El Perro Negro

Grumpy old mountain man living in Spain

Social-Feed

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.

Connect with me/us on the Fediverse at:

Entertaining hike yesterday following a circular trail up the peak of Peñabon 2000m, overlooking Trevélez. Beautiful vistas to the Sierra Nevada.

Trevélez is one of the highest villages in Spain and is known for it's air-cured hams, a speciality throughout the Alpujarras but particularly associated with the village, because the dry climate due to its altitude makes for ideal conditions.

A person stands on a high trail in shadow to the left. To the right are deep valleys with snow covered mountains behind

A herd of cows sits on a small grassy plateau to the right. Behind are valleys and snow covered mountain slopes

Some hikers pass along a rough mountain track. Ahead lies the summit of Peñabon, the objective

Looking down on the white village of Trevelez. In the foreground is a bush of bright yellow flowers. Behind the village steep slopes lead to mountain snows

Beautiful hike yesterday. View from the top. Images to follow

View

We'll, well, well. Cordoba, just round the corner. Who'd have thought. Amazing how they can identify and date a 2200 year old elephant bone.

A bone from one of the elephants that Hannibal left behind in southern Spain before his epic invasion of Italy has turned up near the city of Córdoba.

https://explorersweb.com/elephant-bone-from-hannibals-army-found-in-spain/

View

What an absolutely cracking day. Couldn't ask for better mountain conditions. Testing our lightweight Petzl Leopard crampons ready for a late spring visit to the Pyrenees. How did they do? Well, they didn't fall off 🤣. They were fine and confidence was built.

View

Always nice to discover a new hiking area, especially after 24 years. Yesterday we did a circular walk around the hills surrounding the village of Lagos near Motril, on the southern slopes of the Sierra de Lujar range. Sunny with no wind so felt like spring had arrived with temps up to 23C.

A person in red stands on a rock looking down to the small village of Lagos

Three people sit eating lunch on the side of a mountain

A group of hikers traverse a hillside on a trail  leading into a small gorge.

At stake is the question of when personal judgement and risk-taking become a matter of criminal liability. If the climber is found guilty it could mean "a paradigm shift for mountain sports", says Austria's Der Standard newspaper.

And a guilty verdict could also have implications for other mountain climbers, and how much they could be liable for their companions in the future.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c5yv9plyjgpo

T-shirt and shorts day today for me in the hills overlooking the Med. Nice to feel that warm sun on your back.

View

April showers and its only February! Another threatening wet weather spell inbound to the Alpujarra

A small town lies on a plateau to the right. Below are green hills. At the back can be seen an incoming weather front with sun trying to come weakly through the dark clouds

In 24 years I have never seen the river like this. Destruction all over

View

Hair stylist @khusky 🤣

View

I used to be a big fan. Not now. 5 years ago I became sick of the corruption and dual standards. Never watched another race. But, an annual highlight for me in the mid 2010s was a visit to nearby Jerez to see the pre season testing.

A chance to get up close and personal to these machines hurtling past. Used to make the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. Ground entry for the day only €10 too and, a chance to drink lots of fine sherry in the evenings 😂 Good times.

A red Ferrari F1 racing car coming down a race track. Green trees behind.

A F1 racing car takes a corner at Jerez racetrack, Spain.