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squiz Member Member#: 6644 Location: Registered: 27-05-2007 Diary Entries: 2882 |
10th February 2017 Hiking - Walking: Parc Natural Cadi i Moixero near Alabau, La Molina Wind Direction: Wind Stength: Surf / Sea State: Air Temperature: Sea Temperature: Weather: sunny periods Max Speed: Distance Covered: 3 miles (Nautical Miles - unless stated otherwise) Friday 10th February – snowshoe ***** Parc Natural Cadi i Moixero near Alabau, La Molina – sunny periods .3 miles Another cold night here in La Molina and we had company as two small campervans parked either side of us in the dark last night. Not another blue sunny day but cloudy with the sun bravely trying to come through but for the most failing:( No great plans today so after breakfast we watched the two families either side head for the slopes at about 10.30 and again the army were here in force as were lots of coaches full of youngsters. We drove out of La Molina at 10.45, pulling in at the lay-by of the lift at Roc Blanc to see the dodgy reds runs before turning left to have a quick look at the far lift at Alabau which lead to a road to Col de la Creueta which is open and what a top road this turned out to be:) A perfectly clear road running through fields of snow surrounded by mountains, just beautiful! We found what looked like a Coll in the middle of nowhere with two cars parked and an intriguing walking sign pointing to the wilds. A Spanish man was having his lunch after completing a walk in just his walking boots and he asked Mag to take a pic of him with his camera phone. We had only travelled 7 miles but this was too good an opportunity to miss so Mag packed a quick picnic while I sorted the snowshoes. A VW Motion whizzed past with a photographer standing up with his head out of the sunroof taking pics of another one behind. The cars have Catalunya Wagon on the side and there is car high up on the ski slopes in La Molina, flags in the car parks and advertising on several lifts with one lift actually being called the VW Motion lift. Leaving the van at 11.20 we walk up the icy path with the only sound the crunching of our snowshoe. Heading up to the first small hill you were treated to stunning views down towards the coast with row after row of hills and mountains shrouded in low cloud, lovely. The track heads through summer cattle grazing pastures to the Parc Natural where the small pines begin and it is deep in snow as the strong winds of earlier in the week have blown a lot of the snow from the hills, filling up the track! Lucky for us it is pretty well frozen and easy to walk on. Then Mag spots 10/12 Chamois which were happily feeding in a gully. We really spooked them as they charged up the hill running around in circles making light work of the rocks and snow. We watched them for ages before continuing. We saw a few birds, nothing special though. Rounding a corner to the right we could see some ski lifts in the distance and some off piste skiers. There was a derelict building that was a good spot for lunch and we think the man Mag took a pic of had come this way as we saw fresh boot tracks. Refreshed after a picnic with a view we thought we could turn this into a circular walk by returning the other side of the huge red cliff we had just passed which looked even more special as the sun showed its face with at least half the sky turning blue:) This route turned out to be a challenge with no obvious path just odd tracks made by skies, snowshoes and boots and of course loads of bunny prints but it was no good following them as they just go around in circles! In places the pine trees were all but impenetrable, then we found a fence which ran along a drop off to the left and the fresh boot tracks which we then followed. I don’t think he know where he was going as we struggled uphill away from the way we wanted to go, we could see the hill we wanted but couldn’t get to it. It was good fun going off-piste and we both took tumbles before the trees cleared and we could see where to go:) It was several hundred metres walking along the slope which is a real ankle killer! But we made it to an electric fence which lead up to a shepherd’s shelter where we stopped for a slice of chocolate orange. It was just one more down and up before we could see our van, then one last icy slope and home, we had been out 4.14 hrs, only covered three miles but what a top three miles they were:) It was getting late, we had the lay-by to ourselves and were in need of a cuppa and cake so decided to stop here the night and hope it doesn’t snow as we are in the middle of nowhere! I moved the van to a more level spot and we were enjoying the peace and quiet when another VW van turned up with a couple of young ski tourers, then the four VW Tugan Motions rocked up again and prepared for a photo shot! After a bit of trouble, they got a couple of the cars up on the snowy bank with a great snowy mountain backdrop and got the camera and lights out. I got out to take some pics of people taking car pics as the ski tourers headed off. The VW’s left (one having to be pushed off the snowy bank!) as the sun came out in a far valley lighting up the mountains:) I walked along the road and got some nice pics with the skiers returning just in time before it got dark. Then a top tea of Pommes Rissolees, ham and eggs, happy after another fantastic day in the mountains:) Photo Gallery Here Saturday 11th February – travel + 2 small walks – cloudy and breezy Quiet night in our Col in the middle of nowhere until about nine in the morning when the small carpark started to fill up with snowshoers and they were getting closer and closer to us threatening to block us in. I moved a little so we could get out when we were ready. It was really cloudy today and we didn’t envy the hikers trip up the mountain. After breakfast, we packed up and continued our way down the windy road and were soon out of the snow which was replaced by red rocks and small terraces and even some cows out. Our European map book isn’t very detailed so it took us a while to find a town to aim for. Ripoll seemed best and this must have been the most bendy road we have ever been on but the old boy road bikers were loving it:) At Ripoll we actually found a Lidl and stopped for some bits and pieces and the road soon became a great dual carriageway with many tunnels all the way to Barcelona, it was very busy but we found the toll motorway (13 euros so not bad) running along the coast. We stopped at a service for lunch before turning off several miles past Tarragona onto a free green road running parallel to the motorway. The scenery was very pretty as we passed fields of vines and olives and all sorts of salad crops with a backdrop of mountains. We even spotted one hooker sitting on her plastic chair looking bored waiting for a customer! We soon saw a sign to our destination Del Delta De L’Ebre another Parc National which is a huge flat delta made from silt from the River Elbe as it enters the Mediterranean. We passed mile after mile of rice fields empty of water at the moment but still a haven for wild birds as we saw kingfishers, heron, egrets, lapwings etc. It seemed fairly built up for a Parc National with first impressions a little disappointing but then we reached the end of the road at Riomar and things improved even if the quality of the roads didn’t! We made it to the sea front deserted this time of year, with the usual no campervan sign. Then turning along, the sea front it was quite nice with bungalows one side and dunes leading to a sandy beach the other. We parked just past where some kitesurfers were packing up and walked over the duck board bridge to the long beach where Mag spotted a couple of windsurfers out with 6m enjoying a good breeze. We walked down to where they had launched from and there is a small shop. The road was a dead end with three or four campervans parked a stone’s throw from the sea, that’s tonight’s overnight spot sorted:) It was early to park up so we had a bit of an explore and headed to the Port but turned before we got there past a campsite along the large River Ebre to a carpark where you could walk. We stopped and walked to a large wooden viewing tower which you could climb giving great views across the Parc. It included lagoons and reed beds so we walked to the bird hides but nothing much about apart from loads of coots and Reed Buntings. There was a little quay with rowing boats which hunters use to shoot the duck :( We had a quick look at the port on the river and as it got dark returned to the sea front to park up by the windsurfing rigging area, who knows might even get a sail tomorrow? We covered 215 miles today the farthest we have done in a day and we still have miles to go! Fingers crossed for some sunshine tomorrow. Dan texted to say it is snowing in Felixstowe!! |
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