![]() | Field Notes (Continued) |
Tom Schweich |
![]() Topics in this Article: 1800s 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 1991 1993 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2008 Tour de Swertia albomarginata Mono Lake, August 2008 2009 2010 2010s 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 Contents Literature Cited |
When I first read the field notes of Annie Alexander and Louise Kellogg, I was fascinated by the descriptions they wrote about the places they went and the plants and animals they found there. By publishing my field notes on the Internet I hope to follow a little bit in their tradition. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Glacier Point
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| 2003
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| Saturday, March 22
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Other articles:
Bridge View Isle
at Towata Pk
322
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Pseudognaphalium luteoalbum (L.) Hilliard & B. L. Burtt. Jersey Cudweed.
| Towata Park, City of Alameda, Alameda County, California. In the vacant lot across Bridgeview Isle from Towata Park, near Bay Farm Bridge abutment on Otis Drive (California Highway 61). 37.7501°N, 122.2369°W. WGS 1984. Elev. 3 m. Coll. No. 322, 22 March 2003, characters observed while keying: Annual, to 25 cm., tap-rooted; Stem, branched at base, ascending, tomentose, without embedded translucent oil glands; Leaves, alternate, sessile to ±clasping, to 35 mm., not spiny, entire, leaves just below cluster of flowers shorter than cluster; Inflorescence, without strap-shaped corollas, flowers of 1 kind; Heads, many per flower stem; Involucre 3 mm.; Phyllaries in 2+ series, unequal in size and appearance, outermost transparent, inner have some green near base, not spiny; Receptacle epaleate; Pappus of fine bristles, 8-12+, shed in rings; Corollas, white to pink, radial (not bilateral).
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| My 2003 Trip To Spain
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| Monday, April 14th
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Our flight left San Francisco on time and we landed in Toronto a few minutes early. No one was wearing masks in San Francisco, so we did not put ours on either. The same in Toronto, no masks.
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Our plane landed in Madrid a few minutes early. I slept maybe 20 minutes on the flight. On the flight into Madrid we were handed a questionnaire about asking whether we had any fever or cough, where we were coming from, and where we were staying in Spain. These were collected in Madrid, but not reviewed at the collection point. The only mask we saw was in Madrid, worn by the medical person who was handing out a SARS information sheet.
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We cleared customs and headed for the Metro station. After realizing that the walk was substantial, plus we carrying lots of baggage, and the knowledge that we would have to climb up and down stairs while we transferred twice in the Metro, we decided to take a taxi. The taxi fare from Barajas to Atocha was €18, including some additional charges for four pieces of luggage the driver had to handle.
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At Atocha we had a light breakfast and then waited a few minutes for our train. We were a little late getting on the train as the baggage shelves were quite full, and another person was in our seat. After a little ticket-showing and gesturing, she agreed to change. The ride from Madrid to Sevilla was very pretty, the hills were quite green as Spain has been getting some rain lately. I tried to take some photos from the train, but all the fore- and middle-grounds were blurred by the high speed of the train.
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Our daughter, Rachel, met us at Estacion Santa Justa, and we took a taxi to our house. I took a shower and a short (2 hour) nap. A pair of leg cramps, both legs, cramped up solid, rudely awakened me. Maybe it would have been good to walk a little more when we arrived at Seville, rather than just crash for a nap.
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Having been so rudely awakened, I dressed and then went out. My daughter and son in law live in a courtyard, so you have to have keys for the courtyard, the building and the apartment. I could hear some music and when I got to the street, it seemed like everyone was going one direction, toward the city center. So I followed them. There was a large crowd in Plaza Ponce de Leon, and I could see some purple "capirotes" crossing the plaza. After waiting a short time, music started to play and people would applaud. Then it got loud and from around a corner these four guys and an olive tree lurched around the corner and across the plaza disappearing into a small side street. I hope that doesn't sound horrible or like I'm some sort of cultural illiterate, because it was pretty impressive. I just had no idea what to expect. Loud music, incense, and these very imposing statues, moving in strange way. People were clapping in a very sharp, distinct way. It had a different qualify than the polite applause you might expect at a parade. It reminded me of the very sharp clapping we've heard at flamenco programs. Later, over coffee and the Semana Santa program, we figured out this was Beso de Judas, and they were off their normal route because they were returning to the church due to the threat of rain.
