dagmara and Missy are all smiles at the start of their 10 mile hike from Bunyola to Orient. We’re about to start our 2700 feet ascent!

You never know what you’ll happen upon when you’re hiking in the mountains.

The Serra de Tramuntana mountain range in northwest Mallorca is a UNESCO designated site. Early settlement by Arab invaders and later by Christian armies created terraced agricultural landscape on this water-starved island. The 56 mile long mountain range is a hiker’s paradise.

Dagmara and Jenny love challenging hikes and Mallorca delivers with its towering mountains. 

It’s a cool day in Mallorca but we remind ourselves to stay hydrated when we stop to take a picture.

The Ashram combines challenging hiking adventures with a detoxifying nutrition program. We’re on a nutrient-dense vegetarian menu so a mid-hike snack break consists of a handful of raisins and nuts. When you are mindful about what you eat and eat slowly with intention, you feel satisfied. 

An above ground swimming pool on the trail made us ask: is it for humans or animals? Either way, it was the perfect place to stop for a picture of the beautiful Serra de Tramuntana mountain range.  

The tiny village of Orient has a population of 30. But it has 3 restaurants to serve all of the visitors who want to visit one of the most remote villages in Mallorca. 

All smiles after finishing a 10 mile, 2700 feet elevation gain hike. 

The Cala Tuent trail requires a boat ride to a remote beach for access to the trailhead. Notice the plastic bag of freshly sliced ginger in Jenny’s hand. Chewing on ginger helps to prevent seasickness.

Mateo prepares the boat that will take us to the other side of the island to begin our hike. All of our guides were so warm and hospitable. We loved learning about Mallorca from them.

A beautiful sunny morning in the Port de Sóller! A perfect day for a hike.

Jenny is focused on the horizon, still clutching her bag of ginger slices. Seasickness is a struggle.

The beautiful cove beach of Cala Tuent was the start of our 7 mile hike. 

These cobbled steps take us further towards the towering mountains of Serra de Tramuntana.

The views from this coastal path are amazing!

The Ashram program is quite small, only 14 guests per session. Maarit lives in Sweden but is from Finland. She is an avid hiker and loves to travel. You can always find Maarit at the front of any hike.

You can see some of the hillside terraces behind Dagmara. Due to difficult access, no mechanized farming methods can be used. Olive tree harvesting is all done by hand, leading to a sweeter, milder flavor of olive oil.

A glass of zuma de naranja? Yes please! Sóller is the center of Mallorcan orange growing as the valley is in a microclimate ideally suited to the growing of oranges.

The Balitx d’Avall, a rural homestead built by the Arabs in 1200, is our rest stop. In the middle of a lush valley, this old farmhouse has now been converted into a cafe and hotel.

Our guide Marc’s family had an olive-tree grove in Mallorca and at the end of the trip, he gifted us some of his family’s freshly pressed olive oil. It was delicious!

Jeremy, a guide, helps Steven, a guest, fill up his Camelbak while glasses of freshly squeezed orange juice are laid out on the table waiting for us.

Hiking helps you to connect with people in a different way. When you’re hiking with someone, you’re on an interesting and challenging journey together. We met each other through our kids, but we really found each other on the mountains.

After our hike we were rewarded with a kayak trip around the Port of Sóller. This has become a pattern since then…Tahoe, Norway…

We loved Mateo’s sunny disposition. The guides on this trip were fantastic and shared their love of Mallorca with us. 

The day dawns on this beautiful island and we set out for Andraxt for our hike to the Sa Trapa Monastery, the longest one of our trip.

The towering peaks of the Serra de Tramuntana are bathed in sunlight.

Modern pilgrims hiking on these ancient cobbled paths to the Sa Trapa Monastery. 

This is our third hiking trip together and we love how we feel in the mountains. Hiking exercises our bodies and our mind. We both live in large cities, full of man-made environments of concrete, glass, brick, plastic, wires, signals and people. Being in nature, disconnected from things that are only a click away, turns down the internal chatter in our heads and helps us to connect with ourselves and with each other. We’re so thankful to be together in adventure!

The Balearic Sea is a commanding presence on our hike from Andraxt to the Sa Trapa Monastery.

When you’ve dug deep into your reserves to do that something extra, you realize you’re stronger than you think. We had just reached the summit when our guide tells us there is another section we can hike to reach an even higher peak with panoramic views. We’ve only had a handful of nuts to sustain us, but we went for it. It turned out to be more of a climb than a hike with steep drop offs, but we conquered it, met this view and felt re-energized. The smile and pose say it all. 

360 degree views of the Serra de Tramuntana mountains from the summit at Puig de L’Ofre. It’s not the stunning backdrop of the craggy limestone mountaintops along with the blue skies that made this one of our favorite memories from this trip, but the effort required to get here.

Safely back, comfortably resting at our rented villa in Mallorca, we realize we have a direct line view of the peak we just climbed.

Ceding the right-of-way to the Mallorcan Army on a training run. They’re carrying their training weapons and a heavy backpack of kit. 

We conquered the Pilgrim’s Trail! 2000 cobbled stone steps as part of the 8 mile hike from Sóller to the monastery at Lluc. Our guides recommended hiking in silence as a way to practice mindfulness. At first, we all thought that this would be difficult as we naturally pair off on hikes to chat. But we drifted apart and soon we realized that when you’re not thinking about what to say, you can listen to what is going on in your own head.

We carried a mandatory 2 liters of water each day and we were reminded by our guides every 20 minutes via walkie-talkies to “hydrate, hydrate, hydrate.” 

The blue waters of the Balearic Sea are stunning.

Don’t look down if you’re afraid of heights! But how could you not when the water is so mesmerizing.

The end of the Pilgrim’s Trail took us to a lookout point with breathtaking views of the Mediterranean Sea. We felt changed from challenging ourselves this week, both physically and mentally. The austere diet and early morning yoga sessions had kept our bodies nourished and our minds clear. The demanding hikes reminded us that doing hard things can lead to wonderful outcomes. We’ve squashed our doubts.

We’re in love with Mallorca! Its lush vegetation, amazing mountains, and majestic blue waters are etched in our minds. We will be back.