Cares Gorge Trail Adventure is one of the Most Beautiful Hikes in Spain

An adventure waits of hikers at the heart of Picos de Europa National Park in northern Spain. The hiking trail consists of nine miles along the Cares River and the Cares Gorge, aka “divine gorge”. Steep cliffs stretch up over 6,500 feet on one side and the Cares River is as far as 650 feet below in the deep gorge. The Cares Gorge trail is tremendously popular because it is considered one of the most striking walks in all of Spain. The footpath was well improved about sixty years ago when tunnels were carved into the mountain to serve as a maintenance trail to a hydroelectric power station. Long time ago some particular sections of the path were used by shepherds, sheep and even goats.

In the snowy seasons this route providing the only communication between two villages. The Picos de Europa national park was also named a biosphere reserve by UNESCO. Whenever you visit Spain, it is highly recommended to reserve a day to trek this beautiful trail. Cares Chanel narrow pathways carved into stone to observe one of the most attractive hiking adventures in Spain. The trail gets pretty crowded at weekends and in high season, although it is emptier around lunchtime go mid-week if you can. Animals you may see include goats and huge vultures soaring high above the spikes.

The Cares Gorge is massive outstanding lovely in its upper reaches, and unmissable if you are anywhere near the Picos de Europa. The river has been somewhat diverted for hydroelectric power, water coursing down a canal built into the mountain itself, and walkers can use the related maintenance path. This is an inspiring feat of engineering, clinging to the cliff face and tunneling through live rock. Though the track is wide and easy, and perhaps it’s not the best place for sufferers from vertigo. The lower gorge is enormous and grand, the path winding perhaps a thousand feet above the river after an ascent from the perfect Roman Bridge with magnificent swimming-pool beneath it near Poncebos. You get big views along the gorge from ridge tops, where you want to sit and marvel.

On the southern side it is massive Murallon de Amuesa wall. The river is a little glistening thread from here. Around the great bend, the upper south-north gorge is more attractive, greener and more enclosed. Between cliffs and crags, thinly forested couloirs soar for hundreds of meters to the dreadfully distant peaks framed between their walls. The deep recesses of the gorge hardly ever see the light and harbor a dank, ferny microclimate. It is extremely difficult to do fairness to the drama of the path as it winds, hundreds of sheer feet above the river, around the smooth walls of the gorge, at times dipping through arches or longer galleries. As you approach Cain, you will cross the gorge twice on spectacular bridges, and pass through a series of galleries. Some people descend the gorge from Cain where the gorge-proper begins to Poncebos, although it is possible to start/finish at the villages higher up the Cares valley.

However, ascending the gorge is perhaps preferable. The gorge path from Poncebos to Cain is around 15 kilometers figures vary wildly and takes around three and half hours to walk but assume a lot of extra gawping time. Getting among the two road heads is difficult and takes two hours by taxi so some people walk both ways along the gorge, or walk in as far as their time and inclination permit them before turning back.

Faisal Masjid Pakistan

The Faisal Masjid is the largest Masjid in Pakistan, situated in the national capital city of Islamabad. Faisal Mosque was completed in 1986 and this master piece was designed by Turkish architect Vedat Dalokay to be designed like a desert Bedouin's tent. It is located at the north end of Faisal Avenue, putting it at the northernmost end of the city and at the foot of Margalla Hills, the westernmost foothills of the Himalayas. The Faisal Mosque is named after the late King Faisal bin Abdul Aziz of Saudi Arabia, who actually supported and financed this project. Faisal Mosque is a popular Masjid in the Islamic world, and is famous for both its immense size and its architecture.

It is located on an elevated area of land against a picturesque backdrop of the Margalla Hills. This enviable location represents the Masjid's great importance and allows it to be seen from miles around day and night. It has a covered area of 54,000 sq ft and has a capacity to accommodate almost 300,000 worshippers about 100,000 in its main prayer hall, courtyard and porticoes and another 200,000 in its adjoining grounds. Each of the Mosque's four minarets are 260 ft high the tallest minarets in South Asia and measure 10 x 10 m in circumference.

The minarets borrow their design from Turkish tradition and are thin and pencil like. The interior of Faisal Masjid prayer hall holds a very large chandelier and its walls are beautifully decorated with mosaics and calligraphy by the famous Pakistani artist Sadequain. Moreover; the mosaic pattern decorates the west wall, and has the Kalmah written in early Kufic script, repeated in mirror image pattern.

Sun Valley United States

Sun Valley is the perfect alternative to Colorado’s ritzy resort areas, especially in summer when costs and tourist numbers are lesser. The spectacular location is as remarkable as the snow, and nearby Ketchum retains its authenticity and rustic beauty despite the seasonal deluges. Mountain biking, Fly Fishing, Camping, Hiking, Cultural events, and great food abound. In the cooler seasons of winter, world-class skiing can be had at the first purpose-built ski resort in the United States and you can ride the lifts with swanky Hollywoodsters in a refined and pretty place, sans fast-food joints and condo sprawl. Ernest Hemingway, who is buried here, had a deep affection for Sun Valley, and allegedly completed For Whom the Bell Tolls in the Sun Valley Lodge’s room 206 in between fishing and hunting excursions with buds Gary Cooper and Clark Gable. In one of Idaho's most spectacular natural locations sits a piece of ski history.

Moreover; Sun Valley was the first purpose-built ski resort in the United States, hand-picked by Union Pacific Railroad scion William Averell Harriman in the 1930s and publicized by numerous members of the then glitterati such as Ernest Hemingway, Clark Gable and Gary Cooper. When Sun Valley opened in 1936 it sported the world's first chairlift and a showcase “Parkitecture” lodge that still acts as its premier resort. Sun Valley has kept its swanky Hollywood clientele and extended its facilities to include the legendary Bald Mountain, yet it remains a refined and pretty place.

Highly rated nationwide, the resort is revered for its reliable high-quality snow, big elevation drop and nearly windless weather. Backing it up is next to village Ketchum, one mile away, which predates Sun Valley and has held onto its authenticity and rustic beauty in spite of the skiing deluge. Ketchum is major territory for fishing and hunting in summer a fact borne out by its prominent former resident, Ernest Hemingway. The world's first chairlifts were installed on the resort's Proctor and Dollar Mountains in the fall of 1936. Visitors relish its skiing, hiking, ice skating, trail riding, tennis, and cycling, as some of its residents stay year-round, and most come from major cities like Portland, Oregon, Seattle, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and more distantly Chicago and New York.