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squiz Member Member#: 6644 Location: Registered: 27-05-2007 Diary Entries: 2899 |
18th May 2012 Hiking - Walking: Montalba d’Amelie plus Wind Direction: Wind Stength: Surf / Sea State: Air Temperature: Sea Temperature: Weather: Max Speed: Distance Covered: Three for the price of one :) Friday 18th May 2012 – travelling then walking **** sunny periods Mag went for a walk around the same paths as last night while Stephen got ready and looked at the view:) windy again but onshore. We set off to find a shop and a McDonalds for Wi-Fi and although we got a bit lost we eventually found them at Elme. Spent a couple of hours sorting out internet stuff then set out towards the Pyrenees,learnt I am still 2nd in the longboard speed rankings missing top by a fraction of a knot – must try harder next time!!! It didn’t take long to get to the mountains and when we got to Amelie-les-Bains we turned up a road marked with gorges on our map and drove along the most dramatic road! It looked pre-historic with the mountains, rocks, gorges and hundreds of different greens from the trees. The road was only the width of the van with twists, turns and various walls and sheer drops. Quite scary Mag thought! We eventually came to Montalba d’Amelie which basically has two houses and a chapel and overlooks the mountains on both sides and is a dead end!!! It is very beautiful. We had a late lunch then set out on a walk down to a bridge signposted on a yellow sign saying 35 minutes. A great mountain path scrambling down rocks through lovely woodland with hundreds of wild flowers :) We eventually came to the river rushing through lots of rocks and an old ruined roman (?) bridge where you had to cross over stepping stones. We don’t know if that was the bridge signposted or not but carried on and came to the road bridge we crossed on the way up. Walked a bit further to an ‘aire d conviviality’ which had been made for you to sit and enjoy a very tall waterfall (hardly any water unfortunately) so we sat there and had our biscuits and some water, refilling the bottle from the spout. Saw a newt, toad and tadpoles :) By the time we got back up to the van we had been out a good couple of hours. Had tea and are hoping to get away with parking here tonight :) Saturday 19th May 2012 – walking *** cloudy Did exercises with the beautiful view of the mountains – it’s a bit dull and cloudy but not too bad. Mag went for a wander up the path towards the ‘eco gite’ which is apparently 50 minutes away – you can’t see it but it is up the mountain somewhere! It is a lovely path, cobbled to make some of the craggier places smoother as if it was a major path at some time in history. Lots of wild flowers and chestnut trees. 3 cars arrived with walkers of various ages who all disappeared after much deliberation over their maps! After breakfast I cleaned the van with water from the old stone laverie. We drove back down the winding road to Amelie Les Bains and parked by the river to walk into town. Bought some cherries on the market (the local crop – they were selling them everywhere on the way here yesterday at stalls by the side of the road). We had some good humoured banter with the stall holder about me taking photos! Bought some bread, an almond croissant and a Daily Mail – Donna Summers dead!!! :( Called in at the Tourist information to get some walking maps and went to have a look at the ‘Thermes’ which are signposted everywhere in the town. Some kind of spa, modern and not very nice to look at! Back to the van where some fishermen had leant their rods up against the van – they were in very serious preparation for a ‘No Kill’ fishing match this afternoon. Drove off to find somewhere nice for lunch and followed a road along the Vallee du Riuferrer which was very similar in size and windiness to yesterday! We met a red car at a narrow bit and he was trying to juggle his fag as well as avoid hitting us!! The road left the valley way below and climbed up the mountain and we were amazed at how many houses there were on the way up in very obscure places – it is unbelievable that people live so far up the mountain. Carried on up to the ‘battery’ refuge which is the nearest you can get to the Pic Du Canigou in a car. You can park and hike but it is a serious and long walk – not for lightweights like us!! We found a great place to park for lunch, have a walk and stay the night. Brilliant views down the mountain but the cloud was coming up in wisps and closing in. Several birds about including the nearest we have come to seeing a cuckoo properly – it flew right past actually saying cuckoo but couldn’t get the binocs quick enough to have a good look :( There are horses here too, free to wander where they like. After lunch we went for a walk to the Tour – a ruined turret about 3km away along the Col de la Descargae. It was a decent track/road so no effort involved today but lots of flowers and trees and a couple of small waterfalls :) When we got to the Tor 5 Land Rovers on a jeep safari had just arrived and were scrambling up towards it. We walked a bit further and waited until we heard them disappear down the road before going up for a closer look. The cloud was really closing in now so that we were walking in a cloud ourselves and our hair was actually really wet when we got back. We couldn’t see the van at all until we were a few yards away from it. A shame really when we know that fantastic view is there :( Never mind, we read the paper and had tea and our usual evening on the computer, reading and playing cards so it didn’t really spoil anything. Hopefully it will all be gone in the morning :) Tuesday 22nd May 2012 – walking then travelling/sightseeing Woke up to grey skies again but at least it’s not raining! It is very windy though. We walked up the waterfall to the right of the van and although it started off as a path it soon turned into our usual scramble up the rocks. It was lovely, the beech trees and the flowers make it a very beautiful place :) We somehow or other got separated, Mag went up to the track as it was getting a bit difficult on the rocks but I carried on up the rocks and when I did briefly see her and she was trying to tell me to come up because she had found the track to carry on our walk I couldn’t hear a word over the roar of the waterfall. Anyway we did meet up again and carried on along the track which came out near the refuge we visited in the van yesterday underneath the snowy peak. We walked back to the van and the sun had come out! Only weak and brief but at least it was there. Even though there were some very strong gusts of wind we did eat our lunch outside and I did take several photos of the waterfall. We did feel we had made the most of our perfect spot in the end :) Packed up and drove along the loop of road which goes into Spain and out again further along the Pyrenees. Crossing the Spanish border was a bit disappointing, there wasn’t even a sign saying Espania – we think it had been painted out by Catalan protesters. We drove around the windy but wide road through spectacular scenery and stopped at San Juan de les Abadeas for a cuppa and walked over the old bridge. Didn’t go up into the town though because the Spanish obviously take their siesta very serious as the shops were closed from 12.30 until 5!!! There were some great allotments just under the bridge with people busy pottering :) Mag drove for the rest of the day (she hasn’t had to drive much at all this holiday) and carried on along the winding main road to Puigcerda which is on the French border. By this time I felt quite sick as I was trying to read the map with all those bends! Back into France, we started to look for somewhere to stay for the night and tried a ski resort called Eyne but that was a bit grim so we drove to Pyrenees 2000 and on up to the ski lifts above Font Romeu and decided to stay at the ski de frond (cross-country) skiing car park which has a wonderful view of the snow covered mountains (that is when you can see them through the low cloud). There is snow all around us, it is raining and it is about 5 degrees. We have had our ski gear on all day!! Needless to say there is nobody about and we have the place to ourselves. We are not overly impressed with this area, we haven’t seen anything better than we have already seen in the Alps and it doesn’t seem to have a lot of character or the right ‘feel’ – it could be the weather of course! Hoping for better tomorrow. |
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