Goodreads: The Appalachian Trail trail stretches from Georgia to Maine and covers some of the most breathtaking terrain in America–majestic mountains, silent forests, sparking lakes. If you’re going to take a hike, it’s probably the place to go. And Bill Bryson is surely the most entertaining guide you’ll find. He introduces us to the history and ecology of the trail and to some of the other hardy (or just foolhardy) folks he meets along the way–and a couple of bears. Already a classic, A Walk in the Woods will make you long for the great outdoors (or at least a comfortable chair to sit and read in)

As you can tell from my reviews, I also read Cheryl Strayed’s book “Wild” in which she walks the Pacific Crest Trail.  It was an enjoyable read that I could, as a woman, relate to on many levels. I laughed and cried in the course of reading the book.

“A Walk in the Woods” was different.  I suppose the main reason is that it was a man and men do things I just don’t understand.  I say that as a woman who raised a son as a single parent and who loves the differences.  I would never want a man who reacted like a woman in situations where I needed him to be a man and I’m sure most men would say the same thing about women.  :-)

This book made me not just laugh, but practically fall out of my chair laughing hysterically – sometimes at work.  Bill’s ideas, his shortcuts, his hiking partner… hilarious!  The people he met along the way…well, I have heard there were people like that out in the world and now I guess I know where to find them! LOL.

The one thing both books made me realize beyond a shadow of a doubt is that I will never attempt to walk either trail in any way, shape or form.  Though both writer’s talk about the comfort of getting back to the basics of life – I would not want to go through the pain to get to that place.  I love the outdoors – feel a kinship to the outdoors – but hiking mountains in deep snow…yeah, forget it.

Wonderfully written and funny from the first chapter, I have to say I very much enjoyed this book and recommend it without hesitancy.   I give the book an A!

Fuenfría valley streams

Amazing amounts of water coming down from the mountains, streams and small rivers full like i’ve never seen them, dams at maximum capacity.. Strange sights in the Sierra de Guadarrama..

El Arroyo de Matalobos in Fuenfría Valley

..the inevitable consequences of the enormous quantites of rain and snow that have fallen in Guadarrama this year. Temperatures have also risen – after a few days of wintry cold at the weekend – combining with the long evenings to give the first real sensations of Spring.

This stream in Fuenfría Valley went dry last Summer, now it’s difficult to cross.

High up in the mountains there’s also lots of water in the streams, though many water-ways are still covered in snow..

Arroyo de Cerradillas below Cabezas de Hierro

..and, despite the thaw, there is still an incredible quantity of snow above 1700-1800m. Most days the sensation is absolutely that of Winter, and even deep Winter on days like last Saturday with -7.5ºC in Cotos and probably close to -10º on the summits. Cold Spring days!

This past weekend we had an absolutely beautiful sunny day after two days of pouring, gloomy rain. So we took that chance to get started on a project we’ve been planning on. A potted garden!

Nicole and I have always loved gardening, and the idea of “living off the land” and eating more naturally. So, we’ve decided to try our hand at a bit of gardening and see how things go. Our parents are currently in the process of selling our house, so we know we are going to be moving soon, so we thought it would be best to stick to planting in pots, the idea of a herb garden immediately came to mind. Incase we find out neither of us have a green thumb we wanted to start with something simple and practical that we would use often and since we both love to cook, having fresh herbs around seemed like a great idea!

So, first we did some research online and at the library to get some pointers and tips and find out the best way to start an herb garden. Here are a couple books we found helpful for us beginners.

Kitchen Gardens in Containers – Antony Atha
Gardening made Simple – Better Homes and Gardens
Delia’s Kitchen Garden – Delia Smith
The Family Kitchen Garden – Karen Liebreich, Jutta Wagner, and Annette Wendland
Canadian Gardener’s Guide – Lorraine Johnson
The Herb Bible – Peter McHoy, Pamela Westland

An important thing we learned is that since we are going to be planting in pots, we have slightly different guidelines to follow, so keep that in mind if you want to start a garden—we found books specifically focusing on gardening in pots, as well as books that refer specifically to Canadian climate.

After we did our research we headed out to go shopping for everything we would need to start our garden! Our mom does a fair amount of gardening, so she had most of the tools we needed hanging around the garage, but we did buy a couple essential things to get started.

Seeds: We chose five types of herbs, a few flowers to try, and some vegetable seeds that we already had.

