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In the backcountry of Aiguestores National Park |
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The
Pyrenees served as Spain adventure #2 for our Paris group of friends –
Doug, Mike, Amy, Rich & Jane, Cecilia & I, and Maria. The
trip proved to be a great followup to Spain adventure #1 in Barcelona in
May. Maria, our friend from Valencia, invited the group to spend
a long weekend at her family's house in the mountains - just outside of
Rialp, about three hours south of Toulouse France.
We flew from Paris Orly to Toulouse on Thursday night, rented two cars, and drove a winding three hours south to Rialp. The drive involved a steep climb over a col just beyond the Spanish border, Port de la Bonaigua at 2070 meters, and offered Mike a chance to brush up on his cornering skills. We were able to see the planet Mars that night as the largest object in the sky - at its closest point to the earth in many millennium! We arrived at Maria's with enough time to enjoy a few beers and unpack before going to sleep.
The long weekend started Friday with a rafting trip down the Noguera
Pallaresa river, which passes just next to Maria's house. We rafted
with a guiding service called Rubber River, and had an excellent day on
the chilly water. My highlights included falling overboard with Maria's
help during one set of early rapids, and tormenting an accompanying raft
with excessive splashing. We followed up rafting with a quick meal
of tapas in downtown Sort, and then a huge dinner at a nearby restaurant
later that night. Some images from the day:
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The weekend continued on Saturday with a hard day of hiking in Aiguestores
National Park. We drove a quick 25 minutes from Maria's house to
the park entrance, where we left our cars and took one of the required
national park taxi shuttles up to Estany de Sant Maurici - a large lake
in the center of the park. Our goal was to hike about 1200 vertical
meters from the lake to the top of Pic de Peguera at 2942 meters elevation
- one of the highest peaks in the area. We started walking through
gorgeous pine forest, that slowly climbed from treeline and ended at a
small backcountry lake (Estany Monestero) about 200 meters and three kilometers
above our start point. From there we scrambled 800 more vertical
meters over boulders and loose scree for approximately 3-4 km to the top
of the peak. The heat and exposure combined with the steep scree
made it a tough afternoon, but we successfully reached the top and were
rewarded with incredible views in all directions. We spent the rest
of the afternoon scrambling back down, and enjoyed a few brief moments
of surfing on the snow patches just adjacent to the rocky slope.
The frisbee served as a great surfing saucer. We arrived at the bottom
around 6pm, with no water left in our bottles, and we happily drank from
a spring fountain next to the ranger station. After a brief 90 minute
period of confusion over the whereabouts of Amy (who, thinking that we
had already left, decided to taxi alone back down to the car), we taxied
back down to our car, only to find her waiting with cool drinks and a worried
smile. Some images from the hike:
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Sunday was truly a day of rest for the group, as the hot Saturday hike
had taken its toll on everyone. We spent the entire day relaxing
at the pool, playing tennis, reading, and eating tapas. We used what
was left of our energy reserves to think of new creative ways of jumping
into the pool - my rotating watermelon and Mike's cartwheels were some
of the many highlights. A few images from the day:
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Monday we packed up, spent a bit more time at the pool, cleaned the house, and headed back over the col to Toulouse. Thanks to Maria for hosting us over what was a great weekend in the mountains!
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