Stage 5 - E4 through Catalonia

The E4 through Catalonia was worse part of the whole trip.  Accommodation was hard to find and I had to walk very long days.  Worse still I was constantly missing the trail.  Maps in Spain don't show the routes and unless you have a guide or a good GPS trail then it's easy to take a wrong turn.  Of course I was never seriously lost but constant minor mistakes made long walks even longer - really frustrating and at times depressing.

Must admit that I couldn't understand why the E4 left the GR7.  Having followed the GR7 all the way from Andalucia, it turns east at border with Catalonia and heads down to the coast along the GR8.   It then heads along the coast via the GR92 to Tarragona, heads north via the GR172 to Montserrat and then onto Alp and the border with France on the GR4.  Meanwhile the GR7 carries onto the Pyrenees ending up a few kilometres from the GR4.

The E4 through Catalonia does visit some amazing places, in particular Montserrat and Tarragona, but the walking itself was mixed.  You are not walking around or through a particular mountain range and it's certainly not the most direct way to get to the Pyrenees.  Catalonia is a busy place and although there is some lovely countryside you also have to cross some major transport corridors and built-up areas.

Montserrat Mountains

My negative view of the E4 through Catalonia is influenced by the extent to which I had been  enjoying the GR7, particularly the last few days through Castellon.  It was a change however and a change might be as good as a rest.  I was entering a different sort of countryside and I was also entering Catalonia, a particularly distinct part of Spain with its own language and cultural traditions.  The lack of love between Catalonia and the rest of Spain is manifested in many ways including the intense rivalry between the Barcelona and Real Madrid football clubs, something I had been observing throughout the trip (six El Clásico games when I was there).

I had put my schedule together using the information on the La Federació d'Entitats Excursionistes de Catalunya (FEEC)  , the Catalonia Climbing and Hiking Association, which identifies all the major walking routes and gives you stage distances, walking times and altitude gained and lost.  Great help for planning the route but as it turned out only limited help when you are actually doing it - why can't they go the next small step and actually publish a GPS route!

I started walking through Catalonia on the 24th of April and got to Alp 16 days later on May 9th.  I stopped for a day in Tarragona and had another rest day at Alp before crossing the border.

The first part of my Catalonia trip was from El Boixar down to Mol l'Abad where I stayed at a very nice holiday centre. Was driven there by the lack of accommodation on the main GR8 route which runs through the mountains just to the north.

Was aiming to re-connect with the GR8 at La Senia but ended up walking all the way along the road to Ulldecona - miserable, was missing the mountains already.  Found a good hotel and got there early so some compensations.

View across the Ebro Delta

Next day was much better, really nice walk and interesting as well. The walk takes you up the Sierra de Montsia to la Foradada (684 metres) which has amazing views of the Ebro Delta, the coast line to the north, and all the way back to Penyagolasa to the west. Really interesting information boards describing the impact of rural depopulation in the 1960s.  After the climb and the views you walk down through ancient Mediterranean woodland, onto the delta and then into Amposta, a fairly large town with lots of accommodation.

Bridge over the Ebro at Amposta

After Amposta the trail is completely flat but still quite nice.  The first part takes you across the intensely farmed delta and then, after Ampolla, along a lovely coastal path to L'Ametlla de Mer.  Stayed at the Hotel del Port, very reasonable.

Coastal path after Ampolla

The coastal walk to Cambils was a bit more mixed.  Some nice stretches, but also some horrible diversions around gated harbours (Sant Jordi) and a large diversion around a nuclear power station (and over/under railway lines and motorways).  There were long stretches  of concrete coastline with blocks of holiday accommodation running right up to the shore.   Nice stretch along the beach after L'Hospitalet de l'Infant but a lot of hard surface walking over the whole day. Cambils itself was a tiny fishing village in the sixties but is now a huge resort.

Beach north of L'Hospitalet

Next day into Tarragona was just awful although I missed the route and possibly made it worse.  Essentially you have to get around a huge port and chemical works to the south of the city (if you are English, think Middlesborough) and following GR signs in a built up area is not easy.