Planting Pods: These are a convenient way to start plants from seeds. They come as tiny pucks that expand upwards when water is added, then the seeds can be added. When the plant is big enough, the entire pod can be planted in a larger pot, allowing for deeper rooting. (Our pods came with a handy tray with a clear lid that can act as a little green house).

Starter Fertilizer: This is a little booster for seedlings. It can be added to the watering can once the plants have sprouted.

This will be an ongoing project so we will post updates every few weeks on how our plants are doing, tips we may have discovered, products we like, things that did and didn’t work for us, etc.

Let us know if you have any blogs or books that have helped you, or if you find any of the sources we are using helpful.

jessica

View from high on the other side of Siete Picos

What we see from Cercedilla when we look towards Siete Picos is the impressive South Face of the mountain. As beautiful as any mountain anywhere.

South Face of Siete Picos

At the moment it presents a snowy aspect with lines of white crisscrossing among the steep crags. In recent times it is increasingly rare to get more than minimal amounts of snow on this face and it is usually a matter of days before it disappears. Sad. Even i can recall a time when the snows lasted for several weeks, even months.

However Siete Picos also has a Northern aspect..maybe not so impressive visually if you are looking at it from the distance, from Segovia for instance, less steep and more heavily treed than the rocky South Face, but well-known to many people from close up due to the Camino Schmid which traverses the Northern slopes. And this year this North facing aspect has steadily accumulated snow since mid-January..there’s presently over a meter at about 1800-1900m altitude.

Meadow with deep snow under the Northern slopes of Siete Picos

And it’s not just any old snow..late February precipitation has deposited up to half a meter of cold dry snow – powder – on top of a considerable base of old snow. You could hardly ask for better conditions for skiing.

Starting from deep down in the valley..

Last Friday the 1st of March was quite a day. Quite a day indeed.

..hiking up the mountain, thru the Winter Wonderland.

It was overcast and grey for most of the day, and visibility was minimal on the higher parts of the mountain, close to the peaks..but the skiing was phenomenal, among the Valsaín pines.

Felix on the down

On days such as these everything seems magical, the sacredness of pristine Nature is revealed everywhere you look.. in the trees shrouded in the white of cold life..

Pine coated in rime

..in the water flowing..in the water frozen into ice..in the water transformed into snow crystals..

While the water tends down, we struggle back up..one more time

..and not only was the day profuse in natural phenomena, it was also prodigious, once more, in solitude..mere kilometers from Puerto de Navacerrada.

The following day, Saturday 2nd of March, was not less wonderful. If anything, though the snow may have been a tad more humid, the light made the day more brilliant.

The scene repeats..but with the addition of light

The sun shone from early Saturday morning, bathing the Winter-bound landscape in luminesence..adding new magic to the magic of old.

Up..up into the light

On reaching the upper part of the mountain, where the previous day you could barely see a few meters, the Sierra was  spectacularly visible.

Montón de Trigo, near neighbour of Siete Picos, looking West..

Every way you looked it was wondrous..the scintillating snow under your feet, the trees and crags coated in rime, the sunlight adding contour, depth and drama, the all round magnificence of the high Sierra under snow.

..to the East, Peñalara, majestic, seen from the summit crags of Siete Picos

On such a day it might seem a little superfluous but..we got to ski superb powder as well, on practically untracked slopes. I almost want to apologise..

Angel on the down

..but i won’t! I’ll just give thanks to the kosmos for letting me be..and thanks too to my ski buddies Felix, Juanjo and Angel for sharing these days with me..in this ephemeral Shangri-La of the Sierra de Guadarrama. Go maire muid na laethanta seo arís!

I came across a film maker who is looking into this topic and why he feels it is important to get children outside! It is an interesting piece.

Natural Deficit Disorder

Published on Mar 28, 2012

Shamanism and Anthropomorphism

Our wild Guadarrama pines are indeed magnificent trees, great numbers of them growing to 30m and not a few reaching 40m or more. Obviously the trees growing at higher altitudes – up to 2200m in Guadarrama – are smaller, often stunted by the fierce winds and cold conditions of the subalpine. But below 1800m and in favourable soil conditions Pinus sylvestris will grow to great heights, normally losing its lower branches as it ages and exposing its characteristic orange-coloured trunk. Here however we see another curious characteristic of this amazing floral being: it does not have a standard mature growth form, several different growth forms – ranging from the tall straight-trunked tree with foliage concentrated at the top to a multi-trunked tree with massive spreading branches and foliage at all levels – can be considered normal. Nowadays in the Sierra de Guadarrama you can find these conifers from around 1200m upwards, constituting the great pine forests of Fuenfría, Valsaín and the upper Lozoya valley. Nevertheless it should be pointed out that some of these forests are the result of extensive re-planting, carried out at the end of the nineteenth century and thru the last century..and are, consequently, not entirely natural.

