Outdoor Adventures with Ancient Brit
Pyrenees GR11 2003 - Day 23: August 31st
Sunday 31st August
I awoke to thick mist and after breakfast I set off through the cloud on the
remaining 300m climb to the Port de Ratera. I emerged from the cloud just below the col,
to find the peaks clear, but 90% cloud cover at a higher altitude. There was now a descent
down the lovely valley to the popular Estany de Sant Maurici (Lake). I spent 15 minutes
chatting to a young Dutch couple on a 5-day hike through the National Park, which I had
now entered. The man started talking to me in fluent Spanish, but when I stopped him he
effortlessly changed into such good English I assumed he was from Britain. He was also
fluent in German and French. I see a lot of the Dutch on my travels in the European
wildernesses and they all seem to be excellent linguists. I dropped steeply, through
woodland, down a steep, well-engineered path, past a big waterfall to the Estany de Sant
Maurici. Although this lake is a reservoir, it was a lovely setting, not spoiled since the
reservoir was full.
The National Park Authorities had recently engineered some new paths for the
descent down to Espot. Despite the recent ban on all cars from the pista, this was a very
popular area. I met 60 year-old John, from Leicester, with his daughter, on a week’s hut-
to-hut trip in the National Park. He had previously hiked the GR11 in 2 sections with his
wife. He was a fell-runner and competed in the 2-day 2-man Karrimor Mountain
Marathon each year with Andy Middleton with whom I used to orienteer when he lived in
Salisbury. I had my lunch-break by the Capella de Sant Maurici, a rather modern looking
chapel, and then descended by path and grassy pista to Espot.
After stopping for a sandwich and a beer I set off on the 6km road walk down to Jou.
Like many of the old farming villages in these mountains, Jou was old and had become
largely deserted earlier in this century. However in recent years a pista had been
bulldozed up to the village and the pista had recently been paved and the village. The old
farm buildings were now being refurbished as modern houses and holiday homes. I
headed off down the steep path, through the terraced fields, for the 400m drop down
towards La Guingueta d’Aneu in the main valley. This would have been the main access
to Jou in the old days, making Jou a very isolated community. Just below Jou I found a
flat spot and decided to camp before the threatened rain developed.
I awoke to thick mist and after breakfast I set off through the cloud on the
remaining 300m climb to the Port de Ratera. I emerged from the cloud just below the col,
to find the peaks clear, but 90% cloud cover at a higher altitude. There was now a descent
down the lovely valley to the popular Estany de Sant Maurici (Lake). I spent 15 minutes
chatting to a young Dutch couple on a 5-day hike through the National Park, which I had
now entered. The man started talking to me in fluent Spanish, but when I stopped him he
effortlessly changed into such good English I assumed he was from Britain. He was also
fluent in German and French. I see a lot of the Dutch on my travels in the European
wildernesses and they all seem to be excellent linguists. I dropped steeply, through
woodland, down a steep, well-engineered path, past a big waterfall to the Estany de Sant
Maurici. Although this lake is a reservoir, it was a lovely setting, not spoiled since the
reservoir was full.
The National Park Authorities had recently engineered some new paths for the
descent down to Espot. Despite the recent ban on all cars from the pista, this was a very
popular area. I met 60 year-old John, from Leicester, with his daughter, on a week’s hut-
to-hut trip in the National Park. He had previously hiked the GR11 in 2 sections with his
wife. He was a fell-runner and competed in the 2-day 2-man Karrimor Mountain
Marathon each year with Andy Middleton with whom I used to orienteer when he lived in
Salisbury. I had my lunch-break by the Capella de Sant Maurici, a rather modern looking
chapel, and then descended by path and grassy pista to Espot.
After stopping for a sandwich and a beer I set off on the 6km road walk down to Jou.
Like many of the old farming villages in these mountains, Jou was old and had become
largely deserted earlier in this century. However in recent years a pista had been
bulldozed up to the village and the pista had recently been paved and the village. The old
farm buildings were now being refurbished as modern houses and holiday homes. I
headed off down the steep path, through the terraced fields, for the 400m drop down
towards La Guingueta d’Aneu in the main valley. This would have been the main access
to Jou in the old days, making Jou a very isolated community. Just below Jou I found a
flat spot and decided to camp before the threatened rain developed.
Camp at Lac Obago
SE from Port de
Ratera d'Espot
Ratera d'Espot
Bridge at Espot
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