Granite scenery

These shallow hollows are everywhere in La Sierra de La Cabrera. The eastern end, looking towards El Pico de La Miel and the Embalse de El Atazar.

La Sierra de La Cabrera

There is a route of sorts here. It is more fun that the lower path you can see below. I know who set up this carn. I was walking in another part of the Sierra a few months after this shot and saw a young (to me ) chap making a similar carn. He saw me and we exchanged Spanglish pleasantries and walked together for a few hours and chatted away. I met him a couple of times later in the Sierra as well, once with his wife and once when I was with my girlfriend (one of only two visits to these mountains with me!). Turns out he was (maybe still is - I've lost touch recently) the mayor of Valdemanco. Although young (maybe 28-30?), he was a bright spark if ever there was one! And I wasn't surprised that the village elders trusted him!

La Sierra de La Cabrera

A cute little rock pool!

Bonsai juniper growing in it's own little granite basin. El Cancho de La Bola, Sierra de La Cabrera

Looking down the Bustarviejo Valley from the summit of El Cancho Gordo. The highest point of the Sierra is El Cancho Largo seen on the right. There is about 3 metres difference between them (El Cancho Largo 1,564 m) . In most shots El Cancho Gordo seems to be the higher point but it isn't! An optical illusion. Taken with my Canon Ixus 100 which I loved but it became useless as soon as I needed to change the battery. The camera just would not accept batteries, new - or old and charged. Experts couldn't fathom it out and I had to stick it in a drawer and wait for something to happen! It took excellent night shots too.

An outlier from the main La Cabrera ridge, this small hill nevertheless yields some interesting walks, scrambles and archaeological remains of a Celto-Ligurian settlement.

The western end of the Sierra looking down to the Bustarviejo Valley

Sorry about the title (with apologies to Samuel Taylor Coleridge!). Sierra de La Cabrera, about half way along the ridge; if you follow this path it is easy walking (although a bugger if all iced up!). I prefer to get higher (to the right) among the boulders and crags.

La Sierra de La Cabrera. This is the main (often only) path that weaves it way between the peaks of the ridge of the Sierra, but rarely touches the ridge top itself. You therefore need to explore 'off-piste' a lot to get the best views. I don't often stay on the path unless I have to get back to Valdemanco to catch the last bus!

La Sierra de La Cabrera. This is everywhere. I know that in late June, early July it produces fruit that looks and tastes exactly like blueberries, blaeberries, billberies (and myrtle, whortleberries too?). The berries confuse me. I don't know which are the same but just called different names in different places and which are from another family. The point is I've never seen blueberries growing on a tree before, only growing at ground level! Can someone enlighten me? Jenny W has found the answer and I give a wiki link here: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amelanchier Thank you, jenny!

La Sierra de La Cabrera is 100% granite

Light and shade. A day that went from t-shirt weather to Arctic conditions and white-out, back to t-shirt weather all in an hour. This has come out all HDR-ish but I didn't use it. I did play with one or two effects but no more than on other photos without this result. Was going to delete and start again then decided I quite liked it.

Looking west from about halfway along the ridge. Mushroom Rock is just behind me.

Cerro de La Cabeza, an offshoot of La Sierra de La Cabeza, seen on a mild January day.

La Sierra de La Cabrera towers above the little town of la Cabrera. The granite ridge itself looks spectacular from the N1 motorway leaving Madrid northwards for Burgos. You can see the motorway in this shot, skirting the town. Normally you see a few Griffon vultures too, but not on this day.

The cistus and gorse is clear enough but these very tiny purple flowers are everywhere in mid May. They are adored by the miniature bee-flies that are incredibly noisy for their size.