The 'players' entrance" at the Roman circus in Tarragona

Despite the chemical works to the south Tarragona itself is a wonderful city.  I rested up there for a day and there was lots to see - it has a huge Roman heritage and is a UNESCO world heritage site.  Would love to go back there again but would definitely choose a different mode of transport!

Ideally you would stay at Santes Crues the next day but I couldn't find any accommodation when planning the walk (when I went there next day it looked like there was some) and instead diverted to Valles.  Not bad countryside but not stunning either.  Initially through scrubby forest and then back to back vineyards.  El Cattlar on the way is a pretty little town.

Santes Crues, or Santa Maria de Santa Creus to give it full title, is an important monastery dating back to the 12th Century.  It was shut when I was there but looks like it would have been well worth a visit.

The ideal place to stay next day would have been St Joan de Mediona, a nice looking town with a historic centre.  Instead I had to go to Capellades about 5 kilometres to the north.  It was a long walk with about 700 metres of climb over the Col de Rimbalda and then a drop  down again into the next valley.  Nice countryside.  I went to a distant suburb of Capellades but was rescued and given a lift directly into town.

Montserrat Monastery

Assisted by a short train journey I rejoined the route at Peira and walked onto the next historic highlight, Montserrat.  The walk to Montserrat was had some tough bits crossing a series of steep sided gorges which had been cut into the soft loess at the bottom of the Montserrat mountain range.  You do have to walk through a large suburb before you finally get to climb up to the Montserrat Monastery which is a 600 metre climb with great views.

The Montserrat Mountains are a spectacular feature, weirdly shaped and high above the surrounding countryside.  The colour and texture of the rock are like ancient concrete and the shapes are reminiscent of Gaudi. The Monastery itself, with its famous Black Madonna, is an important focus pilgrims and a key symbol of Catalan nationalism.  I stayed there for a day and walked to the top of Sant Jeroni (1200 metres) - the train, funicular and buses bring up the daytown crowds but it's empty in the evening.

The next destination was Navarcles (near Cabrianes) a 42 kilometre walk which was nice at either end but unpleasant in the middle when another busy valley spiralling out from Barcelona had to be crossed. You go on a huge detour to get inside the Parc Natural de Sant Lorenc and then walk along a really nice gorge before finally arriving at Navarcles.  Really struggled to find accommodation but ended up in the Hostal Montane which was great, very cheap and very authentic.

Driven on again by the lack of accommodation, next day was another huge walk (51 kilometres) all the way to Santa Maria de Merles.  The first hour or so is not pleasant involving a walk up to Cabrianes through a fairly busy industrial valley. After that things improve and the route takes you through a very nice pastoral landscape - lots of old farmsteads and isolated churches.  Eventually you get to the tiny settlement of Sant Pou de Pinos from which point you head west and then east, again in a huge and frustrating detour before arriving at the equally tiny settlement of Santa Maria de Merles.  Stayed at the wonderful Casa Escrigas - and enjoyed home made everything.

The walk next day was supposed to be a short one but was again frustrated by really poor waymarks with one memorable sign sending me completely in the wrong direction.  One of the problems I faced today was intersections with other GR routes - unless you spot these, work out which is the right one, you can easily find yourself following white and red markings in the wrong direction.  If it wasn't for the frustrations of getting lost, today would have been an excellent walk, the scenery is good and Borreda, a lovely old mountain village, is a great place to finish the day.  Stayed in the Cal Bardolet which was OK but a bit expensive.

Spring growth near Les Pilones

Great walk to La Pobla de Lillet, mostly in trees but in early May the trees were at there best.  The highlight was the climb up from Castell de l'Areny to Les Pilones (1700 metres) followed by a walk along an upland valley.  The GR4 is supposed to be an ancient transhumance trail but the climb up to Les Pilones felt a bit steep for a herd of cattle.  Stayed at La Pobla de Lillet, a slightly run down mountain resort town home to a Gaudi garden (Artigas Gardens) and station for the Spanish Yellow Train (there is a French one on the other side of the Pyrenees).  I stayed and ate at the Hostal Pericas which was cheap and cheerful.


