Chucking it down at Passo Valles. Storms. Not a time to be playing about on iron cables and ladders! Staying here and hoping things clear up tomorrow
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Dolomites Alta Via 2 day 6
Passo San Pellegrino to Passo Valles
Short rest day today so a lie in, leisurely breakfast & a 6km stroll to our overnight refuge. Just arrived at midday when the heavens opened & an incredible rain and hail storm erupted. What luck we had not been caught out.
Now tucking into "gnocchi con ricotta affumicata" (delicate potato dumplings with smoked cheese)
Photos from our approach walk to the Pale di San Martino range
All during the long afternoon descent from the pass at Forca Rossa these jagged mountains were in view. They are our next challenge to cross. Much more technical evidently. They look it!
5 days on the trot are beginning to tell. Thankfully as we are near the half way point we have built in 2 half days for the next section to the Rifugio Mulaz.
Looking forward to a short break to let the legs and lungs recover.
Dolomites Alta Via 2 day 5
Rifugio Castiglioni Marmolada to Passo San Pellegrino. 14km, 1000+m ascent.
Very tough day ascending through the humid, oppressive pine forests near Malga to the pass at Forca Rossa. Then nice descent through colourful alpine meadows lined with wild flowers to San Pellegrino.
I'm finding the bedroom via ferratas much more dangerous and exposed than the mountain ones 🤣
Dolomites Alta Via 2 day 4
Rifugio Pisciadu - Rifugio Castiglioni Marmolada
Threat of afternoon thunderstorms had us leaving refuge early at 6am. Had these glorious mountains to ourselves as we climbed steep snowfields & scrambled along cable assisted passages. We crossed over the alti plano, lunar landscape of the Sella Group to drop down to the busy road pass at Passo Pordoi and onto our overnight stay at the base of the magnificent Marmolada.
Some photos taken by a friend from today's trip between the Rifugio Puez and the Rifugio Pisciadu on the Alta Via 2
Dolomites Alta Via 2 day 3
Rifugio Puez to Rifugio Pisciadu
Another tough day of startling contrasts. From the beautiful early morning departure and excellent traverse to the dramatic Cir pinnacles to the crowded mass of noisy humanity at Passo Gardena.
The final 450m climb up the gully (Val Setus) to the refuge was as expected, very gnarly with cables assisting uplift in the upper section. Stunning scenery though.
Dolomites Alta Via 2 day 2
Rifugio Genova to Rifugio Puez today. An exciting and interesting day travelling 11 km with 900 m ascent/descent. Up and over steep passes, stunning views and the added interest of mid morning coffee stop in a beautifully situated refuge and an optional via ferrata along the route, that we loved.
Wild flowers galore, chirping marmots, dramatic scenery. A tough day certainly but extremely rewarding.
Dolomites Alta Via 2 day 1- Tough first day on the trail. Bressanone to the Prose Hutte and then onto Rifugio Genova. 16 km and over 1100m ascent. Enjoyed the spectacular scenery and the apple strudel lunch. Didn't enjoy the post lunch brutal ascent that eventually led to the lovely Rifugio Genova.
An extremely frustrating day of tiring travel on crowded trains with many changes and much confusion. But, we've ended the day with some cold beers and tasty pizza in the lovely south Tirol town of Bressanone/Brixen. Tomorrow we head into the mountains for 13 days on the long distance Alta Via 2 trail. Its going to be tough. It will stretch me to the limit and who knows what adventures are just around the corner.
Although Italian in many ways is so similar to Spanish I am really struggling to convey a sentence in Italian without adding in the odd Spanish filler word. Its automatic, I can't stop it! The result is a Spanish/Italian mix that confuses everybody. Fun though 🤣🤣🤣
Benvenuti a Treviso, Italia 🤣
Treviso airport - thunderstorms in the Dolomites to the north
Just taken delivery of a new lightweight harness in preparation for the Dolomites. Replacing my Black Diamond Couloir harness (240 grams) with a Camp Alp Race (68 grams)! Said to be the lightest harness in the world! Extremely compact, it folds down inside a special case to the size of a wallet. Should be fine for low grade via ferratas that I am likely to meet.
Short (44 secs) video of the Barranco de la Luna hike today before I dropped my video camera into the water whilst clambering down some rock steps 😱. Camera is now resting in a bowl of rice 😂
An early start today to walk the stunning Barranco de la Luna at Saleres before it got busy. Justifiably popular, an early start rewards with quiet and dramatic gorge scenery. Only problem is that it is quite short and leaves you wanting more.
We start the long distance trek Alta Via 2 in the Italian Dolomites soon. Conflicting reports over whether its necessary to take Via Ferrata gear which weighs nearly 1kg (helmet, harness, lanyard). Desperately trying to reduce pack weight & I feel confident about doing the route without safety gear BUT I couldn't then take advantage of interesting Via Ferrata alternatives met on the way .
