Short Hikes in the Pyrenees
For a few days the Pyrenees had appeared on the distance horizon, hazy in the bright sun. The next few days would be spent in the mountains, giving us a chance to hike and get to see the peaks at close quarters. Before driving to our first base we drove up into the mountains on the road that leads through to France. Brilliant azure lakes and high peaks surrounded the road which had a steady steam of cars heading to or from the border. We stopped at a road side picnic area to look at the map.
I chose a road at random to get away from the traffic and we ended up in what looked, on the map, like a small quiet village called Lanuza. Things were not quite as expected. A major music festival was about to start that night, a large stage had been erected on the lake and any chance of parking to explore the village was clearly not possible. Undeterred and in search of some views, I took a winding road (ignoring a sign saying 'road not maintained') that climbed through a series of tight bends to a overhanging viewpoint at Hoz de Jaca about 1200 meters above sea level. There we had a picnic lunch and watched people taking off on a zip wire before walking around the nearby village taking a less narrow but equally winding road back down.
A high level road, that had a fair share of hairpin bends and spectacular views, brought us to our destination for the next two nights - the village of Broto in the Ordesa y Monte Perdido National Park at an altitude of just over 900 meters. Our hotel was about 600 meters outside the village, closer to the neighbouring settlement of Oto. Our top floor balcony gave us great views of peaks just a few miles away. After settling in we walked into the village and a helpful lady in the tourist office gave us some walk suggestions and maps.
After dining we took a walk around the village detouring to see the Cascada de Sorrosal on the edge of the village. This is an impressive waterfall with a double drop and a total height of 120 meters. The cliff faces have been folded and eroded over time and standing near the base of the waterfall looking up was a little disorientating. The patterns seemed to have an almost hypnotic effect.
This must have worked because the following morning I persuaded Mrs B. to walk to the nearby village of Torla. This village is about 500 feet upstream from Broto and after a flat start the path climbed slowly over a couple of miles until reaching Torla. From here the only way into the Ordesa valley is either on foot or by bus. We explored Torla and had a cold drink as the sun was beating down and then went our separate ways. I was keen to hike in the Ordesa valley - Mrs B opted to return to Broto via the way we'd arrived.
I bought some bananas and with my water bottle topped up, got a ticket and hopped on the bus. This trundles for 20 minutes uphill with astonishing views of the soaring mountain peaks of this part of the Spanish Pyrenees. Once dropped off I followed one of the trails that promised views of a succession of waterfalls. The first part of the walk passed through forest - offering shade from the fierce sun and then the trail climbed 1600 ft to just above 6000 ft. This was surprisingly hard work but the temperature had risen to 29 degrees. After 2.5 miles I got my first view of the waterfalls - three impressive cascades. Even more impressive was the stunning mountain scenery around me. Limestone (karst) top peaks, rose all around. Below the karst tops of jagged peaks the browns and golds of the sheer rock faces were offset by bright yellow flowering gorse. I cannot recall seeing mountains that were so colourful.
I found a return track and returned to the bus - having to run the last 50 meters as the driver was waving at me to hurry up. Once returned to Torla I walked back to Broto in the full force of the sun. By the time I was climbing the hill to our hotel rivulets of sweat were pouring down my face. I think it is the hottest walk I've ever done! Mrs B had seen me toiling up the last hill from our hotel balcony and as I walked through the door of our room offered me a cup of tea. It tasted sublime.
Later than evening we walked down to the village again, had some food, explored a bit more, spotted a shrew that seemed unperturbed by our presence, and then climbed back up the hill to Oto which we wandered around in the fading light.
I'd managed to tot up more than 13 miles of walking for the day but thoroughly enjoyed seeing a small part of this fabulous national park.
Mercifully next morning was much cooler. As we left our hotel a cow was being herded down the road....an escapee from the field next to our hotel. Once the cow had been escorted past we had a long drive to another part of the Pyrenees, the Parc Nacional d'Aigüestortes i Estany de Sant Maurici. Our destination was a village called Espot. The road took us over mountain passes - one over 2000 meters high - through all sorts of weather.
Hairpin bends and dramatic views were pretty much a continuous feature of the drive. We stopped for lunch in Vielha - a ski resort town. It was a pretty soulless place, low on any sort of character but there were plenty of places to grab a snack. From then more of the same in terms of driving brought us to Espot This was a much smaller village and although geared up for hiking and outdoor activities seemed to have a much more traditional feel. Our hotel was over 100 years old - a basic room but a friendly welcome from the owner.
