Kiersten Rowland

Dog Walk

A new dog walk

A beautiful new dog walk today, high above Lanjaron passing gushing water "acequias", with extensive views to the coast.

Patagonian Icecap

Trips to the wild and windswept Patagonian Icefield

A summary of our expeditions to the Southern Patagonian Icefields

The Alpujarras

Deliverance (The Sequel) - In The Wilderness No One Can Hear You Scream

So there we were. A nice warm day, no clouds. What to do? So why not try that flat topped mountain that we can just see from our house that's in an unknown and remote location?

Birds Featured

The day Griffon Vultures came to town

I went to check on the Lanjaron 7 this morning after shopping. Turns out they were the Lanjaron 20 or so!

The Alpujarras

A walk through a cork oak forest

Laura and I decided to go for a walk yesterday. She had recently been in this area and I said I would like to see the freshly harvested cork oak trees as I had never seen them. The view from the fire look out. The Sierra Nevada mountains with the

Sierra Nevada, Spain

Out of my comfort zone and onto the NW ridge of Tozal del Cartujo

This is my version of a day scrambling I had in the Sierra Nevada on the NW ridge of Tozal del Cartujo [https://www.spanishhighs.co.uk/scrambling-sierra-nevada-spain.php]. Thankfully I was in the competent company of Richard, Felipe and Andrew, who all helped to keep me calm, make me

Miscellaneous Ramblings

I got married!

Actually I've been married a month now. Richard and I ran off to Gibraltar and got married on 30th June. Paperwork had to be handed in to the registry office between 8.30am and 10am at least a day before the wedding, so we decided we would drive

The Alpujarras

Early Nature Related Posts, Andalucia

These are some old Nature related posts that I found that record a fraction of the large variety of species here in Andalucia

Nature

A trip to Penon de la Mata

We had a recent trip to Penon de la Mata in the Sierra de Huetor north of Granada. From here you get spectacular views of the Sierra Nevada. So while a group of friends went off scrambling [https://www.spanishhighs.co.uk/scrambling-sierra-nevada-spain.html], I went off with another friend

The Alpujarras

My Life in the Alpujarras 2008 to 2015

This is a rather large post. It is made up of all sorts of micro blogs and thoughts that I had mainly between 2008-2015 during my early years here in the Alpujarras. It forms a good record of my life here

Kamchatka Expedition 2013

Kamchatka Part 6 - Last few days in Russia

Autumn is arriving here in Spain and another expedition [https://www.spanishhighs.co.uk/patagonia-expedition-2014.php] is fast approaching so I thought it's about time I finished this Kamchatka blog before the Patagonia expedition arrives. Back to the centre of migration 24th April Richard's birthday today

Kamchatka Expedition 2013

Kamchatka Part 5 - The escape and a very long bus ride

It's now summer in Andalucia and the heat of August has made me decide it's time to venture back to the freezer known as Kamchatka to cool myself down and try and get this story finished. Some of the photos in this post are again courtesy

Kamchatka Expedition 2013

Kamchatka Part 4 - Deteriorating weather

Here we are onto part 4 of the expedition. Most of the photos are Martin's, there were difficult times and photos were not on our minds, but obviously Martin was the expedition photographer [https://www.martinhartley.com/], it was his job to capture life in camp. I'

Kamchatka Expedition 2013

Kamchatka Part 3 - Waiting for a weather window at base camp

A lot of what is written in these Kamchatka Expedition trip reports has been taken from the notes and diary I kept. It appears this blog will be in more than four parts, I have more photos and writing than I thought. Again there are a mixture of photos from

Kamchatka Expedition 2013

Kamchatka Part 2 - Leaving Klyuchi and emergency camp

This report is mostly photos as I think they can tell the story better than myself. Once again some of the photos are courtesy of Martin Hartley [https://www.martinhartley.com/] who is at this moment on an expedition crossing the Arctic [https://en.expedition-hope.org/#expedition]. Time for a

Kamchatka Expedition 2013

Kamchatka Part 1 - Getting there

As most of you are aware a year ago we left to go on an expedition to Kamchatka to attempt to ski and snowboard the highest active volcano in Eurasia. At long last I am getting around to writing about it. It will be in four parts because if nothing

Kamchatka Expedition 2013 Featured

Surviving Blizzards in Kamchatka

Kiersten and I were packed close together for warmth, huddled in a tent in the middle of the night. Outside the blizzard was raging with air temps -30C and winds of over 100kph. Our hopes of climbing Klyuchevskaya Sopka were dashed. Welcome to Kamchatka

Kamchatka Expedition 2013 Featured

A land far, far away with fire breathing mountains waiting to be skied!

Our expedition to Kamchatka in 2013 to ski Klyutchevskoy Sopka was an unforgettable mountain experience. Hard, tough, weather against us. But we loved it!

Patagonian Icecap

Surviving Patagonia 2010

Two taxis arrive to take us to the trailhead at Rio Electrico. From the trailhead we walk a few hours through a forest to our camp at Los Troncos. You have to pay a small fee as you pass over private land but on the plus side there is a

Sierra Nevada, Spain

A 2 day crossing of the Sierra Nevada in June

This year the Sierra Nevada is different, its still covered in snow, not just a little bit of snow but metres deep amount of snow, thanks to the amount of rain that fell on Andalucia this winter.

Miscellaneous Ramblings

A holiday in Mallorca

Ive just returned from a weeks holiday in Mallorca, what a great little island it is. We landed in torrential rain, gale force winds, thunder and lightning! Woo hoo round of applause for the pilot of Air Berlin! Now that's an airline that deserves a plug, cheap, hassle

Miscellaneous Ramblings

Our Experience With Canine Leishmaniasis

Leishmaniasis is a disease caused by the bite of a sandfly. When the sandfly bites the parasite is passed on to the dog. It attacks the immune system which leaves the dog unable to fight infections and disease's as well as a healthy one. The maximum risk of