Sierra de Guadarrama

Granite and holm oak. Canchos Largo and Gordo seen here as well as the Conventonto Ministerio de San Julian y San Antonio. An oldie for sure and posted before too. This was taken on a bitterly cold winter's day!

Squeezing through here saved a few minutes!

San Lorenzo de El Escorial from the Herrería Woods in winter light.

Well, she can talk to anyone and for hours; she is definately a 'people-person'! But I got bored and wasn't involved in the conversation with the people on the other side of the wall (about their garden and the problems of village depopulation, both subjects of interest to me but my Spanish isn't good enough to follow conversations, or it certainly wasn't in 2012!) So I took a couple of surreptitious shots, only she saw me take this one and she wasn't happy!

Sierra de La Cabrera.

The Embalse (reservoir) de Atazar can be seen as well as El Pico de La Miel on the right.

Between El Escorial and Zarzalejo, Madrid Province. A very mild January day.

La Sierra de La Cabrera. I enjoyed my Canon digital which a kind Pano member sent to me after I dropped my beloved Nokia N95 in a bog in Cornwall. Sadly it gave up accepting charge from any charger after about 9 months. Many of my best countryside, night and sunrise / sunset shots were taken with it. I still have it and will find a Canon service centre to get it fixed when I can summon up the spondooliks! Shot taken in late September but in both 2011 and 2012, I distinctly recall that summer lasted well into November!

The village of Bustarviejo has a fleeting glimpe of the sun here!

Sierra de La Cabrera, below the Torres de Cancho Largo.

Typical ganite scenery here, with the ubiquitous Springtime cistus.

Sierra de La Cabrera on a foggy day in December, 2011. Today would have been the same, blanket fog throughout central Spain with only the mountain peaks peeping through. I was tempted when I heard the forecast last night but I just had too much to do today, even though it was a public holiday!

Pico de La Miel and the Lozoya Valley. A snow free and very mild January day. Later it became shirtsleeves weather!

An old friend!

Sierra de La Cabrera: Las Agujas (needles) de Cancho Gordo. You can just see the tops of neighbouring ranges peeking out through the fog!

Taken from Cancho Gordo. The prominent peak, right centre, is Pico de La Miel. The white boulder to the left, is part of of Cancho de La Bola, home of vultures for thousands of years, hence its guano stained colour. Mind you, the rocks below it have shared in this bounty too!

Some new housing estates seen here - unfinished due to the construction industry crisis in the years after 2008.

SIerra de La Cabrera