Needing to stretch our legs we set off to walk around the village and I suggested we go down a track along the green valley. The sun was out again and the views were good but even better were the thousands of butterflies in the grass meadows adjoining the path. Progress was slow as we stopped to watch their airborne acrobatics as they flitted from flower to flower. Surrounding us was a cacophony of sound. Crickets, hidden in the grass. but occasionally breaking cover and hopping in front were the main contributors. We turned around, returned to the village and looked for somewhere to eat.
A small restaurant offered a good fixed price menu. We were the only customers (on a Sunday night) but €22 bought us a delicious two courses including a bottle of wine to share. Both our grilled meats, chicken for Mrs B, rabbit for me were perfectly seasoned and well presented. A home made creme brulee for dessert was also very good. We had found a little gem of a restaurant that had provided delicious food at a bargain price.
After breakfast the next morning I suggested to Mrs B. that it might be nice to do a 'little walk' before starting driving again. The morning was bright, sunny and breezy making for perfect walking weather. Mrs B agreed so we got to the national park car park for just after 9.00 am. From here a trail led up through pine forest with a fast flowing stream below, water tumbling over rocks, across meadows with wildflowers and butterflies and everything surrounded by needle like peaks. We spotted a jay hopping about in the meadow grass looking for food.
After climbing for a couple of miles and passing a mountain refuge we reached our destination, the beautiful lake of Sant Maurici, situated around 6500 ft, surrounded by a crescent of mountains with summits of 3000 meters. The effort of getting to there had been worth it - although it was at this point I told Mrs B there was a taxi service we could have used to get there from the village. Not perhaps the most tactful piece of information I could have offered as the steepness of the last bit of the climb combined with the altitude had left us both breathless from the exertion.
From Sant Maurici, which is a beautiful spot, many paths lead off on routes into the mountains and had we more time I would have liked to see more of this mountain landscape. As it was we returned to the car because there was more driving to do to get to our final night's accommodation in Spain, at the village of Ribes de Freser.
En route we detoured to Andorra - for lunch. Its a tiny principality that is blessed with glorious mountain landscapes but our impressions, albeit from a fleeting visit, were negative. It boasts a 10 km long shopping street - as if this is something to admire. To me the rampant commercialism and private banks revealed a place where money has primacy over pretty much everything else. Not my sort of place. At least the petrol was cheap.
We carried on driving high mountain roads partly on the Eje Pirenaico or N260 road which runs through the northern Pyrenees climbing to just over 1700 meters. Driving was slow, requiring concentration, but the views (when I wasn't looking at the next bend) were fabulous. At Ribes de Freser the landscape was still mountainous - but a little softer and greener. We explored the village which is a little run down in parts but it is also home to the Cremella - a rack and pinion railway that takes tourists up to a higher village. A fascinating exhibition on the history of the railway and some old carriages and engines housed in a large shed made for an enjoyable diversion.
One of the things we had noticed as we had passed into Catalonia was a profusion of banners, signs and ribbons promoting Catalan's fight for independence. The bridges and public spaces in Ribes de Freser made it clear there wa a lot of support for the independence movement in the village.
The hotel suggested we might like to try their three course traditional evening menu. As dining options elsewhere were limited (burgers or ice cream) we made our way to the rather 70's era dining room at 8.00pm when it opened. At first we were the only diners in a vast space. It turned out the three courses were pretty much fixed.To start there was either a green salad or mushroom soup. I had the latter and a tureen arrived with a ladle plus a bowl. There was enough soup for a family of six!
Next was either a macaroni dish which Mrs B chose (a small macaroni bolognese) or in my case grilled asparagus with goats cheese and walnut, a nice idea - but the asparagus was limp. Then the third course was some hake with overcooked vegetables. An alternative was available - 'meat' - what kind was unspecified. At no stage were we offered drinks or a wine list - just a jug of water. Various other diners came in but the room was still pretty empty. It was all a bit Fawlty Towers, although in fairness the staff were very friendly but also under employed.
Towards the end of the meal a rather regal elderly lady appeared out of the kitchen and proceeded to go from table to table conversing with the mainly elderly diners. We assumed she was the owner. We were offered a free dessert ( ice cream or sorbet, straight out of the freezer) and after finishing up retired to reflect on a rather surreal dining experience.
A final drive the next morning took us out of the Pyrenees and we left Spain behind us to start the long journey back to the UK. The Pyrenees had lived up to and exceeded expectations - offering absolutely breathtaking scenery, great hikes, a host of memories and some unexpected dining experiences. There were a few stops planned for our return leg - so the journey hasn't finished yet!
I chose a road at random to get away from the traffic and we ended up in what looked, on the map, like a small quiet village called Lanuza. Things were not quite as expected. A major music festival was about to start that night, a large stage had been erected on the lake and any chance of parking to explore the village was clearly not possible. Undeterred and in search of some views, I took a winding road (ignoring a sign saying 'road not maintained') that climbed through a series of tight bends to a overhanging viewpoint at Hoz de Jaca about 1200 meters above sea level. There we had a picnic lunch and watched people taking off on a zip wire before walking around the nearby village taking a less narrow but equally winding road back down.
