3. FINISHING A SHORT HIKE INTO THE GUADDARRAMA MOUNTAINS NORTH OF SAN LORENZO DE EL ESCORIAL
Where the trees thinned out on top, various striking views presented themselves in the direction of El Escorial:
I really liked this very last tree in the line reaching up to the bare rock:
From under its branches I took one more photo of the monastery far below:
The view to the southwest was also very nice through this tree's branches:
Stepping away from the trees altogether allowed some photos from the rocky ledge back into the city:
The smoke in the photos is the work of caretakers burning broken dried branches and undergrowth to prevent fires from being too easily spread.
Now it is time to start back down, and we take a slightly different route going down because we do not lose the trail as we did on the way up (I crossed the creek and followed a trail, but the trail I meant to take never did cross that creek), first we stay level for a little while:
Then we dive first gently then steeply down though the pines:
At about the one-third of the way down point, these grassy areas are a delight to walk though (staying on the trail, of course)
Several photos shown on the way up were actually taken on the way down, so surprising as it may seem, we will close this photo page series here. I hope you enjoyed this hike virtually as much as I enjoyed it in reality. Views like this never get old:
Return to the start of this set of three El Escorial photo pages.
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