More to come..

Forest fires and the end of paradise..

Family group on top of La Peñota, 1945m, with the Sierra de Guadarrama spreading out in the background

Last weekend to celebrate the arrival of Summer we got out to – and up – the mountains en famille! And while it wasn’t the first peak my almost three-year-old son has been up,  it was the first in which he carried out some more or less significant part of the ascent/descent on his own little legs.. and it was also the first in which the full family group including both progenitors and Auntie A. took part. We’re quite aware that it probably isn’t a great idea to drag kids around the mountains if the little ones aren’t into it, but, so far, our little guy seems to really like it. It has become increasingly common to hear platitudes about how important it is for children to be in contact with Nature, but sadly the reality for most urban-bound youngsters is that they are lucky if they have occasional contact with the street outside their home.. let alone with distant, far-flung and sometimes daunting Nature. Even in the small town of Cercedilla where we live, at the foot of the mountains,  many kids rarely transgress the city limits. And no, seeing wildlife documentaries on tv or visiting your local park don’t constitute profound experiences of the natural world. Nor do holidays at the beach in Summer or at ski resorts in Winter..they just don’t cut it, man – ¡Pan forbid! – ski stations in particular are, I would say, more of an anti-nature experience. As for zoos and “wildlife” parks, no comment. Now I’m not saying you have to haul your sprogs up a mountain every weekend, but I do believe that ‘contact with Nature’ means that you have to get away from the urb, and from large crowds of people, and mechanized transport. And if you do get some way up a mountain, then yes – unless you are in some kind of prostituted “National Park” – there’s a good chance you and yours will really be experiencing.. Nature!

Looking down into the wonderful Fuenfría Valley, from near the top of La Peñota.

Lake Minniwanka frozen and snowed over

Recently I wrote a post about how I have to get back to the basics in life and re-discover my passions in this crazy world. It’s really important for me during this crazy time of getting lost and losing focus on my priorities. Without going too deep into details, let’s just say that I haven’t been myself lately and I need to get back to being Yogi Crystal.

One way I like to relax and free my mind is to get out in nature. The city I live in is very close to the mountains and I’ll be honest, I don’t get to visit them as much as I would like. I got to make a trip out to the mountains for the first time in winter over a week ago and oh boy what a sight! So beautiful that it just takes your breath away. It felt nice to be out in nature, even if it was still snowing a little, to just see the beauty and hear the silence of the surroundings. It feels like you’re in another world out there, even the tourists seem calmed by the glorious mountain air.

It really is these little things in life that you have to appreciate – I’m learning this more and more from friends and readings. If we don’t spend time appreciating the small things then we will never feel grateful for what we do have right in front of us right now in this moment.

I tell you this today, because not too long ago my beautiful friend Thais wrote a fantastic post revealing her list of five blogs for the Leibster Award, which included my little bloggy here! It was very sweet of her and I feel very honoured to be mentioned on her blog. I really appreciate this small gesture and her compliments because I always enjoy reading her amazing posts – she really is wise for her young age.

The word Liebster means favourite or beloved, so as part of this award I am supposed to mention five blogs that really touch my heart (with under 200 followers) and thank the individual that awarded it to me.  I really like this idea because it has made me think about which blogs really bring a smile to my face or make me think and it also causes sharing and spreading the love around in the blogging world – and we could all use a little more sharing.

Took a lot of thought, but here are the five I selected (in no particular order my lovelies):

Yoga Betty – her fiery spirit and general love of life keeps me smiling with every post.  I also love her short yoga videos for quick practices at home.

The Curious World of L – beautiful short and sweet posts that are positive and come straight from her heart.

YogaLifeWay – she has to have more than 200 followers, but I just love her fun posts, honest writing, and fun pics.

YIOM – yes, I might be biased here because I am part of this great community of bloggers, but it also has a great blog written by my lovely friends Thais and Lorin, plus guest bloggers every month (including myself in January!).  Check it out, maybe even your blog could become part of this awesome community of yogis.