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In the evening, we thought we would catch some Salidas ("exits") from the churches. We went to Las Penas, Las Aguas, and El Museo. Each, however, had been cancelled because of the threat of rain.
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We had tapas at La Gigantica, and then turned in for the night.
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| Tuesday April 15th.
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We got up this morning and went down to La Gigantica on Plaza Ponce de Leon for coffee and tostada ("toast").
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Down a little further we came to what looked like a church with the door open. People were going in and out, so we joined them. Inside were about 6 "pasos" (floats), and people were going in to see them. Later, outside, we learned this was the Iglesia de la Anunciacion, which is adjacent to the University of Seville School of Fine Arts. We don't know whether these pasos went out, but looking at the Practical Guide to Semana Santa from El Pais, it doesn't seem like they do. I took several photos, as it seemed to OK to do so. Later on TV we saw film of the same church. The candles had been lit for the filming.
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We walked down toward El Corte Ingles, a big Spanish department store, to buy my wife some socks. Then, we sat in the cafe under Hotel Americana until Rachel came to join us for lunch. It rained during and after lunch, sometimes hard, so we're thinking there won't be any pasos this afternoon. We came back to Rachel's apartment and are watching last year's Semana Santa on TV. The weather is breaking up a little bit, but not clearing. Some of the pasos have already been cancelled, but others are saying they may come out if the weather clears.
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| Tuesday April 15th Afternoon
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In the afternoon, we walked by two nearby churches to see if they were open. Sometimes if the pasos don't go out from the church because of rain, then the church will be open so people can come in and see them. However, the two nearby churches were not open. Since Rachel's friend Amalia was coming by, Rachel and my wife went back to the apartment, while Nacho and I went to the supermarket.
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At the supermarket, we got some fruit. The routine is to get a plastic bag and a plastic hand mitt to pick up the fruit and put it in the bag. Then you weigh the fruit on a nearby scale and push the button that corresponds to the number of the item you got. The scale prints a label that you stick on the bag. Then you twist up the open end of the bag and push it through a little slot that neatly ties a tape around the bag. No twist ties here.
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Amalia was at the apartment when son in law and I returned. So we headed out and went to the three churches: San Esteban, Candelaria and Santa Cruz that Amalia knew were open. All three churches were scheduled to send out pasos today, but they cancelled because of rain. People were going to the churches, instead.
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After visiting the churches, we went to a Gallego (Galician) tapas place. The tapas were quite a bit different. We had a Galician white wine called Ribeiro that was very mild. We also had pulpo (octopus), Patatas Brava (potatoes in a tomato sauce that Spaniards would consider to be spicy), Gambas Alioli (shrimp served in boiling olive oil with garlic), and something else I can't remember at the time.
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By this time we learned that one paso had gone out, so we found a place at the end of Sierpes (main shopping street in Seville) to wait for the paso. It was very crowded, but we finally got to see one complete paso go by. This one was La Bofeta ("The Slap"). This paso depicts Christ before the High Priest Anas where the guy in the purple robe slaps him. The Nazarenos were all dressed in white. The comparison to Ku Klux Klan robes is very strong, but also unfortunate. The book says 650 total people. It didn't seem like that many to me. The Christ paso comes by first followed about 30 minutes later by the Virgin, each accompanied by their own band.
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After this paso went by, we walked Amalia home and then walked back to Rachel and Nacho's apartment getting home a little after midnight.
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| Wednesday, April 16th.
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This morning the sky is blue with not a cloud in the sky. We're going to try to see two pasos coming in from the city this afternoon: La Sed and San Bernardo. They are large pasos, one with 1300 people and the other with 1900 people.
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We went out, walking down to a neighborhood known as Alfalfa. We got cafe con leche in one place, and then had lunch at another. We ordered a 1/2 ration of Ensalada Mixta (Mixed Salad: lettuce, onion, tomato, and tuna), and a 1/2 ration of Chicken Breast. The salad was quite large, and the chicken breast was 3 breasts, so we should have ordered chicken breast as a tapas, i.e., much smaller portions.