The walk to Alp was the last full day in Spain and another good one.  Wasn't as tough as I had anticipated and I needn't have left at the crack of dawn.  There was a big 1200 metre climb up to the Coll de Pal but it was gentle and along a lovely valley with great views.  Not quite so nice on the other side, horrible ski runs and scarred mountains but seeing the snowy peaks on the other side of the valley, in France, was encouraging.   Stopped for a day in the ski resort of Alp staying at off-season prices at the Hotel Roca - very nice.


Just a short walk across the valley bottom to Puigcerda and France.


If you want to read what the walk felt like at the time than please go to the walk diaries.  The links are below:


April 26th Ulldecona to Amposta
April 27th Amposta to L'Ametlla de Mer
April 28th L'Ametlla to Cambrils
April 29th Cambrils to Tarragona
April 30th Tarragona
May 1st Tarragona to Valls
May 2nd Santes Crues to Capallades
May 3rd Capallades to Montserrat
May 4th Montserrat
May 5th Montserrat to Navarcles
May 6th Navarcles to Santa Maria de Merles
May 7th Santa Maria de Merles to Borreda
May 8th Borreda to La Pobla de Lillet
May 9th La Pobla de Lillet to Alp

Monday May 9th La Pobla de Lillet to Alp

Was a bit apprehensive about today's walk. It involved the biggest climb I've done so far and, given my recent track record, I was nervous about getting lost. So I left early and was out of the the "habitacion" in La Pobla de Lillet (behind the Cerdanya restaurant, cheap and miserable) by 7, and, after coffee and cake, was walking by 7.30.

I did start badly and was on the wrong side of the valley heading out of town and well below the road I should have been walking on. There was a way of avoiding going all the way back and that was to follow the line of the narrow gauge yellow train which goes up to the cement museum. Lots of warning signs telling you not to do it but having checked the timetable decided to be a devil. Was tempted to wait for the cement museum to open but managed to resist it.

No Yellow Train just the tracks

The walk takes you into the Parc Natural del Cadi Moixero. The weather was perfect and as usual I had it all to myself. At one point I disturbed a deer which leap away ahead of me making a strange sort of barking noise and was then treated to a brilliant arial display by up to 10 eagles (or something like eagles). I also saw my first marmot.

Part of the walk was on a narrow path underneath a huge limestone ridge. In the middle distance looking west you also got a great view of a mountain which I think was Cornabona (2530).

Up the valley towards the Col de Pal

Cornabona

Had actually been going up hill ever since leaving La Pobla de Lillet and although it did get steeper as you got to the top of Col de Pay it was a fairly easy way of climbing 1100 metres. Once you got the top you were in ski resort country with runs heading down to the valley below. I love skiing but resorts can make a mess of the mountains. Alp was just around the corner to the west. Across the valley the mountains were in France.

Down a ski run

Across the valley to France

Lost the GR4 amongst the ski runs but was able to follow a well marked local walk down to Alp. Arrived at about 3.30 having walked 26 kilometres with a total of 1600 metres of ascent. Alp is about 8 kilometres from Puigcerda and the French border. Not doing anything tomorrow other than resting my feet. Staying in a very nice hotel which is also off season cheap. My room is full of drying clothes.

Sunday May 8th Borreda to La Pobla de Lillet

After yesterday I wasn't really expecting much from today but it has been a good one.

Borreda looks a really nice mountain town although I was slightly ripped of in the place I stayed at. It's perhaps just a bit in-between in terms of seasons and a lot of places haven't opened up yet and even those that have are not really geared up. The place I was hoping to stay tonight wasn't open but some brilliant work by the back-office team in the UK found me somewhere else, booked it, and it has all worked out fine.

Anyway got away nice and early after a good breakfast. It was drizzling and everything was very wet after yesterday's rain and my feet were soon soaking. Was able to follow the GR signs for about 20 minutes before I lost them and made my own way. Then they turned up again and were actually good for the rest of the day.

It was just an excellent walk. Not sure when I move from the foothills of the Pyrenees to the actual Pyrenees but today I climbed up to nearly 1700 metres. Some great views south and I sure I was looking at the Montserrat range but a few clouds obscured the serrated profile. It was the same rock, with the large pebbles in it, as I saw at Monserrat.

