It isn't the views that make me nervous. We awoke this morning to mist and now we've driven up into it on one of the winding highroads that wend their way through the Picos. The mist is grey and wet. So is the road. No, it's the invisibility of the valley, far below the roadside on my left, that induces vertigo. It's cold too - we're nearing the sixteen-hundred metre mark and the sunless gloom is chilly. I'm preparing myself for heartbreak; I've been waiting for this hike for many months but it's really about the views. Apart from the obvious danger of trying it in these conditions, it would be pointless. I haven't brought a jacket and it's wet out there. I curse ... read more