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Other articles:
Field Notes
Thursday, February 19, 2004
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After the virgin went by, we left to go find another paso: La Sed ("The Thirst"). We wound through the passages of old Seville following other people who seemed to know where they were going, and in a hurry. We arrived at La Sed, just as the Cristo was going by. Since they stop and rest every 100 yards or so, we were able to get ahead of the paso, and then stop to watch it go by. This Cristo apparently refers to Jesus' words, "I thirst." After a while the Virgin went by. It seems like many of the parishioners follow along behind the virgin. After they went by, we made our way back to Rachel and Nacho's apartment.
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My wife and I went back to Rachel's apartment to meet her after work. But she was late and rushed, so my wife and I went to Christo de Burgos to watch a salida. The street in front of the church was packed. Then an ambulance went by and we had to pack in tighter to make room for it. There were people trying to walk right behind the ambulance to get through the crowd, but after the ambulance the crowd surged back into the ambulance's wake. Then we watched salida of the Cristo and then the Virgin.
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At Rachel's apartment we determined to watch one more paso, down in the center of Sevilla. The streets were extremely crowded and we couldn't move. The paso depicted Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, but they set it down around the corner from our location, and then moved quickly across the intersection where we were standing. Our view was very short, but we waited until the virgin passed.
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After the paso, we tried to eat at a bar near my Rachel and Nacho's apartment, but the restaurant was very busy and got the orders mixed up, so we had to wait a long time, and it was late when we got back to the apartment.
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| Thursday April 17th
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This morning we got up late and took a while getting ready to go. son in law and I walked over to get the car at the Hertz office at Estacion Santa Justa. The car was an Opel ____, a small mini-van. It was a little bigger than Ford Focus Wagon I had in mind, but it is OK.
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Nacho drove the car back to the apartment. It was a good thing because the police stopped us. They were not letting cars into the neighborhood, in preparation for the day's pasos. Nacho explained that he lived in the neighborhood, and waved a piece of paper that had his address, and the police let us through. We parked for a few minutes in the basement garage. Nacho went up and got Rachel, my wife, and they brought the luggage.
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I was happy to let Nacho drive out of town. At one point the street was so narrow, Rachel had to fold back the mirror. We went north out of town to A-92, the highway to Granada.
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Locations:
Osuna.
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We drove to Osuna in about an hour. At the Plaza Mayor, we parked and had lunch in a small cafe bar. We had Boccarones in Vinegar, Gambas ____(Deep-fired shrimp), Chicken in a sauce from the Azores (adobo ?), and Ensalada Rusa, a kind of Potato Salad.
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After eating lunch, we walked up to the top of the town. There was a old building there, not really a castle, and a fine view of the surrounding countryside.
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Locations: Puerto del Suspiro de Moro. Valle de Lecrín.
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Leaving Osuna, I took over driving, and after a false start, we got off in good shape. Drove past Granada, getting a glimpse of the Alhambra at one point. Very quickly we were over the Puerto del Suspiro de Moro and in Valle de Lecrín and the Mediterranean watershed.
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Very soon, we exited the freeway and drove a few miles to Lanjaron. Here we got gas and continued to Orgiva, then turned off for Pampaneira, Bubion and Capileira. The roads are a bit narrow, and the drop off is steep but the drive is easy.
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Locations: Capileira.
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In Capileira, we drove up through the town to Finca Las Llanos at the top of Capileira. We checked in and then walked down into the town, in search of tourist information. The tourist place was closed. Opens at 9:00 AM tomorrow morning. The we walked to the Church, to see if there was going to be a paso in Capileira tonight. There was no notice on the door, but we asked a man standing outside the church. He said there would be a small paso after Mass.
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We were a bit hungry, so we went to a local market and bought some food. Back at Finca Los Llanos we had a small snack and them walked down into town. At the church, we waited until Mass was over but there was no paso.
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Literature Cited:
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At Cafe Europa, which we learned specialized in ice cream, we had ice cream and coffee. We also bought the recreation map of Las Alpujarras and a book about the region. The Alpujarra book is: Pascual, Jose Pascual Real. n.d. La Alpujarra. Barcelona Spain: Editorial Escudo de Oro S.A. ISBN: 84-378-1614-9. The map does not have copyright information but includes a booklet about the region and the bibliographic reference is: Anonymous. n.d. Sierra Nevada National Park: Alpujarras, Marquesado del Zenete. Granada, Spain: Editorial Penibetica. ISBN: 84-931217-8-9.
