Northern Spain, wandering on wet weekends (almost always)

SORRY FOR THESE LOST PICS, SMUGMUG ACOUNT WENT TO HELL
thread follows down the hall

I´ll try to show what´s all around my home town HERE

I´ll try to show how hard it is to wander through these mountains, which are not very high, but very difficult l when you drive a 950 SE
Wet Mountains at least 10 months a year



hidden corners all around


trying all day long not to lie down too quickly


but. you know, that shit happens with slippery mud every day when the track chosen are this way


Anyway, there's always a nice reward for supporting so wet and gloomy weather



but there is always nearby destinations a target for next week







more to come............
I´ll be watching you

Oh my, beautiful scenery. I must visit that region ...:eek1

it always starts the same way...........
jumping among the puddles the view opens wide



to start climbing






again and again, neverending








that place some months before
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and wet
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more to come..............

But, when everything at home´s OK, we use to ride for some days........................


This time we headed south, to a three-day route trying to enjoy springtime as much as possible
after circumvent the wet tracks already mentioned, we went across the Ebro river to La Rioja, good soil and better wines with the intention of crossing into the plains of Castilla through Sierra Demanda, with passes up to 2.200mtrs.
the route, 511kms:
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with this elevation profile



these forest are old and protected, so there´s no many single or double tracks all over there and don´t have any maintenance




dark tracks we saw, smelled and heard with some magic


and we also begin to see our limitations, our ability to route, tracks were loosing every mile, our mastery of the medium, our fears and above all our haste to get out of there because it was taking us too much effort and too much time


but we did it, this is upper side of Sierra Demanda where dry weather isshowing old villages dipped in new dams


more...........

After passing the mountains, the ground is improving, so we can raise the average trip, entered into extensive pine tree areas and tracks in good conditions





this is Soria, a large province with very little population, practically dedicated to forestry

wide landscapes


but day was running out, near a village of a singular name, Boos, and after passing two native examination (both may total 300 years), we set out to spend the night here




dinner could be better, I know


more to come...........

woke up, strong breakfast and running again trhu big plains, stumbling upon nice villages


full of color and turbulent past

walled villages in the turbulent Middle Ages

being careful with these monsters

and sheeps

200 kms of flat lands


some river crossing, not deep, and getting hot at midday


more flat valleys


and more small villages

when we arrived at the first mountains in hours







so we are now at Alto Tajo

we go round and round because tihis area is a National Park, but it was worth, we had to keep on roads suitable for motor vehicles




red stones and high vertical cliffs, there were many many people rappelling


we had lunch there, of course
after this colorful oasis, we continued crossing more flat valleys to more villages with great story to tell from its many old buildings





until we reached to another nice area, Albarracin

pine area again, clayey soil, sandy......... more heat and more sun




down this last hill, we reached our destination, the Alto Turia, where we spent one hotel night at a KTM bikes meeting




the next day to retrace our steps going North
uh!, there you can find THIS
hope you liked it
thxs for reading

means.........


all over here







bike´s still clean but five or ten miles after that pic





waterfalls everywhere

but the sound of falling water relaxes

like forgotten churches in the middle of nowhere





doors closed many years before i got here



mud sometimes gives you a break

^^^ Nice!!! I bet that was fun and frustrating at the same time! At least you had the right bike for it! Cool pics!

I used to live in Bilbao while studying abroad during college...wish I had a dual sport while living there after seeing these pics!

and a good rainsuit

thanks

Got out of bed at eight thirty
phone up a friend but didn´t pick up the cell, hés a party animal, you know

thinking what to do, where to go alone again mmmmmmmmmm

here i go again, rainsuit on, GPS off, who need it here

things start easy, no mud, no steep slope



but that changes quickly in all senses

many creeks to cross due to five days of steady rain
rocks are more slippery than ice when the slope is pronounced



sometimes, even walking turns hard

and sometimes i´m lucky, i found this shit right next to my front wheel

and this

well, actually I did not stop, I just passed this long curve going down and mud did not help much to slow down





I was really lost, but the place was worth it


In fact, there´s nothing all around but trees.......

....... mud..........

creeks

puddles

and KTM flowers

and this..........



more to come

Nice pics and trip, in north of Spain always rains! The best muddy.

Ondo pasa mutil!

Great photos.
Cool seeing all the old buildings we don't have around here.

yeah, there´s a bunch of those all around here because of iron mining in early 20th century, now, they´re just a ruin inside the forest


this was a part of it in a museum at one of these mountains

and modern times changes that poor past into new bunch of mofo playing golf and dividing funny bike areas by fences


that golf is up to this

the lake forms that waterfall

but enduros use to climb this one, not me

i have to take some detours

thanks for that - I have an affinity with Northern Spain - possibly a Celtic thing

celtics are beside us

here

i´m from the other side, HERE
although we have many things in common

thanks for the interest

This past weekend, we headed to colonize the lands of Castilla, but the rain did not let us
just a small sample, one of these days will make a RR

first mountain




that lead you to first big plain


but storm ends up reaching us

this could be a "home made 360º sight", eight pics of that plain








we had to spend that night in this "love shack"


and invoke Celtic spirits with a "queimada", my riding mate is Galician



that place was amazing


here´s the route
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Awesome. Thanks for taking us with. :)

rescuing on board files from a wet SD

wet northern area




getting higher landscape changes

not too high but always too wet and cold makes pinetrees disappear

and opens land to the big Masa plains






big rocky plains



with fucking hidden creeks there where you think there´s nothing






more pics soon...

No hay una sola flor en todo el post!!!
Este no eres tú Ata...