Micro Blog

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

#Hiking #Backpacking #Walking #Mountains #Spain #Photography #Outdoors #Andalucia #night #nightphotography #stars

Last nights view southwards past the slopes of Tozal del Cartujo.

#SierraNevada #Spain #nightphotography #night #stars #milkyway #camping #backpacking

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?

#history #writing

I enjoyed this scramble so much I decided to write a blog post

https://elperronegro.com/posts/2025-08-11-scrambling-campanitas-ridge-sierra-nevada/

#Hiking #Scrambles #Scrambling #Walking #Mountains #Spain #Outdoors #Andalucia #adventure

2/2 Then its glorious scrambling to the exit of the Canuto Norte del Veleta. From here the Fidel Fierro route to the summit is taken, care needed on the broken rock walls.

The climb finishes on the very summit of Veleta. Yesterday our group (average age 65+!) reached the summit to the bemused stares of groups of younger hikers who had walked up to the summit.

A superb day scramble for the adventurous.

#Scrambling # Mountaineering #Mountains #Spain #Landscape #LandscapePhotography #Outdoors

1/2 The "Arista de las Campanitas" from Cerro los Machos to the summit of Veleta is a superb scramble with an alpine nature. We did this in the hot sun, the ridge never falling below 3000m.

Grading wise, a grade 3S scramble but there are some very exposed sections and some short rock climbing 3 sections.

It passes over the easily scrambled, though sharp, ridge of Zacatin 3327m before arriving at the crux section, the ascent of the Campanario pinnacle 3328m. Rope could be useful here.

So, I was climbing up this steep rock slab a few days ago and out of a small cave in the rock above me appeared this Iberian Ibex (Cabra Montes). They are usually quite timid but this one stood his ground as I climbed around him. Probably protecting his "home" from alien invaders 😀

#nature #animals #spain #goats #naturephotography

Thanks to @adele for opening the door to the Gemini Protocol again for me. I dabbled with Gemini back in 2021 but am returning to it now after a 4 year break and after seeing how our "normal" internet is rapidly disappearing into the "enshittification" mire (Mastodon excepted!).

Time again for a quiet place to connect with the interesting people of Gemini.

#geminiprotocol

gemini://elperronegro.pollux.casa/

Want to create a gemini capsule, but do not want to manage a server contact @adele

Incredibly hot between 3000-3400 meters yesterday in the Sierra Nevada. No wind & a scorching sun beating down all day. No shade nor escape from the heat.

Not really the day for 6 of us (average age 65+ 😀 ) to go scrambling around on narrow ridges. Anyway we enjoyed it, especially the bit where we pulled up and over onto the very summit of Veleta to the obvious astonishment of the groups of young people who had walked up.

Don't often find videos of me playing about on the rocks but here's one.

Dropping down into the hugely impressive amphitheater of the Corral del Veleta yesterday. I never fail to be impressed by the scale of these huge rock walls.

The Coral de Veleta was the site of the last glacier in Spain's Sierra Nevada range. In fact technically it is still a glacier, a "rock glacier" meaning permafrost lies below the surface.

Worth a visit!

#Hiking #Backpacking #Walking #Mountains #Spain #Photography #Landscape #LandscapePhotography #Outdoors #Andalucia

You can't fight enshittification (Cory Doctorow)

https://pluralistic.net/2025/07/31/unsatisfying-answers/#systemic-problems

Anybody ask me for age verification and I'm outta there. Same as I delete accounts that ask me for facial ID (apart from my bank).

What a day! Trekked up the stunning Rio Durcal, navigated narrow acequias, and braved the refreshing plunge into the river to reach the breathtaking Cascadas de los Bolos—where some of us couldn’t resist a swim. This is magnificent gorge scenery!

#Hiking #Walking #Mountains #Spain #Landscape #Outdoors #WaterfallWednesday #waterfall

I didn't enjoy my time on Aconcagua way back in the late 1990s. Far too crowded and commercial. Always had an inkling to go to Ojos de Salado instead, a few metres less high but much more remote and quiet. It never happened, unfortunately. Anyway, here's a film of a recent ascent by the very talented Harmen Hoek, which confirms that my assumptions about Ojos de Salado would have been correct. Looks a marvellous peak. Well worth watching for the stunning photography.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2uZTgmz0jrs

Huby Methodist Chapel, founded 1889, is on the corner of Strait Lane in the small Yorkshire hamlet of Huby. The chapel contains a stained glass window memorial dedicated to 7 soldiers who died during the First World War (1914–18) and a brass plaque memorial is dedicated to a further 6 soldiers from the Second World War (1939–1945)

#churches #photography #blackandwhite

I'm in the UK for a few days. Country walk today in the Washburn valley north of Leeds/Otley. Came across an old, somewhat neglected church at Huby with ancient, leaning headstones interspersed with overgrown vegetation. Thought it looked very gothic in black and white

#churches #blackandwhite #photography

Some more photos from yesterdays scrambling route on Tajos de la Virgen ridge, Sierra Nevada. Not especially difficult but utterly engaging and interesting high level hike/scramble

#Hiking #Backpacking #Walking #Mountains #Spain #Photography #Landscape #LandscapePhotography #Outdoors #Andalucia

Classic Sierra Nevada adventure! 🏔️

Yesterday’s high-level romp along the Tajos de la Virgen ridge delivered everything you’d want from a mountain day - thrilling Grade 1 scrambling, breathtaking distant views, and that unbeatable alpine buzz. A true gem of a route! ⛰️✨

#Hiking #Backpacking #Walking #Mountains #Spain #Photography #Landscape #LandscapePhotography #Outdoors #Andalucia

I started reading "Privacy is Power" by Carissa Véliz last night. Although I have been onboard with the concept for quite a few years now, the scale of the deception is still incredible. Looks to be a very well written and readable book for anyone interested and concerned about surveillance capitalism.

#privacy #books #reading #surveillance #bigbrother