I first saw this video a couple of years ago, and I may have even posted it, though I can’t seem to find it in our archives. Regardless, it was of such low resolution that it only revealed a smidgen of its total wow. Those who are afraid of heights or have a tendency to dream re-imagined versions of what they saw just hours before should be warned: the HD version is so clear that it will probably freak the shit out of you. For certain, the accompanying music won’t make it any easier on your stomach. The whole thing makes me want to cry, and yet I can’t look away. It’s like an LSD out of body experience that is an inexorable and beautiful as it is terrifying and fraught with real peril.

The Caminito del Rey (or “little King’s walkway”) is located some 350 meters up a vertical gorge near Malaga in Spain. Its three kilometers were built in 1901-1905 to facilitate the commute and supply of hydro-electric workers toiling on the Conde del Guadalhorce dam. It was nicknamed in honour of King Alfonso XIII, who personally traversed it in 1921. Several people have died walking its now evidently decrepit length, and the government of Spain shut it down in 2000. Work is supposed to start on its restoration this summer, so hooray for that.