Cerro Torre Winter Solo - Colin Haley
Wonderful report from one of the world's leading mountaineers on probably the toughest winter mountain to solo climb. Respect
Notes (1046)
Another hot day so we settled for an early start and a short hike to the magnificent viewpoint of Coros (1305m) in the Sierra de Grazalama mountains via Puerto de las Palomas. Great scenery 360° views. Must come back in the winter.
Loads of vultures overhead probably looking at us as a prospective next meal 😆. Think @khusky may have some incredible images in due course.
Deserted Spanish street in the hot afternoon sun. Montejaque, Ronda
Tough hike in the mountains south of Montejaque (Ronda) today because of the high afternoon temps. Superb views though with plenty of Griffon Vultures passing overhead, probably eyeing us out as a likely evening meal? Some steep pathless descents added interest. Must come back. In the winter!
Today a visit to the northern sector of the stunning Sierra de las Nieves. Circular hike from the village of El Burgo. Enjoyed it. Tomorrow we head into the Sierra de Grazalama mountains
Quiet serene river waters reflect the surrounding vegetation and trees. Patches of sunlight filter through
The banks of the Rio Guadalfeo during our dog walk today. This river quietly makes it's way to the sea at Salobreña in the Costa Tropical.
Love the final line of this article
"You finish reading "This Is for Everyone" wishing that somehow the Cleggs and Zuckerbergs of this world would vanish, and that Facebook and the rest of social media could be run by Berners-Lee – who would immediately give them away to the users, because he really does believe that this is for everyone."
1/ "Ruta Nocturna - Sierra Nevada"
Started with a 6pm bus uplift to los Posiciones del Veleta. Hiked to Col de Carihuela and hence to our dinner/sunset viewpoint on top of Loma Pua at just over 3200m. Amazing location with views in all directions
Inside This Clay Jug by Kabir
Inside this clay jug there are canyons and pine mountains, and the maker of canyons and pine mountains! All seven oceans are inside, and hundreds of millions of stars.
Last night
The Internet of Consent
Click “I agree” to continue. You didn’t click it, though. Or maybe you did? I don’t know, it doesn’t matter
The GPS on this cheap, small, lightweight Lilygo T-Deck Plus running is very accurate (screen shows connected to 12 satellites). Battery lasts for ages just using the map facility (not the radio ). You need to download the map tiles and map format you wish separately. Might use it up in the mountains this week during our night hike (will have backup 😀 )
Next week 6 of us are planning a "Ruta Nocturnal", a 26km night crossing of Spain's Sierra Nevada from Pradollano in the NW to Capileira in the SE. Most of the route will be above 3000m altitude with a big descent of nearly 2000m. Highlights to include dinner with wine at the Col de Carihuela 😆, whilst watching the sunset & of course the tranquillity & beauty of hiking under the stars. Should be fun. Hoping for a dry & clear night.
This pm I took a huge gamble. I installed PostmarketOS, a mobile linux distribution, on my OnePlus6. It's buggy but I wanted to have a play around. Very easy to install via their web flasher.
Unfortunately, it's very buggy. Not many usable apps yet for my purposes. After playing around though & investigating I realised that I could install Waydroid. Game changer as Waydroid installs a LineageOS container within PostmarketOS. That way I had access to all my normal apps via F-Droid. Result!
It's always a bit of a heart stopping moment for me when you use ADB tools etc to flash a new OS onto an old phone. Will it work? Will I brick it?
Anyway managed to flash LineageOS onto an old OnePlus6 this morning. It's like having a new phone and a de-Googled one at that. Satisfying!
Cool day on Veleta yesterday!
Took the classic Paco Pepe route (4+) but decided to spice things up. After 1st 4 pitches, traversed R along the narrow & exposed Paso de Lagarto to the Variante Silvia (5) for 2 spectacular & sustained finishing pitches
Needed help from the rope at top of the crux which verges on 5+ for few meters. Thankfully Felipe there to assist. Will come back & try to climb 100% next summer. Training on arm strength is required!
1/2
Wandering into the Sierra Nevada's Forgotten Zone - A few days ago I had a wonderful overnight trip into a quiet and remote corner of Spain's Sierra Nevada. The access areas were busy but once clear of them, despite the August bank holiday, we didn't see anybody on the trails for 16 hours
https://elperronegro.com/posts/2025-08-16-wandering-forgotten-zone-sierra-nevada/
A few more night shots from our backpacking trip a few nights ago. Night photography is a bit new for me but I enjoyed the experience and will certainly try some more
Last nights view southwards past the slopes of Tozal del Cartujo.
About to head up into the mountains. Camping next to a lake in the cool air at nearly 3000 metres, under the stars, sounds attractive.
Heading against the grain as all the day trippers will be leaving the mountains as we enter them. Again, tomorrow morning we shall be leaving as they arrive. Sounds good to me.
Whilst in the UK last month my brothers & I came across an old leather case of my fathers. It contained hundreds of letters sent between him & my mother. It's a treasure trove!
Here is an extract written by him to my mother from his Royal Navy ship, HMS Glasgow on 24th February 1946. I particularly like the formality & style of writing.
Makes me wonder about the digital legacy we eventually shall leave behind. How interesting or searchable & discoverable will that be?