Looking south from Les Pilones

Sant Romà de la Clusa

It is just the best time be walking through trees. Today there was a real mix of deciduous and coniferous trees presenting a whole range of different shades of green. A one point I was walking through a hill side of solid beech trees whose leaves could only have been out for days, absolutely wonderful.

Spring Growth

Through the Forest

So one more solid day of walking in Spain and then a day's rest before crossing the border. Tomorrow's walk is a really tough one. I'm at about 900 metres at the moment. From here it's a non-stop climb up to the Coll de Pall which is 2100 metres, then down to 1900 metres then up again to the Coll de la Mola which is 2300 metres. Going for an early start in the morning.

Saturday 7th Santa Maria de Merles to Borreda

Today was supposed to be an easy day, a chance to recover from yesterday's big one. Instead it turned into a navigation disaster and I didn't get to Borreda, which is only about 20 kilometres from Santa Maria de Merles until about 7. I blame the Catalans and their signs.

I did have a leisurely start. Had a lovely breakfast with the Casanovas in their amazing house, the Masia Escrigas, discussed the walk with them and how tough the trip up to Alp might be. They even gave me a walking stick. I didn't start walking until well after 10.

Everything went fine for the first 90 minutes, got to Segas which has an 11th century church, and had already done a third of the trip. It started to rain but not really heavily and I had to do a bit of road walking but not a disaster.

Segas

The signs had started to change a bit. Really expensive looking signs at the major junctions but the white and red waymarks in between were becoming rare. This was slowing things down a bit but I was still making progress. Had some lunch (discovered I had lost my Swiss Army knife) and pressed on.

At about 2.45 I came to a sign which said Borreda 5.8 kilometres which was good news although the sign did seem to be sending me in the wrong direction. Followed the road down hill to La Portella and by the time I got to the bottom, in the absence of any GR signs, or another sign to Borreda decided to go back up the hill. Got to the top, went 200 yards in the opposite direction to the way the sign told me to go and found another sign to Borreda.

Good sign, wrong direction

Right direction

It was now just after 4 and lots of signs to Borreda, should get there for 5.30 easily. Followed the GR signs down the hill, lovely walk was even starting to forget the 7 kilometre detour. So cheerful, and the way was so clearly marked, that it wasn't until nearly 5 that I started to wander where Borreda might be and decided to check my map. The GR signs had taken on a route well to the east of where I needed to be.

Lost in the trees

Decided to navigate my way across country using forest trails and the maps on my GPS. Had lost a lot of height and it wasn't until 6.45, and a few dead ends amongst the trees, that I was in sight of Borreda. Just as I was coming into town the GR signs reappeared like street lights being turned back on. When I got into town there was a really helpful map which showed that there were two GRs heading into Borreda, and that I had followed the other one, the GR 242, heading east. It's just a shame that the junction between the two wasn't prominently signed.

Two more days walking in Catalonia and to be honest I can't wait to be in Alp, my last stop before crossing the border. Tomorrow's walk is 25 kilometres and the map in town has shown me where the first bear trap is, the point at which the two GRs split, so hopefully I will head of in the right direction.

Friday 6th of May Navarcles to Santa Maria de Merles

One of the things I don't like about this stretch of walking is that I don't really know where I going. It's about a year ago since I researched the route and it was very difficult, without buying a Spanish Topoguide, to work out in detail where the GR4 goes. Unlike the GR7 I couldn't find a GPS trail on the web so came up my own trail from various sources and don't have any confidence in it.

If the walk was going to go wrong it was most likely to go wrong today. It was going to be long, but I wasn't sure how long although at least 40 kilometres, and the destination Santa Maria de Merles, is a very tiny place. It was on the route but it was my route and of course I didn't know if my route was right. I was going there because it was the only place I could find with accommodation.

I was out of the hotel by 7 and went across the road for a coffee and a chocolate croissant. Is it just Spain or have all chocolate croissants changed. Instead of the anaemic bit of chocolate running through the middle, which I was used to, it's now a solid lump and each end of a proper shaped croissant has also been dipped in chocolate so you get it on the outside as well. Really good, a meal in itself.