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We are now back at Finca Los Llanos, and watching the news.
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| Friday, April 18th
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Locations:
Pampaneira.
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This morning we had a brief snack, and headed down to Pampaneira, because that is where the local information center is. Tried to arrive in the Aparcamiento, but it was quite full so we returned to a spot just above town.
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Locations:
Pampaneira.
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We arrived a little early, so had breakfast of café con leche and tostada with aciete and tomate in the plaza outside. The tostada was a sliced bun that was lightly toasted. On this we drizzled olive oil, and then spooned pureed tomato. A little salt helped it immensely. Accustomed as I am to my oatmeal or eggs for breakfast, I was a little dubious. But it was quite good (a little salt helps), and carried us through until lunch.
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Locations:
Pampaneira.
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The information center opened at 11:00 AM. It was primarily for Parque Nacional Sierra Nevada, with some very nice interpretive displays, but they also had other local information as well. I saw one very tempting book, a flora of endemic plants to Parque Nacional, published by the Junta de Andalucia for €36. There are three Gentians found in the park, but no Frasera.
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Locations:
Orgiva.
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Then we drove further down to Orgiva to see their Feria (Fair) of local foods and crafts. This was primarily for promotion of local producers and vendors. Featured were jamon (ham), wine, and confections. There was one blacksmith making furniture and one potter who was turning a pot. A local tile maker was exhibiting their tiles that I wish were available in the United States. When we were redoing our bathroom, we had lots of choice of Italian tile, but no Spanish tile was available in the Bay Area. There were also a couple of weavers. My favorite was the turron, a confection of almonds, sugar and honey, and Rachel took a photograph of me trying to buy some. The seller kept wanting to give us samples, I guess not realizing that we wanted to buy some turron as well.
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From there we walked into the town a little bit, as Rachel wanted to buy some cough medicine. It took a bit of walking to find an open Pharmacy, but eventually they did. At the church, we learned that Orgiva has a paso tonight. They are taking Cristo out in the sepulcher followed by the virgin. We watched the pasos being prepared, with white chrysanthemums at the feet of the virgin, and a few more in the ferns decorating the Cristo paso. Rachel and Nacho may want to drive down to see it but I think my wife and I might pass on the opportunity.
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Locations:
Rio Guadalfeo.
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Walked back to the Feria and got our car, heading south and east looking for a place to have lunch. The highway south from Orgiva crosses over the Guadalfeo, where it joins another large highway connecting Motril to Torvizcón and on to Cadiar and Ugijar.
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Other articles: Alpujarra Torvizcón Locations:
Torvizcón.
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Locations:
Orgiva.
Rio Guadalfeo.
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On our return we stopped for a photo of the Guadalfeo valley, and then again at an overlook between Pampaneira and Bubion. The views were almost opposite each other, as the dam across the Guadalfeo could be seen from both sides. I remember reading about this dam. Apparently it has rarely gotten full, because there just isn't enough sustained runoff, and it has nearly filled with sediment because of the occasional floods with huge sediment loads. Even the bed of the Guadalfeo is braided in places, an indication that the sediment load is far greater than the capacity of the river.
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Back at Finca Los Llanos, we have had a Siesta and now, at least, I am stirring.
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After bringing my journal up to date, I went out briefly. Walked to the edge of town and then out on a little trail. It began to climb quickly. Below I could see a good wide trail that left from a lower parking lot of Capileira. This must be the trail up the canyon.
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Tonight we sampled the buffet at Finca Los Llanos. They served a limited salad, with chicken, fish, potatoes and swiss chard as the main course. Not quite a Hometown Buffet, but enough to each. Quality: OK; price: a little steep at €9 a plate.
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| Saturday April 19th.
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Today was to be our walking day, but I woke up early in the morning to the sound of rain. As the clouds lifted in the valley we could see snow across the canyon, just a few meters above the level of our hotel. As the morning progressed the rain stopped, so after breakfast at Cafe Europa, we went to the little store, bought some supplies and set off for our day's walk.
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Locations: Barranco del Poqueira.
