In June 2024 we were in the Sierra de Guara and the Spanish Pyrenees. We had been in the Sierra de Guara before. It is a mountain range in the north of Spain and known for its wildlife, especially the vultures. The last time we were there, we only spent a few days and now we wanted to spend more time there. This time we took the car with us, since we preferred a bit more flexibility and not depend too much on public transport (like in 2023). The second part of our holiday we went to the Spanish Pyrenees and this time we went a bit early in the season – the month of June – which has advantages (not too crowded) and disadvantages (snow in the high mountains).
Camping
We stayed at a variety of campsites, from small and isolated ones to large scale family campsites. A particular nice small campsite is the one in Nocito (Sierra de Guara) run by an older couple who also run a small restaurant and shop in the village of Nocito; a quiet and beautiful place. Larger ones are campsites El Puente (close to Rodellar) and Valle de Anisclo; both in the Pyrenees. These are less quiet: in El Puente we struggled in the night with some drunk French people who were harassing your tent. The advantage of larger campsites is that they have a canteen where one can drink a beer and watch soccer games!
Trekking
We only did two small trekkings during this holiday since we mostly stayed on campsites and made day-hikes. The first trekking was to a place we had been before and wanted to visit again: Fuen Blanca in the Cañón de Añisclo. The second trekking was also to a place we had been before while doing a part of the Haute Route des Pyrenees: Refugio Barroude. This refugio burned down in 2014. The first time we were there in 2003 we camped close to the refugio and crossed the Port de Barroude. We really liked the scenery and want to go there again. Unfortunately, this time we hit upon a large snowfield close to the refugio and had to return. This is the disadvantage of going in early season.
Vultures
There are many vultures in the Sierra de Guara and many species; the most common Griffon Vulture, the very beautiful and less common Bearded Vulture (Quebrantahuesos in Spanish) and the Egyptian Vulture. Hiking in the Sierra, one can spot vultures feeding their young. Although the vultures are not marked as endangered species, these vultures can only survive when being fed by volunteers. We went to such a feeding ceremony where about 200-300 griffon vultures were being fed. Our ‘feeding volunteer’ did that already for 40 year and had no clear successor. It is uncertain what will happen to this vulture community in the future. There are about 1000-1500 of these vultures in that whole area. They tend to travel back and forth to places in Extremadura but many get killed by the windmills along the way. Culture is threatening nature again!