Choice is a balance of Weight v Safety v Interest?
An interesting conundrum.
FB blocked my blog post about camping in the mountains, citing that it didn't meet "community standards"! 😱 What? You've got to be joking. A genuine attempt to write real content, not AI, no adverts, no bad language, no politics, no affiliated links & not even one link to my own business. Real content, hoping to assist others & written by a human, well me 🤣. Well **** you FB. Thank goodness for the Fediverse, a drop of sanity in an ocean of madness.
Time to leave FB for good methinks.
I wrote this for a friend of mine who is interested in preparing an overnight camp in the mountains but is a bit wary of the weight to be carried. This is to encourage her and give her a place to start the journey of what to bring and what to pack. I then thought I would share it with you here on my blog in case it assisted anybody else.
https://elperronegro.com/posts/2024-06-26-lightweight-backpacking-gear/
1/2 Sometimes when we head into the mountains, things don't always go according to plan. Yesterday, we ran into some tough challenges on a trail that was overgrown with waist high, spiky shrubs, leaving us with some bruises and cuts on our legs. To escape this, we decided to veer off the trail and make our way directly uphill to a ridge line further away.
#hiking #mountains #Spain #SierraNevada #landscape #landscapephotography
Last night, as part of the annual fiesta we had the "Noche de Agua", the world's biggest water fight. An hour of mayhem that finishes at 1am and is followed by hours of partying in the town. Exciting, vibrant and uniquely Spanish!
After living here 22 years though, and not getting any younger, @khusky and I had a few glasses of wine before retiring early with a good book 🤣
A successful afternoon. This might not seem much, to you tech wizards out there in the Fediverse, but I managed to get my first containers (docker) working on my Synology NAS.
I now have a Hiking Trail database (Wanderer) and Recipe database (Mealie) working locally.
The view from our "dinner table" (a flat rock surrounded by soft grasses) a few nights ago as the sun started to set. All we could hear was the sound of the cascading waters of the Rio Lanjarón. Ahead and to the right is the Cerro de Caballo.
#Spain #hiking #backpacking #landscape #landscapephotography #photography #sunrise #SierraNevada
Morning light on Cerro de Caballo (3009m) reflected perfectly in the small lake by Laguna de Nájera as we get ready to strike camp
#Spain #hiking #backpacking #landscape #landscapephotography #photography #sunrise #SierraNevada
A marvelous 2 day backpacking trek into the upper reaches of the Lanjarón Valley in Spain's Sierra Nevada mountains. Still lots of snow which form tunnels through which the river flows. Beautiful scenery of mountains, rivers, wildflowers and a feeling of remoteness.The trek is 26km in total with 1500 metres ascent/descent.
Video 3:52
Did I tell you I like snow tunnels?
This image from the upper Lanjaron Valley a couple of days ago
#snow #river #hiking #spain #SierraNevada #spring #springtime
All packed up & ready for tomorrow's jaunt up the 15km Rio Lanjaron valley & reaching the Laguna de Lanjaron at 3000m tomorrow pm. Returning following day via the Verea Corta & lagunas at Bolanos, Cuadrado & Caballo. Maybe summiting Cerro de Caballo along the way? Taking spikes as I have heard some trails still affected by hard snow in the mornings.
Pack weight is 5kg + 1.5kg consumables and 0.7kg camera equipment.
#hiking #backpacking #Spain #andalucia #mountains #trekking #SierraNevada
Our trusty sun/solar oven at work early this morning. A dhal curry is gently going to cook for hours during the day.
We bought this oven some 15+ years ago and its given excellent service. Anybody with some DIY skills could make this (I have none!). Its relatively simple, a black box with a parabolic aluminium shield. A very efficient, free energy resource.
Been messing about trying to convert some very old outdated/unused mobile phones to be used as GPS devices in the hills. Might as well get some value from them, yes?
BQ Aquarius 4.5 running Ubuntu Touch OS - big fail. Bricked it :sablobsmilehappy:
OnePlus 3 running e/os/ (Android) - big fail at loading Lineage OS until I luckily hit the right combination of recovery buttons that led to a complete restart of e/os/. Now functioning well just as a standalone GPS device using OSMAnd+ for mapping
The weather forecasts said rain/storms from early morning throughout the day. I was somewhat suspect as the norm this time of year is for cloud build up mid-afternoon and maybe some thunderstorms late afternoon. Anyway I heeded their warning so today we changed venue from high mountain to low mountain. We hiked in the Forests of the Cumbres Verdes with an easy escape available.
Anyway we had a lovely walk. Here's a 2 minute video of the hike.
I've joined a Peertube instance to produce a series of short hiking and mountain videos of my travels through southern Spain.
