More Vultures 20/1/24

Really cold night dropping to -7…good job we left the heating on. Guy thought he heard a wolf at one point, but I think it was a fox.

Brilliant sunshine and blue sky to wake up to, so we set off for a walk along the river through the canyon. Couldn’t decide if to put the crampon things on or not as it was still icy – went for double sticks instead! 

After about half a mile, the nice path was under water- in fact, the river had burst its banks everywhere preventing us from doing the route we’d planned up to the chapel of Saint Bartholomew. There were several hunting parties around, looking for wild boar with packs of dogs. Guy asked one of the men and he said that the road was fine, but not the path, so we followed the road instead. 

Brilliant scenery, with huge rocks and Griffon Vultures circling above again. We eventually reached the little chapel and then had a look in the huge cave behind it. Couldn’t see any bats though. 

Hungry and thirsty on the way back causing learned vulture behaviour with contents of fridge upon our return.

Back up the hairpin bends late afternoon to a viewpoint that we missed. It was dead level with where the huge birds were flying – so amazing, you could feel the draught from their wings as they went over. Guy got some of his best photos today, especially with the zoom lens, but we had to leave as some freezing fog rolled in and we still had to find somewhere to sleep.

Now parked for the night in a little village called Ayllón. The temperature seems to be dropping by the minute.