Hoz de Jaca

Today we went for a Sunday afternoon trip. Not very far, to the Tena valley, past Biescas and turning right to cross over to the other side of the Bubal reservoir. Then up a steep, winding road which still had the padding that had been put up for the 10,000 cyclists taking part in the Quebrantahuesos road race the day before. Wow! Strong people!
Anyway, we parked in the village of Hoz de Jaca and walked to a viewpoint over the reservoir. What
 a viewpoint!

There's this amazing platform which sticks out over the void; you walk on a metal grid which you can see through. I could overcome my slight feelings of vertigo but one woman who was there at the same time as us was incapable of stepping onto the grid.

While we were looking out over the reservoir some birds flew quite close to us. There were two bearded vultures, known here as quebrantahuesos or bone-cracker. They are quite rare these days and it was great to see them. The others were Egyptian vultures, known here by the name "alimoche" 

Bearded vulture. It's not my photo!Egyptian vulture. Not mine either.

You can see the platform in the distance.

Selfie

Pyramidal saxifrage, almost finished.

Tall campanulas

Some kind of stonecrop

Then we found this newish fountain in the village.

You can see some of the mountains behind it.

Mallos de Riglos

Yesterday I had to get to Huesca by 9.30. not usually a problem; it's an hour's drive. However, yesterday in particular I couldn't be sure of getting there on time, because of the Quebrantahuesos.
The Quebrantahuesos is a 205 km cycle race which starts and finishes in Sabíñánigo and uses the roads in the Aragón and Tena valleys. They don't close the roads, but with up to 10,000 cyclists the traffic is severely affected.
So we decided to use the alternative route through the mountain pass of Santa Bárbara. It's longer and very wiggly, but very spectacular, passing through the gorge made by the river Gállego with views of the extraordinary Mallos de Riglos.

The journey was pleasant, not too hot, and we arrived in plenty of time for a cup of coffee before my exams were due to start. Today is the last day of spring, and it has rained so much lately that everything is lush and green.