Been a bit out of my comfort zone today. Instead of hills and mountains I've had to do a cultural tour showing a lovely couple around my local home town of Lanjarón in the Alpujarras. So its the Arabic influence with "acequias", history and castles mixing with the Christian architecture, churches and traditions. Turns out, I live in a very varied and interesting place 🤣
Notes – 2025 (275)
Been playing with CursorAI today. Believe they call it . No doubt however that it's remarkably fast at turning ideas into websites.
Here's my new website announcing the arrival of NomadNet, a mesh for the Alpujarras, Spain.
Been a hobby for a while but basically I've got sick of talking to myself each day 🤣 .
The network has now a sound base and I've plans for further repeater expansion. Hopefully others might be interested too?
2/ Casilla de Agua - Peñon de Granada - Rambla del Durcal Sierra Nevada
The Rambla del Durcal area is amazing with stunning scenery more akin to Utah or New Mexico than southern Spain. Some rough hiking to be found here, it's all steep and loose apart from the valley floor of the Rambla itself.
1/ Casilla de Agua - Peñon de Granada - Rambla del Durcal Sierra Nevada
Yesterday we explored the hills east of Durcal. A tough 800m of initial ascent made much easier by an unrelenting but well graded track that zig-zagged up the hill.
We made our way through the forested back country near the Peñon de Granada and then proceeded down dirt tracks to drop into Rambla del Durcal.
For some reason I've not heard of the material, Polycryo until a few weeks ago. Some good reviews though so I just bought a Gossamer Gear Polycryo groundsheet. Tough, lightweight and relatively cheap. What's not to like?
https://sectionhiker.com/gossamer-gear-polycryo-ground-cloths-review/
There's a village down there after all. Nice to have the first rains, since seemingly forever, today. Lanjarón, Alpujarras
Cats are funny things aren't they? This is Sweep who this morning decided to open an old wardrobe full of smelly hiking gear and aged boots and settle down for a morning nap. Gave me a right start when I opened the door 🤣
Repeater set up on roof. Contains a Heltec T114 low power consumption development board based on nRF52840 and SX1262 and supports and bluetooth 5.0. Has powerful long-distance capabilities.
Made weatherproof using an old water bottle. Attached using cable ties and a rusty pocket knife 🤣
Attached to a 4w solar panel with 2000 mAh battery charger (IP65)
1/ Over the years we must have had over a hundred days walking and scrambling in the Sierra de Huetor just north of Granada. Yesterday, though we filled in the final piece of our Sierra de Huetor jigsaw!
Got lots of ripe tomatoes donated by a friend that need something doing to them quickly. Passata Rustica it is then, flavoured with basil from the garden. Simple, quick and very tasty.
Continuing quest for de-googling & less reliance on big-tech ... just bought a refurbished OnePlus 6 from Ebay (75€). No SIM, it is after all just a small computer. WiFi or hotspot for connections. Flashed LineageOS (de-Googled Android). Installed FDroid & a few necessary apps/PWAs from there ... Proton, Tuta, Element, Jerboa (Lemmy) & of course Mastodon. Turned off notifications. Zero bloat.
Used it for 6 hours navigation in the hills yesterday using CoMaps & location on. Battery 91%. Result
Hiked down the San Juan valley in the Sierra Nevada yesterday. Surprised to find the waterfall at Piedra Resbaladiza still flowing quite well even towards the end of a long, hot, Spanish summer.
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
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
