https://becausetheyrethere.com ...and a few more reasons for climbing mountains Sat, 12 Jan 2019 14:41:30 +0100 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ https://s0.wp.com/i/buttonw-com.png https://becausetheyrethere.com https://becausetheyrethere.com/2017/10/13/days-like-this-no-27-the-old-man-of-hoy/ https://becausetheyrethere.com/2017/10/13/days-like-this-no-27-the-old-man-of-hoy/#comments Fri, 13 Oct 2017 07:30:26 +0000 http://becausetheyrethere.com/?p=9865 Continue reading →]]> https://becausetheyrethere.com/2017/10/13/days-like-this-no-27-the-old-man-of-hoy/feed/ 23 McEff https://becausetheyrethere.com/2017/09/25/an-uneasy-night-on-cerro-de-la-salchicha/ https://becausetheyrethere.com/2017/09/25/an-uneasy-night-on-cerro-de-la-salchicha/#comments Mon, 25 Sep 2017 07:11:37 +0000 http://becausetheyrethere.com/?p=9826 Continue reading →]]> https://becausetheyrethere.com/2017/09/25/an-uneasy-night-on-cerro-de-la-salchicha/feed/ 22 McEff https://becausetheyrethere.com/2017/09/15/rivers-and-rocks-tracks-and-tunnels/ https://becausetheyrethere.com/2017/09/15/rivers-and-rocks-tracks-and-tunnels/#comments Fri, 15 Sep 2017 16:59:56 +0000 http://becausetheyrethere.com/?p=9798 Continue reading →]]> https://becausetheyrethere.com/2017/09/15/rivers-and-rocks-tracks-and-tunnels/feed/ 30 McEff https://becausetheyrethere.com/2017/09/04/of-mice-men-mountains-and-motors/ https://becausetheyrethere.com/2017/09/04/of-mice-men-mountains-and-motors/#comments Mon, 04 Sep 2017 15:23:58 +0000 http://becausetheyrethere.com/?p=9784 Continue reading →]]> https://becausetheyrethere.com/2017/09/04/of-mice-men-mountains-and-motors/feed/ 18 McEff https://becausetheyrethere.com/2017/07/26/days-like-this-no-26-following-footsteps-in-france/ https://becausetheyrethere.com/2017/07/26/days-like-this-no-26-following-footsteps-in-france/#comments Wed, 26 Jul 2017 08:42:06 +0000 http://becausetheyrethere.com/?p=9750 Continue reading →]]> https://becausetheyrethere.com/2017/07/26/days-like-this-no-26-following-footsteps-in-france/feed/ 22 McEff https://becausetheyrethere.com/2017/07/10/days-like-this-no-25-the-constant-mountains/ https://becausetheyrethere.com/2017/07/10/days-like-this-no-25-the-constant-mountains/#comments Mon, 10 Jul 2017 13:57:23 +0000 http://becausetheyrethere.com/?p=9716 Continue reading →]]> https://becausetheyrethere.com/2017/07/10/days-like-this-no-25-the-constant-mountains/feed/ 22 McEff https://becausetheyrethere.com/2017/07/03/stranger-in-paradise/ https://becausetheyrethere.com/2017/07/03/stranger-in-paradise/#comments Mon, 03 Jul 2017 07:30:27 +0000 http://becausetheyrethere.com/?p=9696 Continue reading →]]> https://becausetheyrethere.com/2017/07/03/stranger-in-paradise/feed/ 13 McEff https://becausetheyrethere.com/2016/11/03/karst-adrift/ https://becausetheyrethere.com/2016/11/03/karst-adrift/#comments Thu, 03 Nov 2016 08:01:33 +0000 http://becausetheyrethere.com/?p=9628 Continue reading →]]> https://becausetheyrethere.com/2016/11/03/karst-adrift/feed/ 31 McEff karst-1 karst-2 karst-3 karst-4 karst-5 karst-6 The base of the cliff, showing the end of a phreatic tube ??? in the centre of the picture ??? emerging from a bedding plane in the limestone. Phreatic tubes are caves that formed deep beneath the water table, the water dissolving their sides and roof equally, hence their circular or oval cross-section karst-7 karst-10 karst-11 karst-12 karst-13 karst-14 This section was hard work. I had to remove my rucksack and drag it behind me to squeeze through here karst-16 karst-17 karst-18 karst-19 karst-20 karst-21 karst-22 karst-23 karst-24 karst-25 karst-26 karst-27 karst-28 karst-29 karst-30 https://becausetheyrethere.com/2016/08/25/days-like-this-no-24-beinn-alligin-horns-and-all/ https://becausetheyrethere.com/2016/08/25/days-like-this-no-24-beinn-alligin-horns-and-all/#comments Thu, 25 Aug 2016 07:00:06 +0000 http://becausetheyrethere.com/?p=9592 Continue reading →]]> https://becausetheyrethere.com/2016/08/25/days-like-this-no-24-beinn-alligin-horns-and-all/feed/ 22 McEff alli 1 Sgurr Mhor, which at 986 metres is the higher of Beinn Alligin???s twin peaks. Eag Dhubh is the gulley commencing just beneath the summit and running down to the centre of the picture. Na Rathanan, more commonly known as the Horns of Alligin, are the three linked peaks Here???s a lesson for all you lady hikers: don???t allow your husband to dress himself because he???ll think nothing of wearing running shorts, a thermal jacket and a woolly hat knitted by his grandmother alli 4 alli 6 alligin https://becausetheyrethere.com/2016/08/15/days-like-this-no-23-slioch-the-unseen-mountain/ https://becausetheyrethere.com/2016/08/15/days-like-this-no-23-slioch-the-unseen-mountain/#comments Mon, 15 Aug 2016 07:22:22 +0000 