Was able to find the GR 4 just north of Navarcles, really well signed. After about thirty minutes I concluded that the route I had on my GPS had nothing to do with the real GR 4 and decided to follow the signs. Essentially the first hour walk took you through a mixed landscape as you went along the industrial valley but eventually, after going past Cabrianes, you get into the country side proper.

For the rest of the day the scenery was essentially the same but really nice. Walking through hilly countryside, wooded, but interspersed with fields of barley and occasionally wheat. Everything was incredibly green, nice weather, sunny, fairly clear but not too hot. Not a day of really big views but the sort of walk you can often get in England at this time of year.

North of Cabrianes

The other feature of the walk were the really beautiful farmsteads and the little churches generally associated with them. Although the countryside was still being farmed (unlike much of the countryside I went through in upland Valencia) a lot of the farmsteads and churches were abandoned and falling into disrepair.

Abandoned Farmstead

Abandoned Church

At about 5, I had a big ridge to climb, but once I got over that I was within 3/4 kilometres, as the crow flies from Santa Maria de Merles. Got over the top and kept following the signs, I was heading west not north which was the direction I anticipated. This went on for nearly an hour and I was heading down into a huge gorge and now much further away from Santa Maria de Merles than I had been at 5. I had convinced myself that Santa Maria wasn't on the GR 4 when I started heading east again and by 7 I had got to the village. In total had walked 51 kilometres with 1500 metres of climb. The last bit of the walk, through the gorge was excellent, nice time of day, actually saw a cuckoo rather than just hearing it, just a shame I had started to think I was going to be sleeping rough again.

Woodland Approaching Santa Maria de Merles

River Merles

I'm the only person staying in a huge converted farmhouse. No one else here at all. Very remote, the owner gave me a lift here, picked me up to take me to dinner, bought me back, and is picking me up for breakfast in the morning. Much better than sleeping in the woods.

Thursday 5th May Montserrat to Navarcles

Good job I had the extra day in Monserrat as I was able to spend most of yesterday afternoon rejigging the route around the available accommodation. Basically I'm having to walk 6 days in 5 with two big days, today and tomorrow, to fit around what's available. Today was 38 kilometres with 700 metres of climb and I think tomorrow might be even longer. Worse thing is my feet have become painful again, I think it's walking without sticks.

I'm now on the GR4 all the way to the border although for some of today I was also on the GR3. I think the GR3 is a St James Way variant going from Figueres, via Montserrat to Santiago, another pilgrims way. If I don't get lost I've got about another 150 kilometres of walking to do in Spain.

Today's walk was good, a nice first couple of hours walking around the Montserrat mountain, and really unpleasant bit in the middle when you crossed the busy valley at Sant Vicent de Castellet, and then a better afternoon as the route takes you on a huge detour to get inside the Parc Natural de Sant Lorenc (etc etc - the name of the park is a long as the detour). Actually I've been in two Natural Parks today because Montserrat is one as well.

The highlight of the first bit was the mist burning off from around the mountain, some wonderful views. I've also got a real soft spot for fields of barley which have just come out in ear and there was an abundance of those this morning.

Looking back to the Montserrat Mountains

Fields of Barley

The middle bit wasn't nice, this is a really busy part of Spain, and every time you come down from the mountains your walking through a housing or industrial estate. Today it was mainly industrial. The signs were pretty good, you can see the GR sign on the lamppost below, although it seems like someone with a giant tin of pink paint has been trying cover up as many as possible.

The joys of long distance walking

I wouldn't say that the Natural Park was the most spectacular I've seen but maybe its designation has something to do with its proximity to Barcelona. There were information boards everywhere describing everything and today a huge party of school children were making the best of it. That's a 13th century church below, another one without any windows.

Approach to Navarcles

Abandoned church

The last bit of the walk, into Navarcles was along a long gorge with a river running along the bottom, very pleasant. Four Spanish walkers, male about my age, or slightly older, carrying big bags, were coming the other way and were all wearing those Lycra leggings. Makes you think.

Staying in the Hostal Montane in Navarcles. Must admit I really like these sort of places and seemed to stay in lots of them in Andalucia. It doesn't have a website and barely registers when you do an Internet search. Because it's so hard to find you tend to think it must be a dump. It is however absolutely fine, has a bar where they do food, and a restaurant, and is, like all Spanish places, spotless. It's also very cheap, which is good because I've been struggling to keep in budget recently.

