Avalanche risk was too high in the Pirinees so we headed to "Picos de Europa" mountains (like 2 1/2 h driving).
When we arrived to the base of the mountain it was snowing heavily but as soon as we climbed over the clouds, sun shinned nicely.
There was some snow there but not as deep as we wanted. We carried snowshoes but we left them at the base of the climb so we could pick them up later on.
Fun with the shadows...
This is what we were about to climb...
My pal Iñaki struggling with deep snow (hey! it was me who was kicking the footsteps!). The trekking poles where somewhat wet and they got frozen open so we had to pack them that way. We look like radio operators though...
There was still a lot to go!
About to get to the summit...
Chova piquigualda (Pyrrhocorax graculus). This kind of birds are everywhere in Picos de Europa and anytime they see people stopping for a break or lunch they are arround waiting for leftovers. The sound of crushing plastic bags is like the dinner bell for them! This time they were getting really close and I saw some of them were tagged... so I thought I could try to feed them by hand. And I did! I just put some nuts on hand and they gently picked them up. We have a few pictures of that but we took them with Iñaki's camera and I don't have them here now.
Anyone have seen a TDI bird?
Avalanche risk was LOWER in the Picos de Europa... but that doesn't mean there wasn't any! This happened while we were on the summit (it was not there when we went up that slope in the morning). We stuck to the rocks on the left of the picture so we were not at any time in the path of the avalanche. It is not that big, but you could get harmed anyway.
And....
Yep! I took my F1 along just to see if it saw any use up there. It did. We had to trim Iñakis crampons strap and being in subzero temps it was much easy to do with a sharp fixed blade than a the Vic Rucksack I had in my pack.
Sorry guys... no bushcraft this time!
Mikel
These are from a one month backpacking trip I took with some friends out to Montana. Our time in the wilderness was broken up into shorter, 3-4 day excursions, though.
At least they think so, but only if you wear the latest tactical fashions.