As a bit of a test today, I filmed our regular morning dog walk. Please bear with me, I have recently acquired a DJI Pocket 2 and it is all a bit new.
I intend for the videos to be either "Silent" or with easy listening music, no narrative. I'm probably not that natural a speaker anyway and the landscapes should do the talking, not me! 😀
Trumpet Gentian found on a hillside at 2500m in the Sierra Nevada a few days ago. Proper name I think is Gentiana alpina (or Southern gentian)
I've upgraded our Petzl Via Ferrata lanyards in preparation for our forthcoming July trip to the Dolomites. These "Scorpio Vertigos" weigh only 380 each (+ pully) so are quite a weight saving on the previous models which we have.
There are more and more Via Ferratas popping up here in Andalucia so the old kits will still be well utilised.
Yesterdays early morning start from our bivouac site had us ascending using an easy snow staircase that led up 400 meters to the ridge line. We arrived to meet the sun and walk the high ridges southwards, going up Cerro de Caballo, before dropping steeply back down to the car. By lunchtime, a couple of hours later, we were enjoying a cold beer in Lanjarón.
An excellent two days that will live long in the memory.
#Spain #Backpacking #Hiking #Mountains #Landscape #landscapephotography
First light reaches the mountains of the Alayos del Dilar group with Corazon de la Sandia prominent. Behind the outskirts of the city of Granada.
#mountains #granada #spain #light #landscape #landscapephotography
What a morning! This was our view when the suns rays reached us yesterday morning after a 2 hour ascent through the dawns shadows. In front of us the magnificent Cerro de Caballo, Europe's most southerly and westerly 3000m peak.
There is much more snow here this June than I can remember from previous years. All good news for this summers irrigation supplies in the Alpujarras
#Spain #Hiking #Snow #Mountains #landscape #landscapephotography #SierraNevada #Backpacking
What a magnificent setting for last nights bivouac. A small lake surrounded by crags and snow slopes. It's grassy banks were filled with bright blue "trumpet gentian" flowers and the noise of busy insects filled the air. Waterfalls gushed over the lip of the corrie as the sun set over Granada city, some 2200 meters below.
Spread my ashes there when I pass on please!
Our Crux Raid single skin, 4 season tent is a bit of a tight fit for 2 people, but is so easy to put up and the most reliable mountain companion. Not the best for expeditions where space on bad days would be preferable, but perfect for overnight, lightweight excursions into the mountains
Our first sight of overnight camp last night, a small, well hidden lake (Laguna Carnero) nestled amongst crags.
"Don't Pack A Halfie"! Been transferring half empty gas cannisters to top up my small ones. Really works well using the Flip Fuel from https://flipfuel.co
Good way to conserve weight and redistribute gas for camping
I love packing for an overnight mountain camp. Decisions have to be made regarding expected weather, temperatures and underfoot conditions. Hopefully I've got this one about right? Up tomorrow into the Sierras to camp by a hidden lake, back Tuesday after summiting a couple of 3000m peaks. Weight about 5kg + water + camera equipment
Overnight clouds beginning to clear this morning. Lanjarón, Granada, Spain
Did the very entertaining Via Ferrata at Castala yesterday with Dexter and Felipe. Ladders, walkways, balance bar, Tyrolean traverses, wire bridges, pendulums. Also 2 abseils - 18m and 30m. Lots of fun in the afternoon shade near Berja. Well worth a visit!
Some of the beautiful wild flowers that lined the sides of streams that were gushing with the spring snow melt from the high Sierra Nevada. Height approx 2300-2500m. Wildflower names in description/alt text
Such beauty yesterday on the western side of Spain's Sierra Nevada mountains. Running waters, colorful endemic wild flowers, snowfields, distant views and a "big country" feel. And, no others around. I knew my fellow hikers were as captivated as myself as, instead of the usual charging away up the nearest hill, they were content to just sit for long periods. I guess, contemplating the meaning of life, who knows? 😄 A superb day, immersed in nature.
And of course on the mountainsides of the Cerro de Caballo (3009m) we were destined to meet these wild beauties.
Yesterday, when we walked in fields of gold
Acequia los Hechos, west flank of Cerro de Caballo at 2400m. Sierra Nevada, Spain
It's Friday and it's also watering day. Making the most of it before the summer
#spain #andalucia #olives #allotment #growyourown #selfsufficiency #olive
I'd love to be able to say that I'm rich and clever enough to have built an infinity pool. But ... I'm not. Its the reflections in our coffee table :sablobsmilehappy: :dance_cool_doge:
La Ruta Peñuela above Lanjarón in the Alpujarras. Yesterday's half day hiking route through forests and open hillsides above the town.
#hiking #walking #spain #andalucia #landscape #landscapephotography
