Day 35 GR1 to Oix

After complaints about yesterday's walk being too long it was essential to come up with something shorter today. The original idea was to take a taxi along the busy valley to the east of Ripoll and start at Sant Joan de les Abadesses but on a cold, drizzly day 33 kilometres seemed too long. Instead we asked the taxi to take us further to Sant Pau de Segúties, leaving a very manageable 20 kilometres.

When we arrived it was market day and the bar we dropped into for coffee was busy and full of men topping up their alcohol levels (about 9.30 in the morning). Apart from us, the only person not drinking was a young guy wearing the cyclist's uniform of baggy shorts and tights and he turned out to be a German reaching the end of his Berlin to Barcelona bike trip. Really nice guy, and great to share a bit of time with another long-distance travelling nutcase. He had hauled his 35 kg bike and gear over the Pyrenees in the frost last night and was now stopping at the bar to buy cigarettes! Apologies for the photo which seems to capture two drinkers emerging from the bar rather than the cyclist and his bike.

Day 34 GR1 to Ripoll

Normal service resumed, the walk was longer than expected and I was in trouble as we made the final, extra long approach to Ripoll. Not sure what the fuss was about, 38 kilometres instead of 33, but I was blamed for all sorts. Shame because I got everything else right, nice walk and near perfect weather.

Left the hostal, really a casa rural, at Lluçà at about 8.45. Great food last night (despite having forgotten we were coming, the owner produced a feast : a perfectly dressed salad, a bowl of puy lentils and vegetables, grilled chicken with wild rice and then strawberry fruit salad); and a lovely breakfast.

Llucà - Ermita de Santa Maria

Day 33 GR1 to Lluçà

Today must be the first day when I managed to estimate the distance correctly. Normally I am horribly over-optimistic but today almost everything when to plan. 29 kilometres, two of which were accounted for by the location of the hotel in Gironella, a nice relaxed 8 hour walk.

Gironella is not somewhere you would choose to visit on a weekend - some of the small Spanish towns are wonderful, but on first impressions this isn't one of them. We walked through the old centre, past the cathedral, in and out of a bread shop, and then out of town. The trip out of town was pretty depressing, lots of uncompleted residential accommodation and a new industrial estate which has only got as far as the road layout.

Day 32 GR1 Gironella

If all or even most days were like this, than I would definitely not be doing long distance place to place walking. Still it had some memorable features.

First the good news. We now have a contender for the purveyor of the best sandwich on the GR1 Sendero Historico. Hotel Casa Joan in Sant Llorenç de Morunys was a fairly modest place but great value, and the owner was only too pleased to provide a sandwich for our lunch. It was a masterpiece, double decker tortilla with olive oil and tomato juice soaking into the bread - perfectly seasoned - it was still warm when we removed it from its foil wrap four hours after leaving. We would not have survived without it.

Sandwich masterpiece

Day 31 GR1 Sant Llorenç de Morunys

After Christine's guest blog it's back to business as usual with me reporting on the first day of the final week of my trudge across northern Spain.

Unfortunately because of insistence on full implementation of the "walking time directive" the day had to finish 10 kilometres before the end. In fairness to Christine, completion would have required a very early start, possibly before breakfast, which would be in breach of regulations. As it was both we and the Hotel seemed to miss the fact that the clocks had changed so instead of 8 o'clock we didn't get away until 9.

Perfect sunny day and the big red cliffs which span the northern horizon of Oliana looked fantastic. Bit of a road walk to start with but I think that was because we missed the beginning of the GR1 which was probably more to the centre of town than we thought.

Day 30 GR1 to Oliana

Guest blog by Christine

Having sworn blind last night that this was the last of John's trips I wanted to come on, I woke up this morning feeling fresh as a daisy and looking forward to a walk. The sun was already pouring through the window and there were 2 donkeys quietly grazing outside.

Breakfast was something else. The woman who ran the Casa (or did all the work) brought a wooden trencher to our table that had a sort of miniature tree coming out of it, on which hung 6 or 7 varieties of home cured dried sausage, all of which had to be tried with our tosta and olive oil. This, combined with home made jams and cheese washed down by gallons of coffee, made for a feast. I sneaked an inch of salami into my trouser pocket for later.

Day 29 GR1 Sant Cristofol

My perfect walking day, on these long distance treks, is 8 hours. Less and it feels you're not covering the ground and hanging around too long in hotels; more and it feels you're on your feet all the time.

Today's walk was a tough 11 hours, the toughest of the trip (so far), and Christine was in open revolt by the time we struggled into the casa rural.

The story of the day is how long it was. I would like to report on the brilliant views but low clouds blocked what would have been amazing views of the Pyrenees.

I did know today was going to be long. When Juan did it he got a taxi at the Coll de Comiols, the only place on the route where you cross a significant road, and that would have taken a couple of hours off. Juan and I agreed however that organising a taxi on Good Friday would be very difficult and even then it would have to take us a long way to find somewhere to stay. The better but painful option was another 8 kilometres (or so) down to a casa beyond Sant Cristofol.