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From the lower parking lots of Capileira that I saw yesterday, we took a broad path that headed up the canyon (Barranco del Poqueira) to the bridge called Puente Buchite.
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We passed by a grove of almond trees in bloom, and numerous small outbuildings.
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Just before Puente Buchite, I slipped and in the process of catching myself shredded the skin on the side of my thumb. I was, of course, fully equipped for this accident, and staunched the flow of blood with an old, used Kleenex.
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Locations:
Puente Buchite.
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At Puente Buchite, we sampled the water of Rio Poqueira. It was very cold, having come directly from the snow, and a little milky, perhaps with rock flour from the high mountains.
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Immediately after crossing Puente Buchite, the trail climbs away from Rio Poqueira, and travels up the canyon, climbing from terrace to terrace.
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The weather continued to be sun and clouds with wind and occasional light rain. We stood under a little shelter to get a break from wind, then pressed on.
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We saw many rock lined circular platforms along the way. I thought maybe they were to catch the rain, but Rachel and Nacho got it right, that they are for threshing of grain. Every little ranch or finca had one. Later a man would confirm this for us, and point out that they are built at an exposed location to catch the wind to blow away the chaff.
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We were passed by one hiking group, most of whom were speaking German. Some of them were equipped for some serious hiking, with poles and boots and daypacks with rain covers.
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The fog would come and go, sometimes the sun would tantalize us a bit and the fog would lift enough for a view of the other side of the canyon. At this place we could hear some bells for a flock of sheep, but we never saw them until we were on the opposite side of the canyon.
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Finally we made a descent from Haza Llana to Puente Naute at La Cebadilla. Rachel pointed out the black sand beach along side the river, being the dark minerals from the schist. At some old buildings above the river, we had our lunch of bread, cheese, salami, and oranges.
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Thoroughly chilled from sitting still while we ate our lunch, we started our return along the road to La Cebadlla.
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From the road we could look back across the canyon and see the sheep that we heard on the ranch below. They were a small flock, maybe 30 sheep, and were moving from terrace to terrace.
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About half way back to Capileira, we crossed Acequia de los Lugares. Here a path aptly named "Camino Capileira" left the main road. It generally followed the aqueduct across the side of the canyon.
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We came upon a man and his sheep (mixed with a few goats) at his house. We asked about the threshing floors and he told us about them. He also said that each ranch had their own threshing floor to minimize conflict with neighbors.
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Soon the trail dropped right down into Capileira, at the point I explored last night.
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We stopped at Cafe Europa for a little refreshment, then returned to Finca Los Llanos for a short nap.
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Now, at 7:00 PM, it is clear outside, with just a few clouds around the mountain peaks. It is also quite breezy, so there isn't any haze built up in the canyon.
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For dinner we went to Restaurante Alpuxarra, just across the road from Finca los Llanos. son in law and I had the Plato Alpuxarreño, which was a blood sausage, another sausage something chorizo, patatas pobres, and a fried egg. I tasted the blood sausage and decided it wasn't for me. The papas a la pobres were fried with onion and pepper and of course lots of olive oil, so while burned in some places they were not crisp.
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Yesterday, today's forecast for this region was mixed clouds and sun, but no rain. I'm thinking that today we saw some local weather effects from the Sierra Nevada. While other areas may have had just a few clouds, perhaps the clouds along moisture from the Mediterranean, only 20 km away, rising and cooling, produced the rain and snow. This morning as soon as the sun hit the canyon, a fog formed in the lower part of the canyon, blowing upward and obscuring the sun for us. Sometimes the sun could burn through the fog and clouds, other times to orographic effect was just too strong.
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It was an interesting day. I wish it were just a little bit warmer, but I certainly can't complain.
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Not sure what tomorrow will bring. I'm hoping it will be another walking day, maybe Capileira to Bubion to Pitres and return, but we'll see what the group wants to do. Then Monday, we are off for a brief visit to Granada before returning to Sevilla.
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| Sunday, April 20th
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Raining again this morning and, as the clouds lift, we can see snow down lower than yesterday. At about 10:00, blue sky breaks overhead.
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We tried to go to the museum in Capileira. The sign said it opened at 1130 am on Sundays. But, this Sunday, probably because it was Easter Sunday, the museum wasn't open.
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