Grumpy old mountain man living in Spain
A 90 minute early morning drive saw us sipping coffee in a small cafe bar in Fondón. The mountains we had come to climb were clagged in, the approach difficult under fresh snow. An impromptu vote had us heading for the blue skies and sunshine of the Sierra Nevada to the north, another 45 minute journey. Needless to say, we had a great day out hiking above the Puerto de la Ragua. Moral of the story is .. it's ok to change plans. Be flexible!
Today we've been breaking trail through fresh powder!
Erm.... the Moon
I love this time of year, a time for fireside planning of forthcoming adventures, whilst I am in good health and reasonably fit. Main trips this year hoping to be to the Pyrenees in June (backpacking 100km+, 3000 "Ibones" Lakes), Dolomites in July (Via Ferrata, Pale di San Martino) and all of November in El Chalten, Patagonia (peaks, passes and glaciers).
The Moon and Venus above my town of Lanjarón near Granada yesterday evening.
Not the best of shots as no time to set up tripod so had to be hand held unfortunately.
Today, for the first time I have had to complete a certificate (witnessed) for the DWP in the UK stating and proving that I am indeed alive and breathing 😂
Cerro Torre, 1959: One of Mountaineering’s Most Disputed Ascents
https://explorersweb.com/cerro-torre-1959-one-of-mountaineerings-most-disputed-ascents/
Oh dear, what a shame, never mind 😃 What goes around, comes around eh?
"David Sacks claims there’s ‘substantial evidence’ that DeepSeek used OpenAI’s models to train its own"
Even on the bad days it can still pay to "get out there" hiking. You never know!
Very high winds over the higher mountains today so we headed down to the Guajares Valley and hiked a circular route between Guájar-Fondón and Guajar-Faraguit, taking in the Yacimiento de Castillejo. An approaching rain storm had us hurtling downhill to escape to a nice warm bar with good beer and tapas 😄.
Good morning!
Somewhere Over the Rainbow ... lies the village of Guajar Alto. We had just ascended from Guajar-Fondon to it's impressive Castillo when the rain stopped and the sun arrived
A word of warning ... on yesterdays walk in the Sierra de los Guajares range we came across hundreds of Pine Processionary Caterpillars. Seems the warm weather had them dropping down from their cocoon nests in pine trees/shrubs. Avoid the area if you are with dogs or if you are caught unawares, keep your dogs on a lead.
Poor weather up high yesterday so we headed south to the Sierra de los Guajares range where we found warm sunshine and light winds. Starting from above the town of Molvízar we climbed steeply up to the ridge line and the Mirador del Minchar where we got stunning glimpses of fresh snows on the Sierra Nevada above 2800m.
Enshittification isn't caused by venture capital
"Many of us have left the big social media platforms; far more of us wish we could leave them; and even those of us who've escaped from Facebook/Insta and Twitter still spend a lot of time trying to figure out how to get the people we care about off of them, too."
A good read from @pluralistic
Bit of a dull day today so we headed down to the lowers reaches of the Rio Gualalfeo on its way south to the Mediterranean at Motril.
Reticulum: Unstoppable Networks for The People
Enjoyed this talk from lead developer, Mark Qvist about the interesting Network, which I have been testing recently on phones/Lora radios.
With the recent cold snap we felt a bit chilly in the house and are another year older ourselves. Decided to upgrade our pellet stove. Of course, things never go to plan in rural situations. As soon as it was installed we started having electrical problems with our solar system. Turns out not only do we need new batteries but the new stove had been intermittently shorting the system. A week later and I'm still sat in my lounge in a down jacket 🤣🤣
Can't say too much at present but during the early summer my friend, Felipe and I took part in the BBC series "Amanda and Alan's Spanish Job". This TV series will be screened weekly from 24th January. It features UK celebrities, Amanda Holden and Alan Carr, restoring an old property in the town of Moclin, just north of Granada.
More details will be released about our part in this series in due course.
The return journey involved the spectacular traverse path north of Picacho Alto 1776m to the Collado de Abantos followed by zig zag descent westwards down to meet the forest road that returned us to our cars.
Didn't see anybody on this route of 14km with 1030m of ascent and descent. Recommended.
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A few minutes away is the superb summit pyramid. A small col in a dramatic situation is the place to have a rest and admire the plunging rock scenery.
The scramble to the summit is simple but needs care. The summit itself is small and airy, just as a summit should be.
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The Corazon de la Sandia (1885m) is is one of our favorite hikes. We started an ascent yesterday in the cold morning air of the Dilar Valley. Crossing the Rio Dilar we followed the twisting gorge of the Rambla del Rio Seca for 3km then heading up a steep slope, on a faint path, directly to the col R of the peak.
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