Going to Extremes Pt 2

After the long drive on Friday we had limited time to find the park entrance let alone explore. The gate was locked and we drove around a while chasing light but to no avail. A couple of other photographers stood by the road getting eaten by mosquitos, they too seemingly lost. The light was good, the cloud was good, but we were not in the park.

We ambled back to town and around 10pm found a little street cafe in a cute tumble-down square. The empty tables began to fill and we enjoyed a Tortilla (seriously over priced for potato, eggs and onions! Then, retired to bed after disposing of two or three mozzies that were in the room.

We don’t get bothered by bugs in Asturias, once in a blue moon, but the whole night as soon as we began to slip into sleep that familiar torturous zinging buzz near your ear tells you there’s company! Three times we put the lights on to seek and destroy.

The pre-dawn alarm came as a relief, and sandy-eyed we packed up and drove back into the park. The gate was still locked, but our exploration and some off road shortcuts managed to get us into some great locations. In a  short few hours we had managed some nice compositions, but all too soon the call of the road was heard, and we had to begin the second leg of our trip.

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We headed across country to Huesca and a combination of road map and GPS allowed us to explore the pre Pyrenees on smaller, more obscure roads. The weather was hot and clear, my left arm getting a drivers tan! An interesting drive, Griffon Vultures, Black-eared Wheatears and Great-spotted Cuckoos adding some avian interest.

5 hours later we leave Spain and enter the tiny Andorra – about the size of Beijing, with only 80,000 residents. The deep valley with it’s culture, architecture and shopping, juxtaposed by high peaks rising to just short of 3000m. Little Alpine valleys, lakes and ski resorts. A nice little place for sure. And on the first day I took one image

And for the next two days I left the camera in the hotel and we walked, and hiked, and climbed and ate! Leaving the camera at home allowed me to just be there, experience the place and cleanse. And I felt I needed it.

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Of course, the downside of this is the return drive, along 11 hour slog across fairly repetitive steppes. A full-on thunder storm raged in the mountains as we left and the car got a good wash, and thankfully the cloud held out for the rest of the day keeping the temperature in check. The familiar coastal sites reappeared late afternoon, the limestone peaks of the Picos de Europa, the wild seas stacks of our coast like old friends. Even as the rain fell again, it was good to be back in Asturias. For now.