The peak of Pelopin can be reached from the Cotefablo pass which is half way between Biescas and Torla. The pass is over 1400m so it makes a great place to quickly get up into the mountains from.

Friday afternoon I was suffering from cabin fever after a week of bad weather so I called Rafa and we headed up to Pelopin – the clouds were low and it was windy but it was good to get out and blow the cobwebs away.

Rafa crossing a small patch of snow

There’s been a lot of snow since Easter and there’s probably more snow in the high mountains than at any time this winter – it’s falling on warm ground though and I expect it to melt pretty quickly once the sun comes out again. We had a few small patches of snow to cross but nothing much.

Looking towards Ordesa

From the summit you get superb views of the cliffs of Ordesa. It was a bit cloudy and dull for great views today and Monte Perdido and the 3000m peaks on the border were all completely covered.

If we’d had a bit more time we’d have walked round this nice broad ridge which continues for several kilometres.

Dolmen at Santa Elena

Earlier in the day Anna headed up to Santa Elena with the girls – here they are at the dolmen which dates back to 2000BC (although had to be reconstructed after they used it as a machine gun point in the civil war!). Read more about the dolmen.

Hoping for some sunshine next week so we can get out a bit more!

This 16th century bridge is called ‘el viejo’ or ‘del Paco’ as it links the district called ‘El Paco’ with the main part of the village. A wooden bridge has existed here since 1427 and was replaced by the stone bridge around 1565.

The millstone from the old flour mill

A lot of bridges were constructed in the valley around that time and this bridge was the final link in the route known as ‘Camino Real’ which linked Biescas with the French border and was important with the increase of trade between the two nations.

Views of Sallent from the new bridge

Initially the bridge had two arches one over the river and the over the water channel (acequia) that led to the mill. Once the mill was no longer used this second arch  – and the water channel – were removed.

The church in Sallent with Peña Forata in the background

The newer bridge upstream was constructed at the end of the 19th century when advances in engineering allowed much stronger and more useful bridges to be built.

The region is famous for its Romanesque churches which date back to the 10-13th centuries with the tiny villages of the Serrablo having some of the best examples. I went for a bike ride yesterday through this flat glacial valley that lies south of Biescas passing through many of my favourite villages.

11th Century Santa Eulalia in Oros Bajo

It was a good afternoon for birds with with a pair of Lammergeier flying close overhead and they grabbed each others claws and tumbled through the air several times as if in courtship. The first Egyptian vulture of the year was spotted along with red and black kite, a pair of kestrels and a large group of about 20 griffon vultures circling very low obviously eyeing something up.

Because the villages of the Serrablo never grew bigger (most shrunk) these churches were never expanded or altered and for the most part their original design and layouts remain.

Santa Eulalia in Oros Bajo was built in the first quarter of the 11th century and sits just outside the village of Oros Bajo. I once got talking to one of the old guys in the village and he told me how during the civil war he helped man the machine gun that was place in the tower.

The door of the church is on the south side of the building facing Franco’s troops and he showed me where they knocked another door through where they could exit safely and crawl behind a stone wall back to the village. It was really interesting to hear the story as people still don’t often openly talk about the civil war.

San Juan de Busa

The church of San Juan de Busa shows the Romaesque design at it’s simplest. It was built in the second half of the 10th century it’s original design has not been altered. It has the typical rounded apse of Romanesque churches but lacks the bell towers of later churches in the area. It has some beautiful carvings and is always open so you can go inside.

Inside San Juan de Busa

These churches are sparse inside with hardly any decoration. Here you can see the roof has been replaced – a group called the Amigos del Serrablo do great work raising money, carrying out restoration work and maintaining these churches.

Detail of window at San Pedro

This arquitecture is also known as ‘mozarabic ‘ and has lots of moorish influences such as these horsehoe shaped arched windows in the church at Larrede.

Detail of San Pedro in Larrede

One of my favourite churches is the 10th century San Pedro in Larrede with it’s fantastic bell tower with triple arched windows. It also features triple inset windows that are another feature borrowed from arab architecture. The windows are filled with thinly sliced agate which gives a wonderful light inside. The cathedral in Jaca or the monastery of San Juan de la Peña are good places to see examples of agate windows.

It’s a beautiful area to explore and there are a dozen other villages all with beautiful churhes nearby – including the remote Susin which has only 1 inhabitant remaining!

La Ripera lies just outside of Panticosa and this week I’ve been investigating a new route in this lovely valley. Found a superb circular walk with great views across the Valle de Tena and to the impressive cliffs at the end of the Valle La Ripera. It’s a perfect walk straight from the hotel door if you’re on a self guided holiday in Panticosa or our Village to Village holiday.

Roman bridge and the Panticosa chairlift!

The walk starts at the ski station in Panticosa where you cross this beautiful old bridge that looks a little strange with the chailift crossing above it.

There were quite a few signs of spring around with hepatica out in the woods and quite a few butterflies including several Camberwell Beauties with their rich chocolate brown colour.

I was really surprised to hear my first marmots of the season – seems very early in the year for them but I saw several out and about feeding after their winter hibernation. This area is a geat place to see marmots and there are dozens running around in the summer here.

First marmot of the season!

I came across this impressive line of Pine Processionary Caterpillars on the track. These curious but nasty little critters come down from their nests at about this time of year searching for places to bury into the ground and pupate into moths that hatch later in the summer. The lines they make are great and this one had over a hundred caterpillars in. Unfortunately the caterpillars do a lot of damage to the pine trees which they can strip bare of needles and have barbed hairs that can cause quite extreme allergic reactions in some people.

Close up of the pine processionary caterpillars

Here's the line of well over a hundred caterpillars

The headwall at the end of the valley is huge with a cliff face of over 700 vertical metres.

The way back passes through terraced meadows with great views across to the Sierra de Partacua. All in all a superb days walk of around 13km with 500m of ascent.

Rio La Ripera

The remanants of the Zaragoza-Pau railway line can be seen around the Somport pass north of Jaca. The rail line between Zaragoza and Pau was opened in 1928 by King Alfonso 13th and French President Gaston Doumergue after 20 years of construction. The line was fantastic feat of  engineering  with 80 bridges, 4 viaducts and 24 tunnels – one 7.8 km long that descends in a spiral to reduce the gradient.

The line was never profitable and with the outbreak the Spanish civil war the line was officially closed and the tunnel bricked up to prevent invasion. During the 2nd world war Germany used the tunnel and several bridges were blown up by the resistance.

In 1948 the line was re-opened for civilian use. Again the line was not profitable but continued to operate until 1970 when a freight train’s brakes failed. The runaway train destroyed a bridge and left the tracks and came to rest beside the stream fortunately without killing anyone. SNCF were never committed to repairing the line and the final nail in the coffin was when the road tunnel was completed in 2003.

The station at Canfranc

The international train station at Canfranc was built between 1921-25. It’s 241 metres long with 75 doors on each side and several hundred windows. When it opened in 1928 Canfranc was the biggest station in Europe. Another of it’s claims to fame is that a scene from Dr Zhivago was filmed there.

The beautiful building now lies derelict and just a couple of trains a day arrive from Jaca to a small platform and building alongside the former station. There are plans to develop the station into an exhibition space but with the current financial in Spain sadly I think this is some way off happening.