A Viper Called Lucy: A Photo Series by Luis Oliveros

A photo series by Luis Oliveros

What is Canyon? Wikipedia´s definition is: “A canyon or gorge is a deep cleft between escarpments or cliffs resulting from weathering and the erosive activity of a river over geologic time scales”. El Cañon del rio Lobos is exactly that, although considering the squalid size of the river nowadays (it can even dry in the summer) one wonders how many millions of years it took to become a canyon and what kind of a river it used to be.

El Cañon del rio Lobos, a natural park since 1985, is in the province of Soria, some 225 Kms North East of Madrid, largely unpopulated and rather cold in winter. El Cañon, in particular, is a beautiful place guarded by Buitres Leonados (Gyps fulvus) that found these cliffs their ideal habitat.

You leave the car at the entrance of the Canyon in a Parking lot by the river and walk about 2 Kms until an opening where you will see what used to be a Templar Hermitage from the XIII century now called San Bartolo. Although no religious order lives there any longer, the building is in pristine condition and operational - I believe a catholic priest comes to say mass every so often though we have never coincided and therefore I have never seen what there is inside.

Next to the chapel, at the other side of the bridge over the very small river, you have a huge cave but there is nothing relevant about it. Along the path, up in the cliff, you can still see the wood containers (emptied tree trunks) where the monks kept the collected honey, unaccessible to anyone without a large ladder.

 

The canyon is indeed beautiful and very long (some 17 Kms). I have walked inside for more than than 10 kms and it goes on for yet quite a distance. Also, at one point, there is another path going to another village. It used to be a quiet place but now, especially in week-ends and during the summer, there are a lot of visitors which means that If you want to listen to the river flow, the vultures fly, the singing of the birds, the frogs and other animals populating the canyon, better go on a Monday or Tuesday and in winter, otherwise you will only hear loud chatter and even “music” or conversations from the telephones of people that go to such places to listen to their recorded rap (no comment).

It is most enchanting when it is covered with snow (not every winter) although the snow and the rising of the waters in the river may prevent you from going any further than about 2 kms from the hermitage as the stones to cross the river get below the water level.

A majestic vulture, Buitres Leonados (Gyps fulvus), flying overhead

I do not know how many times I have gone to this canyon.  Twice, In winter, when I was alone in the canyon, I spotted a Corzo (Roe deer) in the slopes.  There are many different kind of birds and crows. 

Some 3 weeks ago, I was blessed with the sight of a viper taking the heat from the sand of the path, out of the grass, in a late afternoon. I sat down close to her, we looked at each other for quite a while, without moving - immobility is the best defence of a small snake like a viper and the best way not to scare them, so it stayed with me. I called her Lucy. When I got up to get her out of the path (other humans might not be as friendly as I am), she decided to move away and hide again in the grass. This coming winter, if a return, the vultures will still be there and I may see other animals but surely Lucy will not come back until next spring and I am afraid she will not remember me.