On An Inhale – great posts about her life, yoga, and nutrition – just the things that I love and hope to incorporate in my life soon!

Lake Louise, snowy but beautiful

It was difficult to pick just five blogs that I love as there are so many that I follow and love to read almost every day.  It’s nice to know that there is such a great community of bloggers out there in yoga, nutrition, and yes wine (I know, I know ).  I hope you have a chance to check these blogs out and grow to love them as I have.  Happy reading!  ॐ

Rubus fruticosus - Blackberries/Moras - Photo: AMCM

I have heard it argued several times as a justification of hunting that it’s something that humans have always done, a deep-seated anthropological practice, a throwback to our remotest origins. However if we examine these asseverations with a little rigour it becomes difficult to see how the contemporary practice of killing small animals for pleasure with firearms bears any relation to ancient human experience. On the other hand the practice of picking berries in the wild offers a direct connection to the experience of prehistoric humans, harking back to how we lived thousands of years ago – and tens of thousands of years ago.

The act of reaching out with the hand to pick the blackberry, detaching it more or less carefully from the thorny briar and guiding the ripe fruit back towards the mouth to the waiting teeth and tongue.. can hardly be very different in distant prehistory to what it was this past September in Guadarrama. An authentic hunter-gatherer experience. Truly primal!

During my first years in Spain, living in Madrid, I was often quite surprised to hear people welcoming the arrival of Spring and the warm weather. The Winters seemed pretty mild to me, and even if there were days when the temperatures plummeted or the heavens discharged quantities of cats and dogs upon the umbrellaless population, there was always a plentiful supply of sunshine around the corner. Indeed, compared to a ‘good’ Summer in Ireland, the capital of the high central plains appeared to offer even in the depths of Winter more days in the sun. Then when the ‘Spring’ arrived temperatures quickly shot up and within two weeks it was Summer, a Summer of sweltering heat which could last six months. And it was people who had lived in Madrid all their lives who were the first to assure me that this was quite unbearable and that in Summer you had to ‘get out of Madrid’.. Thence my surprise: if the Winters weren’t so bad and the Summers were so very long and so very hot – tres meses de invierno y nueve meses de infierno(..?) – why was everybody in such a hurry to see the Spring?

Later when I moved North to the mountains, I became more aware of the seasons and their differentiation. More aware than I had been for many years, maybe ever. And it was so much better. To begin with, there were seasons(!) ..something not so apparent in the capital. There was still a long Summer of course, but now only about four months, and there was a real Winter which in good years lasted for a solid three months. But, above all, there was a season that could seriously be called Spring, and there was an Autumn worth calling Fall. These seasons which in the city had seemed to be no more than brief transitional phases were restored to their rightful place in the calendar. Yeah, I was really getting back to Nature!

However, despite my happy re-discovery of Spring and knowing that it meant a period of mild or comfortably warm weather and that the brutal heat of Summer was still months away, I was never in any hurry to see the mercury rising. Among other things, I suppose I was getting older and the heat, even mild heat, was ever less attractive to me. So, in those not infrequent years in the Guadarrama when the cold of Winter, softened, with the edge taken off it, but still fresh, is prolonged into late March, thru April and sometimes even into May, in those years and in those invigorating days I am most happy. I really love cold Spring days.

Last month I spent a day teaching kids how to make seed starter pots out of newspaper.

I was struck by several things.

What a simple fun project.

How easy it is for all ages to participate. Including myself who since has taken on planting her own seed starts!

The project involves being practical and using leftover newspapers, making something, planting a seed that one can watch grow, and growing something that is either beautiful or good to eat!!

The versatility of the project is also worth mentioning. Once the starts have sprouted a child can either plant it in their garden or in a pot on a porch or in a sunny window!! Very inexpensive also.

I was so struck by the pleasure that younger kids have in making, playing  in dirt and the idea that something will grow and become.  I was reminded of wonder and joy!!

One rather boisterous child exclaimed, “You mean it will grow and become a real flower? For real? ” His toothless grin really warmed my heart.

Make a starter pot out of newspaper or two. Plant a seed and watch it grow.  When it matures let’s say into some snap peas or radishes, or perhaps lettuce.  Eat it! And then do it all over again!!

Nature at your fingertips!

image by karen hanrahan