Sierra De Los Gredos

Description

There are many mountain ranges or Sierras in Spain but only four can be considered major:  Pyrenees, Picos del Europa, Sierra Nevada and the Sierra de Los Gredos which extend westward from Madrid and form the northern barrier boundary to the region of Extremadura.  Pico Almanzor rises to 2592m above sea level.  My friend Paddy Waller joined Mandy and I as we headed to Los Gredos on 23 September 2023 for a ‘serious hike’ up into these big mountains.  It is a fabulous landscape with a sun-bleached pink hue to the top peaks which leap out against the deep blue skies.  There is something about the granite rocks that produces incredibly beautiful emerald green waters in the rivers and cascada flowing down the gullies.  The hillsides are dotted with oak trees just like further South but with the higher rainfall in the mountains these oaks are much larger and leafier Pyrenean Oaks, Quercus pyrenaica, which produces copious acorns like its cousin the Holm Oak.  Los Gredos is a regional reserve where Iberian Lynx and wolves find refuge in the wild peaks.  We watched Griffon Vultures, Booted Eagle and a Kestrel overhead.