Curiosity Drive 🚐

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 May we witnessed a remarkable carpet of bluebells. Twm Siôn Cati's cave is linked to the legend of a 16th C. Welsh outlaw. Through participating in an RSPB survey we gained insights into the interplay between #rewilding & active management. We then returned to Cardigan Bay at Mwnt, via a senic but mostly single-lane route. Mwnt Beach is lovely (📷3) & the adjacent headland offers views up & down (📷4) the coast; the landscape forms part of the Wales Coast Path & we watched bottlenose dolphin frolic offshore. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 #uk #wales 🚀 #travel 🚐 #camperVan #nomad #roadTrip #vanLife 🥾 #nature

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 previously (📷3). Just inland from the beach is Castell Harlech | Harlech Castle, part of the UNESCO listing “Castles and Town Walls of King Edward in Gwynedd” (📷4). Like those at Conwy, Caernarfon & Beaumaris, the castle at Harlech was built for Edward I to conquer & hold Wales for the English Crown during the late 13th/ early 14th centuries—a feat he was unable to replicate in Scotland. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 #uk #wales 🚀 #travel 🚐 #camperVan #nomad #roadTrip #vanLife 🥾 #nationalPark 🌍 #unesco

[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) & returned to pitch: a 12km/ 4h loop. 🇬🇧 #uk #england #yorkshire 🚀 #travel 🚐 #camperVan #nomad #roadTrip #vanLife 🥾 #hiking #nature #nationalPark

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 numerous native Dactylorhiza sambucina | the elder-flowered orchid, in shades of yellow, deep purple & pink (we first saw it in Theth, Albania). As is common practice, some of the formations in the gorge are named; this is Arcade des Bergers | Shepherds' Arcade (📷3). The hamlet of Le Truel, where terraces once held vineyards, orchards & vegetable gardens, while sheep & goats grazed sloping pastures (📷4). Gyps fulvus | griffon vultures soar from the cliffs above, seemingly untroubled by the loss of a traditional way of life.

🇫🇷 #france #occitanie 🇪🇺 #europe 🚀 #travel 🚐 #camperVan #nomad #roadTrip #vanLife 🥾 #nationalPark 🌍 #unesco

[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 largely intact (📷3); the remnants of Castillo de Finestras, a medieval Moorish castle upon which the hermitage was built, are also evident. From this vantage point there’s an impressive view down the middle of the formation (📷4). The 15km/ 4.5h return hike was mostly exposed.

Farewell Aragón; you certainly made an impression!

🇪🇸 #spain #aragon 🇪🇺 #europe 🚀 #travel 🚐 #camperVan #nomad #roadTrip #vanLife 🥾 #hiking #nature

[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 Canelles reservoir; only one house, Casa Coix, is seasonally inhabited. A short & easy signposted walk links the village centre to Ermita de San Marcos | the Hermitage of Saint Mark; this is the best spot for panoramic views of the ~840m long formation (📷2). Folding of strata ~100 million years ago & subsequent erosion have created two primary parallel lines of vertical limestone that resemble a wall (📷3). Some of the formation is now partially submerged in the reservoir (📷4).

🇪🇸 #spain #aragon 🇪🇺 #europe 🚀 #travel 🚐 #camperVan #nomad #roadTrip #vanLife 🥾 #hiking #nature

@sista_ray@bildung.social 🦋 Celastrina argiolus | the holly blue; beautiful.

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! Praia da Nazaré is the city’s main golden-sand beach, viewed here from the rocky headland at the north end of the beach (📷1). On the tip of the headland is Farol de Nazaré, a lighthouse atop a fort, providing a vantage point from which to watch the breakers roll in to adjacent Praia do Norte (📷2). We watched long waves crest & collapse, all the while the wind whipping off the tops in sheets of spray (📷3). Other waves broke apart thunderously on the rocks directly below the lighthouse (📷4).

🇵🇹 #portugal 🇪🇺 #europe 🚀 #travel 🚐 #camperVan #nomad #roadTrip #vanLife

@sista_ray@bildung.social Would like to see this one!

[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 goats? This she-goat was actively licking at a very particular patch of rock, which we took to be a quest for salt (📷4); apparently sodium is scarce in their normal alpine plant-based diet. 17km/ 5h out-&-back. Note there’s a non-zero probability of rockfall, but this trail is up there with the best we’ve done.

🇪🇸#spain #asturias 🇪🇺#europe 🚀#travel 🚐 #camperVan #nomad #roadTrip #vanLife 🥾#hiking #nature #nationalPark

[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 wall (📷4), at ~8.5km (about two thirds along the route), corresponding to the Riega las Párvulas waterfall, just beyond the border with the León region.

🇪🇸#spain #asturias 🇪🇺#europe 🚀#travel 🚐 #camperVan #nomad #roadTrip #vanLife 🥾#hiking #nature #nationalPark

[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 stretch of road led to a well-formed path. The trail climbs through a deep limestone gorge with sheer cliffs that tower above the river; erosion has created rock pillars (📷2) & natural arches (📷3)—but human engineering in this landscape also must be admired. Between 1915 & the early 1920s, the company Electra de Viesgo built a canal to carry water from the Río Cares at Caín to a hydroelectric plant at Camarmeña–Poncebos. Up to 11 km long, it runs through ~70 tunnels excavated largely by hand with the aid of explosives; 11 workers were killed during construction. The maintenance path for this canal, widened between 1945–50, became today’s Ruta del Cares: the canal still carries water alongside, above & beneath the trail (📷4).

🇪🇸#spain #asturias 🇪🇺#europe 🚀#travel 🚐 #camperVan #nomad #roadTrip #vanLife 🥾#hiking #nature #nationalPark