The Saja-Nansa Divide

I try to get out to the country when the weather's good, but beggars can't be choosers and when it's overcast the views are limited and the lack of good light makes for unimpressive photos - especially when both camera and photographer are no great shakes.
I wasn't even going to upload these photos, but as it was the last walk of the decade and gives a idea of how cloudy conditions can influence what you see I thought I'd stick them up. I suppose they make all previous photos look better in contrast!



A cloudy morning, but no rain forecast so I set off from the village of Fresneda in the Saja valley up the mountainside that separates it from the Nansa valley. Despite the westerly winds there was still some snow from about 700 metres.


In the distance La Concilla


Looking across at the (distinctly indistinct) range from the Pico del Cueto to Zarzamorosa


Peña Sagra from the highest point of the walk (Cueto Guariza)


Having reached the watershed the route now headed north


with Cabuérniga in the Saja valley to the right...


... and the village of Sarceda...


... and the Nansa valley to the left


Looking back to the Cueto Guariza with La Concilla behind and Peña Labra barely visible on the right of the photo


When I got to a meadow with two huts which my map refers to as Moscadorio I decided to head back down to the valley so as not to leave myself too long a walk along the main road


The sun even began to come out sporadically, and Pico del Cueto, which I visited in the spring, started to show up


Finally the walk back to the car along the road which follows the Saja river, looking very healthy thanks to all the melting snow

A pot-pourri for Yuletide

As Xmas is coming up, I thought I'd regale you with an assortment of photos taken in Cantabria and neighbouring provinces that I haven't posted before. They're ordered roughly by seasons.

The first shows a frosty morning at the start of a walk in the south of the province



later on that day and it hadn't got much warmer



the same walk took me to one of my favourite spots: this hacienda in the middle of the woods just into the province of Burgos




Another day and a visit to some menhirs, also in the south of Cantabria. As I looked for the best angle for this photo a fox raced from the undergrowth, but too fast for me to photograph




the end of winter near the summit of a mountain called the "Ropero"





The view from the Cerredo, overlooking Castro




This time from Monte Candina, just along the coast, looking towards Laredo





Moving inland, the winding road up to the San Glorio pass, which connects Cantabria and León





Springtime in a beech wood near the Collados del Asón





An overgrown water trough near the Miera valley





A barn with a beautiful view in central Cantabria





The huts in Ostón (Asturias) have even better views nearby - Torrecerredo, the highest mountain in the Picos de Europa





From Asturias to Palencia; this is the way down from the Espigüete, one of the steepest descents I've made




looking back up from the bottom of the scree





The vega del Jascal in Asturias, where I was metres away from being trampled by an enormous bull in hot pursuit of a cow





On the Jorcaura, above Tresviso, two butterflies got caught on film





more insects on the same walk; with the Jorcaura to the left of centre, a bee in the top right hand corner





Circling vultures near the Collados del Asón - a cow had fallen into a ravine



Another angle, with the Mortillano in the background





The beginning of autumn









Later on in the same season in the Saja valley




El Pozo del Amo in the same valley




Monty in the Saja at the end of autumn this year




Season's Greetings !!

Autumn / Otoño en Liébana

I didn't get the chance to go walking in October, so by November I was champing at the bit. At last some decent weather coincided with a day when I didn't have to do any work and I took the opportunity to run my new boots in and enjoy the autumn colours. A walk I've done previously leaves San Pedro de Bedoya in Liébana and takes you up through the woods till you get to the higher ground with lovely views.

Leaving the village the Picos started to apppear, with early morning mist down in the valley.


Less than two hours later I'd reached the Collado Taruey, an idyllic setting.


This is a view of the Collado from the top of a hill called the Molín de los Moros. Right in the centre is the point where you emerge from the woods, and where I took the previous photo from.


The next photos are taken from the same spot, firstly La Ventosa


this shows Curavacas (see Sept) in the background and the town of Potes below



The Eastern massif of the Picos, with La Ventosa on the right


The view from a neighbouring hill, with the woods I walked up through on the left, and Potes down in the valley on the right


Some similar photos to the ones before but from different angles.


The Collado de Pasaneu, which leads to an area with a large number of yew trees, and is the attraction for most walkers to these parts. Having seen it once before I decided to continue a bit in a different direction for other views.


At this point my boots were beginning to make themselves noticed, so I turned back...


...after taking this last photo of the head of the valley that comes up from Lebeña in the Hermida Gorge


On the way back down to the village I took some shots of the lovely autumn colours




















Eventually you get back to a little river which the path follows down to the village


One final glimpse of the Picos as I headed towards the car and the chance to get my boots off...