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| View from the Mirador at Hoz de Jaca |
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| Broto |
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| The Cascada de Sorrosal, Broto |
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| Start of the path to Torla - deceptively flat. |
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| Torla - gateway to the Ordesa valley |
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| Hiking in the Ordesa Valley |
Later than evening we walked down to the village again, had some food, explored a bit more, spotted a shrew that seemed unperturbed by our presence, and then climbed back up the hill to Oto which we wandered around in the fading light.
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| Taming of the shrew.... |
Mercifully next morning was much cooler. As we left our hotel a cow was being herded down the road....an escapee from the field next to our hotel. Once the cow had been escorted past we had a long drive to another part of the Pyrenees, the Parc Nacional d'Aigüestortes i Estany de Sant Maurici. Our destination was a village called Espot. The road took us over mountain passes - one over 2000 meters high - through all sorts of weather.
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| 13 degrees colder and thick cloud at 2000 meters on this mountain pass |
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| Espot |
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| The valley of butterflies near Espot |
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| The insect life of Espot |
After breakfast the next morning I suggested to Mrs B. that it might be nice to do a 'little walk' before starting driving again. The morning was bright, sunny and breezy making for perfect walking weather. Mrs B agreed so we got to the national park car park for just after 9.00 am. From here a trail led up through pine forest with a fast flowing stream below, water tumbling over rocks, across meadows with wildflowers and butterflies and everything surrounded by needle like peaks. We spotted a jay hopping about in the meadow grass looking for food.
 |
| The trail to Sant Maurici |
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| Alpine meadows leading to Sant Maurici |
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| Sant Maurici lake, high in the Pyrenees |
En route we detoured to Andorra - for lunch. Its a tiny principality that is blessed with glorious mountain landscapes but our impressions, albeit from a fleeting visit, were negative. It boasts a 10 km long shopping street - as if this is something to admire. To me the rampant commercialism and private banks revealed a place where money has primacy over pretty much everything else. Not my sort of place. At least the petrol was cheap.
We carried on driving high mountain roads partly on the Eje Pirenaico or N260 road which runs through the northern Pyrenees climbing to just over 1700 meters. Driving was slow, requiring concentration, but the views (when I wasn't looking at the next bend) were fabulous. At Ribes de Freser the landscape was still mountainous - but a little softer and greener. We explored the village which is a little run down in parts but it is also home to the Cremella - a rack and pinion railway that takes tourists up to a higher village. A fascinating exhibition on the history of the railway and some old carriages and engines housed in a large shed made for an enjoyable diversion.
 |
| One of the old Cremella locomotives |
One of the things we had noticed as we had passed into Catalonia was a profusion of banners, signs and ribbons promoting Catalan's fight for independence. The bridges and public spaces in Ribes de Freser made it clear there wa a lot of support for the independence movement in the village.
 |
| Ribes de Freser |
 |
Yellow loops signifying support for Catalan independence in Ribes de Freser |
The hotel suggested we might like to try their three course traditional evening menu. As dining options elsewhere were limited (burgers or ice cream) we made our way to the rather 70's era dining room at 8.00pm when it opened. At first we were the only diners in a vast space. It turned out the three courses were pretty much fixed.To start there was either a green salad or mushroom soup. I had the latter and a tureen arrived with a ladle plus a bowl. There was enough soup for a family of six!
Next was either a macaroni dish which Mrs B chose (a small macaroni bolognese) or in my case grilled asparagus with goats cheese and walnut, a nice idea - but the asparagus was limp. Then the third course was some hake with overcooked vegetables. An alternative was available - 'meat' - what kind was unspecified. At no stage were we offered drinks or a wine list - just a jug of water. Various other diners came in but the room was still pretty empty. It was all a bit Fawlty Towers, although in fairness the staff were very friendly but also under employed.
Towards the end of the meal a rather regal elderly lady appeared out of the kitchen and proceeded to go from table to table conversing with the mainly elderly diners. We assumed she was the owner. We were offered a free dessert ( ice cream or sorbet, straight out of the freezer) and after finishing up retired to reflect on a rather surreal dining experience.
A final drive the next morning took us out of the Pyrenees and we left Spain behind us to start the long journey back to the UK. The Pyrenees had lived up to and exceeded expectations - offering absolutely breathtaking scenery, great hikes, a host of memories and some unexpected dining experiences. There were a few stops planned for our return leg - so the journey hasn't finished yet!
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