Granite scenery

August 2014. The coast path above St Agnes' Head, Cornwall.

Sierra de La Cabrera, Madrid Province. Underneath the fog in the distance is Madrid.

Porthcurno, Pednvounder Beach and Trereen Dinas (south). August 2012

Sierra de La Cabrera. www.ipernity.com/doc/2247598/album/1042038

Valdemanco is the nearer valley village (where I normally start and finish my walks in the Sierra) and the village of Bustarviejo is at the head of the valley.

From Carn Brae to Carn Marth, near Redruth. Between 300 and 150 years ago this was one of the most industrialized places on the Planet. You wouldn't know it now! (Although one old chimney-stack is still just visible in the valley to the right).

From the slopes of Mondalindo, overlooking the village of Valdemanco, to the slopes of the Sierra de La Cabrera. It hadn't rained for almost a year and the country was as parched as it looks here!

The eastern end, including El Pico de La Miel (Honey Peak) which isn't the highest point on the ridge but is the most famous as it rises directly above the Madrid Burgos motorway. It's possible to scramble and rock-hop more or less along the entire ridge.

Holm oaks and granite. La Sierra de La Cabrera.

A storm overnight and the almost dry stream-bed comes to life. Rosemary bush in flower in the foreground. The tower was a mystery to me when I first saw it in 2010 and is still a mystery. I can't get any info (certainly not much sense!) out of the older guys in the local bars, no matter how much Mahou I bribe them with!! I will have to try whisky next time! I later learnt it was an air shaft for the railway line that ran below the mountains here. The line closed in 2012. I recall seeing the trains run here for a year beforehand. Now it is a popular, if spooky, walk through the tunnell (5 km). First posted n 2017.

Griffon vultures on Cancho de La Bola, Sierra de la Cabrera. First posted in 2012 on Panoramio but never on ipertinity for some reason / oversight. Still, better late than never!

From the northern slopes of La Sierra de La Cabrera. First shown on Panoramio in 2011 but not on ipernity to my belief.

Granite country - La Sierra de La Cabrera.

La Sierra de La Cabrera, Madrid Province

The 'face profile' on the right is Cancho Largo, the highest point in the sierra and a good challenge for rock climbers (there were none that day, I have in the past posted shots of climbers tackling the overhang).

Sierra de La Cabrera. Madrid is a smudge on the horizon between the two left-hand pillars. This was the last time I went walking in these mountains. My objective is to get back up there next spring and that will involve a lot of physiotherapy! But no pain no gain!

Granite country in the foreground. In the background, exactly in the middle of the shot is Peñalara, the highest mountain in the Sierra de Guadarrama (alternatively called La Sierra de Madrid) at 2,423 metres (7,950 feet). I worked out once that my height here when taking this shot would be approximately on a level with Ben Nevis, the highest peak in the British Isles.

La Sierra de La Cabrera.