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• Post #3656004

  Still in Mid Wales, we elected to return a couple of places we’d enjoyed on previous travels in Wales. The first is the RSPB Gwenffrwd-Dinas Nature Reserve ~6km from Cilycwm, where a 3km circular trail runs riverside (📷1) & through an ordinarily damp alder & oak woodland (📷2), where lichens, mosses and liverworts collectively create a "Celtic rainforest" (a.k.a. Atlantic temperate rainforest). Although they hid from us, birds find sanctuary here too & on a previous visit in...

• Post #3607417

  Before leaving North Wales & Parc Cenedlaethol Eryri | Eryri National Park we stopped for lunch at Harlech. The beach here on Cardigan Bay boasts several kilometres of sand that are notably wide at low tide (📷1) & are backed by dunes that constitute an important conservation area (📷2). We found the beach awash with Chrysaora hysoscella | the aptly-named compass jellyfish, apparently common in coastal coastal Atlantic & Mediterranean waters—although it hadn’t registered with us previo...

• Post #3434921

  [2/2] After ~6km/ 2h on trail we reached Keld, the highest village in Swaledale. After 🍦 we began climbing Kisdon via Corpse Road when we spotted our flora small of the day: native flowering succulent Sedum acre | the goldmoss stonecrop (📷1). Elevated views from near the Kisdon summit offered a sense of landscape scale (📷2) & served as a stage for the ground-based & aerial antics of avian fauna of the day, Vanellus vanellus | the northern lapwing (📷3). We descended towards Muker (📷4) &am...

• Post #2356614

  We drove to the Mont Aigoual summit at 1,565m elevation in Parc nationaldes Cévennes | Cevennes National Park; the park is recognized as a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. Our route up via Nant & Dourbies was long, winding & frankly tedious, so despite views towards the coast (📷1) & further inland (📷2) we felt less appreciative than we should have. We decided against our intended hike in 7°C & headed down via Gorges de la Jonte. En route the road verge was decorated with...

• Post #1882696

  [2/2] Roques de la Vila cont. Between the two lines of strata sits the 11–12th C. Romanesque Esglèsia de Sant Vicenç | Ermita San Vicente | Church of Saint Vincent, seen here from the more challenging path to reach it—poles are useful (📷1). On this part of the hike you cross over one of the walls & reach water level, where we noted this particular slab, nicely illustrating the process of continuing erosion (📷2). The hermitage is partially formed from limestone & the sanctuary is...

• Post #1882695

  [1/2] Roques de la Vila is a geological formation also known as Muralla (China) de Finestres | the (Chinese) Wall Of Finestres. We followed online & local advice to 🅿️ at Puente de Penavera, a bridge NE of Estopiñán del Castillo, given the state of the dirt road. The 6.4km drive from our pitch in town took ~30 minutes. Although we sighted the formation ~4.5km into the hike, we first came to the former settlement of Finestres (📷1). It was depopulated in 1960 due to the filling of the Canel...

• Post #1183678

  Nazaré is globally recognised among the surfing community for it’s big waves, which can reach 20–30m in height. Just offshore here is one end of the largest submarine trench in Europe, at ~230km long & ~5km deep. The Nazaré Canyon funnels Atlantic swells towards the shore, where the abrupt change in depth compresses wave energy, refracting & amplifying it. Our visit to Nazaré coincided with a coastal wind warning (gusts up to 55 km/h) so we saw no 🏄 surfing, but we did see 🌊 surf...

• Post #755252

  [3/3] Ruta del Cares. The trail was no less dramatic walking it in the opposite direction (📷1). On our outbound leg the mountain goats were generally high above us, sometimes heard but not seen. On our return leg a number had descended onto the trail (📷2). At one point we encountered a “toll goat”, hoping to extract a fair exchange for passage through one of the tunnels (we didn’t feed it). A view ahead to a stretch of “up” before the final descent to the trailhead (📷3). Did we mention we saw go...

• Post #755251

  [2/3] Ruta del Cares. At one point, looking down into the canyon, we observed what we think must be a resurgence, where water that has been flowing underground reappears at the surface; they’re common in karst landscapes (📷1). The trail, like the canal itself, passes through a number of tunnels when cutting into the sheer rock face isn’t enough (📷2); this bridged section includes a steel grate so you can see the drop beneath your feet (📷3). We turned around just beyond this window in the rock wa...

• Post #755250

  [1/3] Ruta del Cares. With a fresh overnight dusting of snow on the peaks we set out to hike an out-&-back section of the 12km point-to-point Ruta del Cares (PR-PNPE 3) trail in Parque Nacional de los Picos de Europa. This is the park’s most popular hike, linking Poncebos (Asturias) & Caín (León); it’s considered one of Spain’s most beautiful trails. We 🅿️ at Poncebos & initial views of the clear-flowing Río Cares from near the trailhead looked promising (📷1); a short stre...