Wednesday 4th of May Montserrat

A rest day but couldn't resist walking Miranda de Sant Joan, one of the highest points in the Montserrat range and which turned out to be a really nice walk. About 600 metres of climb and a three hour round trip.

These really are unusual mountains. The rock, certainly at top, is a conglomerate of large pebbles which have been cemented together. Like pebbles on the beach at Brighton, but bigger, these have clearly been in water and themselves are a mix of all sorts of different rock. From a bit of a distance the rock looks like weathered cement.

Montserrat rock structure

It must be the unusual composition of the rock that has led to some very distinct profiles. Really steep and a big attraction to climbers. One particular prominence caught my eye and if you look carefully at the picture below you see the climbers approaching the summit.

Could feel a bit of a dick climbing this one

Got a picture of myself at the top, as you can see I've wasted away so much that I need to be holding onto something to prevent myself keeling over. In the background are the Pyrenees but very difficult to make out. Also at the top I saw a deer  catching the sun.

The top looking north to the Pyrenees

Deer catching the sun

I said yesterday that there is a funicular to bring people up to the monastery. Actually there is a train, a cable car and a road as well as the funicular to get people to the top. In the day time it is absolutely packed and the main reason everyone is coming is to see the Black Madonna and kiss the wooden ball she is holding. It's easy to be sniffy about this sort of thing but personally I'm into pilgrimages but would choose a different focus for veneration. Everest Base Camp is a sort of pilgrimage. I would also insist that there has to be a bit of effort. Coming up a mountain on a train or a coach doesn't count as far as I'm concerned.

Black Madonna

Tuesday 3rd of May Capellades to Montserrat

Slight cheat this morning. Instead of walking 6 kilometres from Capellades to Peira to rejoin the GR 172 (and the E4) I saw a train and jumped on it. Worse than that I couldn't figure out how to buy a ticket and got a free journey. On the basis that E4 cheats never prosper I then proceeded to repeatedly loose the route and ended up walking the 6 kilometres gained by the train anyway.

The whole point of E4 excursion into Catalonia is, I think, to take you to the Montserrat mountain and its monastery. Having a rest day here tomorrow so will find out more about the place but the monastery and the black madonna located here is focus for pilgrimage and a symbol of Catalonia. Whenever the Barcelona football team win something they bring the cup here to say thank you.

The Montserrat mountains themselves are special. Not only are they very prominent, but they also form some very unusual shapes. The organic shapes, in particular, and the colour made me at any rate think of Gaudi, the famous Barcelona architect.

Mountains of Montserrat from Peira

Getting there proved a little bit harder than anticipated. I guess all the stuff which has worn away to form the mountain has been dumped in the plain below and rivers have sliced through this causing a series of deep ravines which have to be crossed. The trail through these ravines is perfect for men on motorbikes. A lot of effort has been made to try and stop them but it looks like a loosing battle.

Three GR routes home in on the monastery (the GR 172, the GR 6 and the GR 5) and actually it is a really good walk. Brilliant views both up the mountain and across the plain. You start on the west of the range, go around it's southern flank and then head up on the south-eastern side. Once you get around the corner your looking across towards the Barcelona metropolis which is huge.

Ermita de la de Deu de la Salut

Amazing shapes of the Montserrat Mountains

Montserrat Monestry

The monastery complex seems to be a theme park for the Catholic Church with a funicular to bring pilgrims up the mountains.

Resting up tomorrow so I can keep in step with people who will joining me for stints over the next few weeks. My feet are definitely suffering a bit at the moment so a day off is probably a good thing. I'm hoping to find somewhere to watch the Barcelona game, a lot a Barcelona shirts about today, although I doubt it will be as noisy up here as it was last week.

Wednesday 27th April Amposta to L'Ametlla de Mer

The hotel I was staying in last night was a bit expensive (stretched my very tight daily budget target) but did have a buffet breakfast. The fact that I'm on the international buffet breakfast banned list doesn't seemed to have come up their computer so I was able to stuff myself before escaping down the road across the beautiful suspension bridge over the River Ebro. Eating the equivalent of four breakfasts made the room seem bigger and the bill smaller.

