ernielow

Pyrenees Day 1

Posted by ernielow | 27th June 2009

The Pyrénées are often considered Western Europe’s last wilderness. This is, of course, not true. There is no remaining wilderness in Western Europe. Any environment that humans have explored, modified or exploited in any way ceases to be a wilderness. Just ask the Pyrénéen brown bear who nearly went extinct a decade ago because of over-grazing of domestic sheep. The Pyrénées have hosted humans for thousands of years, beginning with the Neolitic ancestors of the Basques, followed by the Greeks who gave the Pyrénées her name, to the Romans and Franks who each in their own turn set out to defeat the long-time fierce mountain dwellers, the Basques, finally concluding with the game-loving French mountain men and women who inhabit her peaks and valleys today.
Although the Pyrénées are no longer wilderness, per se, there certainly still exists a wild quality to them that keeps outdoors people coming back year after year. I for one had an image of lofty peaks, gnarled crags, forested

Continued | Erin's Abroad View

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