With this panoramic view of the harbor of L’Escala.
Wendy and Stan, friends we met here 13 years ago! We had a champagne lunch at their home. Wonderful to reconnect with them!
We had Wendy and Stan over for an incredible full moon rise with tapas dinner in the living room. Tortilla, ham croquettas, cheese & crackers and Tempranillo wine!
We remembered being here over Christmas celebrations in 2006/07 and seeing the band perform in this square. Somehow they have been turned into bronze…
The Pyrenees look gorgeous with that white cap of snow!
L’Escala is a fishing village – anchovies are their specialty. It has around 10,000 population but grows to 50,000 during the summer holiday season – a lot of beauty here to appreciate.
The Barcelona Summer Olympic sailing competition was held here in 1992.
The torch for 1992 Olympics came ashore the same place the Greeks established Empuries, just North of L’Escala proper.
We had explored these Greek and Roman ruins in 2007 but unfortunately we did not get to explore this time.
The Bay of Roses (Roman Rhodes) where the first Greek and first Roman port in Iberia was established.
Heading to the South of L’Escala the coast becomes more cliff like and rocky.
The water is so incredibly clear. Stunningly beautiful. This area is also know for its scuba diving.
The Torre de Montgo was a 3-mile walk from the apartment. It has been beautifully restored.
The view from the tower is spectacular. An excellent hike through the Natural Park! Finished in time to meet up with our friends for Menu del Dia! Mmmm good and we have an appetite!
We enjoyed this unique sunrise but looks like a hazy sort of day ahead.
We crossed the Greenwich Meridian again for the third or fourth time near Albocasser, heading to the Alt Maestrat region again.
An attempt to capture the twists in the road from a safe overlook.
There are a lot farms – this looks especially prosperous.
There are multiple solar farms – a huge photovoltaic array.
Of course we expect windmills in Spain – even modern wind farms!
The village of Culla is nicely situated on a defensible hill. It also has an observatory so probably a good dark sky community.
We took a break to enjoy the views and contemplate the history. If it was clear, we could see Penyagolosa – there is an annual pilgrimage from here to there.
Made it to the Tower! Can now defend the kingdom!
Knights Templar and their Interest in Culla.
Very picturesque morning.
`We continued on, almost at the border with Argon, to Villafranca del Cid. The history of this community is raising sheep, producing wool, and selling it to Italy. They realized they should make their own textiles to became more prosperous. There are many wonderfully preserved homes/buildings.
Inside this medieval building from the 1500’s, we had a personal tour of the displays explaining “Piedra en Sec.” Buildings and walls were built dry stacking stones because they were so numerous and were readily available (free).
This area was very concentrated with stone walls to enclose sheep – some had little sheep openings and buildings for shelter from weather.
Buildings have different ways to have the stones steps for reaching the roof to remove chimney rock allowing a fire to be built inside and smoke to escape. Some buildings are square, some round, some a combination depending on the artistic creativeness of the builder.
Absolutely love this extraordinary gate hinge detail. A hole is created in the rock that is built into the wall to allow post of gate to go into it and allow it to pivot. You lift gate up a bit to swing it open.
Alcossebre Sea ExperienceBalcony over the Mediterranean on the coast of Spain!Beautiful Coast of Azahar.Modern lighthouse protecting the Irta Mountains.There are the Serra d’Irta in the background.Castillo de Xivert in those mountains overlooking the plains.An Islamic fortification built in 10th century, conquered by Knights Templar in 1234, then a Christian stronghold in the 15th century.Alcala de Xivert in the valley – this is the season for artichokes.Peniscola is a castle surrounded by sea with a long history. Just ask El CidIt looks pretty defensible!Someone covered this house with shells- that is a lot of collecting!Avignon pope Benedict XIII (Pedro de Luna) lived here after the Knights of Templer. The castle was renovated for the film El Cid and also parts of Games of Thrones 5th season was filmed here.We had to hike to the Tower which sent signals to the castles – no cell phones!High Tech Communication!Happy hour back at our balcony – our collection of 2 euro wines!Sunset in the mountains reflected in the infinity pool.
Pinnacles was established as a National Monument by Teddy in 1908 but upgraded to a National Park in 2013. So until another is upgraded, we have now visited all western mainland US National Parks.We snagged a camp site with electricity for four nights so we could relax and enjoy several days of hiking.There are some unique stairways carved into the stone on several trails.And caves created by falling boulders.California Condors are released here. We talked to a scientist who tracks them with radio collars like the wolves in Yellowstone. He confirmed the three we had seen overhead were condor sightings!There are also specially marked trails for rock climbers.Interesting rock formations up close and personal.One trail took us to this peaceful reservoir.with some calm water reflections.another stairway – actually gets you to the top pretty fast!And what a view!So we can find a spot for our lunch break and contemplate the path back to camp.Heading South, we spent the next night at Carrizo Plain National Monument in the Central Valley. We had the parking lot to ourselves and enjoyed the quietness of the plains.This was our view of sunset. A big change from crowded Pinnacles campground: Someone at Pinnacles “borrowed” our leveling blocks for 3 nights but luckily they returned them before we left. Can you imagine that lack of courtesy to your fellow camper?This is the beautiful white alkali flats of Soda Lake – there is a neat boardwalk to take for a closer look. This is another landlocked Basin surrounded by Range.Another new monument in 2012, Cesar E Chavez National Monument in the California Central Valley was created from his home to recognize the importance of his contribution to the hard working farmworkers. Yes, we can! This is his grave site and memorial garden with water features commemorating the 5 martyrs killed during the protests.
Yosemite! First day begins with hike to Dog Lake. Suprisingly we had not been to this lake near Tuolumne Meadows.
We enjoyed the reflections in the still morning water.
And enjoying some sunshine.
After lingering, we headed to nearby Lembert Dome as part of our day hike.
Tuolumne river and Meadows view from top of Lembert Dome.
We finished the hike with a bit of the John Muir trail for some solitude.
The next day we went for the Cathedral Lakes, a trail to views we had especially enjoyed 10 years ago.
The lower lake had beautiful meadows.
And a nice spot to enjoy the lower lake among the mountains.
At the upper lake we were able to walk around the entire perimeter to enjoy the peak from many angles.
We felt really good to do this almost 10-mile hike with over 2,000 foot elevation gain!
We drove to Lake Tahoe after our Cathedral Lake hike – that was a difficult drive with a lot of mountain climbing. We luckily arrived before dark but were tired puppies.
Watson Lake above Lake Tahoe had this incredible dispersed site where we could walk to the Lake Tahoe overlook.
We appreciated the beauty of this lake. Nice there are such accessible places outside of our national parks.
Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument became a monument in 2015 from both Forest Service and BLM land.
We sustained high winds that night. Little did we know that power was out across this area of California – the first of many of the PG&E shutdowns to prevent fires.
Mid- September, we headed to Rio Grande National Forest, an area of Colorado south of Creede we had not explored.
Huge piles of beetle kill limber pines that had been cut for fire mitigation.
Stage One Fire Restrictions: No burning!
Sun has not yet reached the valley as we head into La Garita Wilderness.
It is starting to feel like fall in this gorgeous section of the trail.
Wheeler Geologic Area used to be a National Monument.
Remote and Unique, it was a fun area to explore.