Bridge over the Ebro

Seem to remember that the River Ebro is the scene for a Don Quixote adventure, can't remember which one but pretty sure that he and Sancho end up in the water.

The 35 kilometre walk was very much a walk of two halves, the first across the delta to Ampolla, where you hit coast proper, and the second along a coastal path to L'Ametlla de Mer.

Although I wouldn't want to do the first half again it was interesting to do it once. It's clearly a very important agriculture area and the fields, which all have a complex set of drains, are currently mostly flooded presumably to get the nutrients and silt out of water before being planted. There were some fields of Jerusalem artichokes and fennel, the fennel was enormous much bigger than you see in the shops in the UK. I read on a board that the amount of water available from the Ebro is declining as more is taken out further upstream and that sea water and associated salination is eating its way into the delta.

Flooded fields in the Ebro delta

Artichokes

Although you were never far from the railway line and the motorway, which both run near to the coast, and villas and other residential development, the second half of the walk felt like a proper coastal path. Saw a few other walkers coming the other way, all English, but everywhere was very quite with lots of places for a swim if I had had the nerve. It was certainly warm enough, hot in fact.

Classic coastline north of Ampolla

More classic coastline

Arrived in L'Ametlla de Mer at about 4.30, staying in the Hotel del Port, near the port, where the room is unnervingly like the room I stayed in last night. It is however well inside my budget.

Big big football game here tonight and people in these parts are going to be very upset if the Catalan side doesn't win. I think they are going to be upset.

Tuesday April 26th Ulldecona to Amposta

Was perhaps a bit rude about Ulldecona in yesterday's blog and it's much nicer than first impressions. Towards the centre there were some interesting art nouveau houses and a lovely baroque church.

Church at Ulldecona

Must admit I had assumed that after the walk through Valencia, Ulldecona to Tarragona was going to be a flat coastal walk. Well today completely contradicted that impression with a route over the Serra de Montsia range of mountains. This proved to be really interesting with lots of information on boards along the way. Essentially the walk firstly took you through some of the oldest olive groves in Catalonia, with trees dating back 2000 years to Phoenicians; through some natural evergreen oak woodland (i.e. pre-overgrazing and fire effected landscape, the cause of the shrub based landscape that typifies most the Mediterranean), and through some abandoned farming settlements which like much of upland Valencia had supported significant communities until the sixties.

The range gets to over 700 metres and although it wasn't a perfectly clear day the views were impressive. On the way up and looking back I could see across the valley with Ulldecona in the foreground, to the gorge I had emerged from coming from Moli l' Abad. Behind that I could see what was probably the La Creu mountain which I must have seen the day before yesterday. Most impressively I could see Penyagolosa which I had walked past in the rain 5 days with Christine and which is pictured on the blog from three days ago. It's dead centre on the horizon in the photo below, believe me.

Views back to Ulldecona

As well as looking back in time I could also see up the coast to Tarragona so from one place (slight poetic justice, you had to go up the hill a bit to see up the coast) I could see 9 days of walking.

Perhaps the most impressive view however was from the highest point on the walk, La Foredada where you got an amazing view of the Ebro delta. You could see the whole fan of the delta formed by the sediment flowing out from the Ebro river along with the cresent shaped sandbank beyond. From high up it looked like much of the delta is managed for agriculture although parts of it are important wetlands and form the Ebro Delta National Park.

Ebro delta

La Foradada

Just to add to the view, which the photographs don't capture, was one of those windblown holes in rock the name for which has for the moment passed me by.

Sat at the top and had my lunch, an apple and a packet of crisps. The air was full of little flies which in turn attracted hundreds of swallows and swifts who were also having their lunch.

The walk down was also excellent. Deep valleys and through tunnels formed by the evergreen oak. Once on the flat however, and after such a brilliant walk, the sting in the tail was a five kilometre walk through the dead level land of the delta. Like the fens in Cambridgeshire although at least the sun was shining. One highlight was some waders in a flooded field reminding me that this is a very important area for birdlife.

Ancient woodland

Ibis?