http://becausetheyrethere.com/?p=9578 Continue reading →]]> https://becausetheyrethere.com/2016/08/15/days-like-this-no-23-slioch-the-unseen-mountain/feed/ 21 McEff slioch 1 slich 4 slioch 2 slioch 3 https://becausetheyrethere.com/2016/08/08/in-the-valley-of-the-toril/ https://becausetheyrethere.com/2016/08/08/in-the-valley-of-the-toril/#comments Mon, 08 Aug 2016 07:00:41 +0000 http://becausetheyrethere.com/?p=9561 Continue reading →]]> https://becausetheyrethere.com/2016/08/08/in-the-valley-of-the-toril/feed/ 31 McEff The 3,000-metre summit of Pico del Tajo de los Machos rises above the valley of the Rio Toril and the ruins of Cortijo Antonio Domingo toril 2 toril 3 A corner of a foreign field that might well be forever England ??? only it???s Spain. Good to see old baths used as animal troughs. Not so sure about the pink colour scheme, though . . . toril 5 A threshing floor. Gerald Brennan, in his book South from Granada, goes into how these structures functioned. The oats or barley was spread over the flags then a mule or donkey was led in circles around the floor, pulling a man who stood upon a wooden sledge. The action of the sledge on the cereal crushed the seeds from the stalks and chaff. When the evening wind got up, which it always does at harvest time, men with pitchforks tossed the material into the air, and the stalks and chaff were carried off in the breeze, while the seeds fell back to the floor Here???s another, a little further up the valley. Threshing floors were always built on hillocks or places where they would catch the wind Sierra de L??jar catches the morning sunshine toril 8 toril 9 toril 11 toril 12 Mulhacen, mainland Spain???s highest mountain, rises above high meadows toril 14 toril 15 toril 16 toril 17 toril 19 The ruins of the Cortijo Toril, the first of the three cortijos in the Toril valley Pico del Tajo de los Machos dominates the valley head The Cortijo Combate ??? which translates as the cottage of combat. No one here today except me and some cows toril 21 toril 22 No. I wouldn???t sleep in it either . . . toril 24 toril 26 toril 27 https://becausetheyrethere.com/2016/07/11/the-high-and-mighty-mines-of-lujar/ https://becausetheyrethere.com/2016/07/11/the-high-and-mighty-mines-of-lujar/#comments Mon, 11 Jul 2016 07:00:18 +0000 http://becausetheyrethere.com/?p=9477 Continue reading →]]> https://becausetheyrethere.com/2016/07/11/the-high-and-mighty-mines-of-lujar/feed/ 29 McEff lujar 1 lujar 3 The Miners??? Path has been in use since ancient times The town of Orgiva nestles on the slopes of the Sierra Nevada. During the heyday of the mines, the population was 9,000 ??? 3,000 more than today???s total. The blue mountain standing alone to the right of the picture is Mulhacen, which at 3,479 metres is mainland Spain???s highest peak The tiny white farmstead on the ridge in the centre of the picture was to have been my destination for today, before I strayed into a herd of wild boar and revised my plans. Funny how things work out lujar-a lujar 6 lujar 7 lujar 8 lujar 9 After 200 metres the tunnel ends in collapsed ground. Strange how so much wet mud can be found in such a dry environment The view from the terrace down to the valley, with the Rio Gadalfeo winding across the picture and the main road just visible among the trees lujar 12 lujar 13 lujar 14 A core sample from a core drilling rig An air shaft at the side of the mine road. How deep is anybody???s guess Living quarters, complete with fireplaces and laundry facilities The low structure on the right is a lavadero ??? a series of washing tubs for scrubbing your clothes. These communal washing facilities are common in Spanish villages. Looks like the miners had them as well lujar 20 lujar 21 lujar 22 lujar 23 lujar 24 lujar 25 lujar 19 Socavon de San Luis is one of the main levels of the mine lujar 27 lujar 28 Socavon del Nivel 70 is one of the highest of the modern workings lujar 30 I was quite pleased to find this old core-boring rig. Peter Appleyard, of Torver, and myself spent several months using a similar rig to take core samples up at High Gawthwaite Quarry, and behind the Rightway and in the Deep Level at Burlington Slate Quarry, Kirkby-in-Furness, back in the mid-1980s, looking for fresh deposits of slate. The rig was borrowed from Honister Slate Mine but belonged to the Penrhyn company, in Wales, if I remember correctly. It was cold, wet work. Got some old slides somewhere lujar 32 The main administrative and maintenance centre of the mine, where the laboratories and fitting shops are located. One of the main tunnels is situated behind the buildings lujar 34 lujar 35 lujar 36 lujar 37 A scalopendra, crushed beneath the wheels of a vehicle. This centipede is a nasty piece of work and can deliver a really painful sting lujar 39b