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.