El Perro Negro

Grumpy old mountain man living in Spain

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Since Dec 2022 we have been running our own Mastodon & GoToSocial servers. What a breath of fresh air the Fediverse has been. We have made many hundreds of new friends from around the world, mostly related to our mountain, tech and nature interests.

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Snowshoeing Picos de Europa. Day 2. Beautiful day again today. Headed for the hills and forests around the high road pass at Puerto San Glorio. Glorious snow conditions. Maybe change in weather for tomorrow? Some phone photos attached.

A person in snowshoes with two dogs walks across a snow slope. There are three people up ahead in the distance. The sun shines out of a blue sky with a few clouds

A snowy trail leads off into the distance with a few shrubs either side if the trail

A person in blue with two dogs enjoys a snowy trail. Ahead lie a range of mountains covered in snow and ice. Blue sky above

Snowshoeing in the Picos de Europa. Day 1. Perfect snow conditions. From Fuente De cable car station we needed snowshoes until we returned 6 hours later. Ascended to Colladina de las Nieves and up the peak of Padiorna (2314m). Only saw two other people on our route. Legs tired but ... just wonderful!

A person dressed in blue and in snowshoes is surrounded by snow and rugged high mountains. Blue sky above

A person dressed in blue and in snowshoes is surrounded by snow and rugged high mountains. Blue sky above

A person dressed in blue and in snowshoes is surrounded by snow and rugged high mountains. Blue sky above

Visited the quaint, medieval town of Santillana del Mar today in Cantabria. The town is famous for its three lies ...

  1. It's not by the Sea!
  2. It's not flat!
  3. It's definitely not saintly!

A narrow cobbled mediaeval street in northern Spain with olde worldly shops

Peering through a broken fence to reveal a hidden green garden

A narrow cobbled mediaeval street in northern Spain with olde worldly shops

Although my diet is primarily plant based food, sometimes I wake up in a morning and ... well, you've just got to do it don't you? :sablobsmilehappy:

A plate of typical engligh breakfast food. Egg, bacon, tomato, mushroom, beans and sausage

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I always get excited packing for a trip. Next week we are heading to the winter Picos de Europa mountain range in the north of Spain. They have just had mega snowfalls and more is to come this weekend, so we are looking forward to the snowshoeing and winter hiking/mountaineering to be had. I was there last autumn and the mountain scenery just blew me away.

packstack.io has been really helpful in getting hold baggage and carry on bags organised with the gear. Impressed!

A pair of blue snowshoes with red bindings

After negotiating our way through the narrow streets of Molvizar we headed steeply uphill in a tough, hour long, battle against the strong winds. That all changed when we started the traverse to the Mirador de Las Minas and Mirador el Nacimiento. Lovely warm sunshine and light winds. We ate lunch looking out over the Mediterranean Sea before heading south to a welcoming cold beer back in the town.

A group of hikers wander along a trail. In front of them lies the Mediterranean sea with a couple of ships on it.

A pair of feet look out over an expansive view of green hills and towns. The Mediterranean Sea lies in the distance

Hikers in the lower part of the image pass through green shrubbery. Above lies some steep yellowish rock cliffs and escarpments

A group of tired hikers enjoys a cool beer outside a small town bar

Today, I'm trying out "Packstack", a packing list builder for backpackers. Get a detailed, categorized weight breakdown of everything in your pack. Quite impressed so far.

You can track all your trail equipment and input details such as weight, manufacturer info etc. Additionally, you can categorize your gear to keep things organized.

I was able to import a packing list from Lighterpack. Easy to adjust. So far so good.

https://www.packstack.io/

A tiring but worthwhile day today watering our olive trees the old way by flooding the land via the ancient system of irrigation channels. Fulfilling!

A water channel winds it way between olive trees on a grassy green terrace

Water drops over from one terrace to another. The lower water channel winds it way between olive trees on a grassy green terrace

A water channel winds it way between olive trees on a grassy green terrace

A water channel winds it way between olive trees on a grassy green terrace

Came across a strange phenomenon that I haven't seen in 25 years of coming to the Sierra Nevada. Last weeks overnight snowfall was followed by days of sun, heat and high humidity. This caused streams to overflow and carry blocks of snow/ice downstream resulting in avalanche like debris surrounding stream beds. Strange to see avalanche-like debris on very easy angled or even flat slopes.

A stream bed has avalanched leaving blocks of snow above

Blocks of snow remain on a level snow covered plateau. Blue sky above

Large blocks of snow/ice have been moved downstream by overflowing streams

A few images from the Tajos Campanario ridge in Spain's Sierra Nevada today. Some hard neve on sheltered slopes made for a great crampon ascent. By the time we came to the steep descent gully the snow had softened a touch to give a quick descent to the upper San Juan valley. Memorable views throughout.

The magnificent north west face of Alcazaba (3350m) with a mountaineer in orange jacket in the foreground.

A group of mountaineering at the bottom of the image contemplate their way along the the snowy ridge ahead. Some big drops and high mountains to the left

Four mountaineers dressed in colorful clothing make their way across some snow. Ahead lies a ridge leading to a jagged mountain

Been out in the high mountains of the Sierra Nevada with this lot today. A superb day with great snow conditions. Photos later when I have been fed 🤣

Five happy, smiling faces wearing helmets, are enjoying their day out in the snowy mountains

Day 1 we arrive at the place where we hope to see the rarest cat in the world, the Iberian Lynx. Immediately Mick spots a lynx. We pour excitedly out of the car, grabbing binoculars & cameras. 1st attempt at a photo fails because I've left lens cap on. 2nd fails as the camera settings all wrong. Managed to get photo just as the lynx ... is heading into a bushy area never to re-emerge. Doh! Anyway, here is a photo of the arse end of a lynx 🤣🤣🤣

The rear end of an Iberian Lynx is sticking out of a green bushy area

I'm here in the middle of nowhere in the mountains of the Sierra de Andujar north of Bailen. Hoping to see Lynx in the wild tomorrow. Fingers crossed 🤞

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There's a spark inside all of us that makes us want to explore. To go to places others don't. Fill in blanks on a map. It was definitely there with early explorers, climbers conquering un-climbed peaks and pioneers crossing vast lands. That spark, not always be active, remains within all of us.

During our recent hike in the amazing "Desierto de Gorafe" badlands, just north of Guadix, that spark ignited once again amongst our ageing group.

https://elperronegro.com/posts/2024-02-09-hiking-badlands-gorafe/

If I ask Graeme, my fellow hiking buddy, to go stand on the edge of a huge drop, he always does, bless him. He is my go-to poseur when I need a bit of scale in photos. One day I will make an album of "Graeme" images. Here is a photo of Graeme in the badlands of the Gorafe Desert 😄. Cheers mate!

An isolated hiker stands in the top left of the photo. below and to the right is a huge drop into a twisted and tortured desert badlands terrain