Negua/Not Negua

In Errezil for their apple festival. Getting there is a bit like parachuting in your car.

The Errezil apple variety is also known as Ibarbia or Reineta, and it is used in ciders and baking.

An apple paste tasting-quince paste is a common dessert, paired with cheese. The apple version is also very good.

We drove partway up Ernio and walked a bit also.

One of the restaurants near the summit of Ernio.

People run up this.

This is a great place if you're a geology fiend.

 

At the Lasarte-Hernani border, the bottle trees.

Egrets <3 Piggies

 

The European Goldfinch.

Escapees from the festival of Saint Thomas.

 

Rail Trails

With really warm fall weather up until well, yesterday, we took a rail trail that runs from Andoain to points east on Halloween. Shorts were worn, and maple cookies were involved.

 

People used to walk the rails to get from one town to the next. This person died when he was passing through the tunnel at an inopportune time.

Tiny horses on a tree terrace.

Fall colors are not what they are in colder climes.

Hydroelectric power plants once provided the electricity for this area. There are still private homes on the rivers that run completely on hydropower.

Going back to Santa Barbara.

Sometimes it's easier to reach the grass on the hillside if you just kneel.

 

Sheep naps.

Turkeys.

 

Buruntzaldea Walkabout

Happy Proximal Halloween.

The towns in the Buruntzaldea, the region of Gipuzkoa that includes Lasarte-Oria, Usurbil, Andoain, and Urnieta, puts on an annual event to encourage people to get to know the area by hiking between the towns on marked paths. They provide maps and a return bus trip and various baubles. We started in Lasarte with the water birds of the Oria River.

The gardens on the road to Zubieta are almost spent.

The trails are color-coded and regularly marked.

There was a pelota game in progress in Zubieta.

Route markers AND paintball.

Sunday, late morning, right idea.

The path to Aginaga is mostly flat and looks like this.

 

Apples and walnuts and peppers

Iberian squash example, with my hat for scale.

Horsetail forest.

Moar Trees and Water

Went to a presentation by Mark Manske of Adirondack Raptors. This is his Harris's Hawk.

 I recently went home to NY for a couple weeks. As it turns out, they have mountains there. And lakes and streams. And trees.

Here is his barn owl, Tessa. Adirondack Raptors does bird population monitoring and educational presentations. We also saw a European eagle owl and a horned owl.

The artist's studio at Camp Santanoni, formerly a recreational complex for a banking family from Albany and now a public park with hiking trails, canoes, and camping. One of my favorite hikes, as it requires virtually no exertion.

Boating on Brant Lake.

Coral fungus at Santanoni.

Stealthy heron, Brant Lake.

Stone wall, Santanoni.

Chester Creek.

Fall is coming.

Lily pads, Brant Lake.

Lake George.

Indian Pipes.

King of the Frosties LIVES. And smells like fried.

I like saprophytes.

Nice to see old friends-Lobelia.

Waterfall at Loon Lake.

A loon at Santanoni. When I was a kid, loons were rarely seen. Still threatened, changes in the economics of the greater northeast and greater conservation efforts have helped them come back to some extent.

 

Lucifer Falls, Ithaca

Pharaoh Lake Wilderness.

The North Creek Mosaic Project.

Detail from the mosaic.

Lucifer Falls, Ithaca

Santanoni trail

 

Lake Pleasant, Speculator.

Pharaoh Lake

Santanoni

Santanoni

Schaefer Trail at Gore Mountain

Lake George

Stewart Park, Ithaca

Stewart Park

Oh hey it's America/Lake George.

Turtle, Chester Creek

Cascadilla Creek, Ithaca