Ordesa, canyon of wonder

A more serious undertaking beckoned in the mountains, where we planned to climb the third highest peak in the Pyrenees.

But before the assault on the summit we needed to get to our accommodation. A mountain hut. We will describe these in more detail in a separate post. On this occasion, we failed to take enough photos.

We headed NE out of Pamplona searching for that elusive Mobistar shop. We would pass through several towns before reaching our destination in the Pyrenees, so chances of finding one was good. We needed to top up the card to enable Susana to call the refugio, reserve our beds and check conditions on the mountain.

The road was fantastic, new and practically deserted. Eventually there would be a dual carriageway from Pamplona through to Barcelona. For now it is a little bit intermittent and although the road appears to go off into the distance, we were suddenly ejected from it, back onto the original, much more local road which has yet to be completed. Maybe a consequence of the ‘Crisis’ as the economic problems are referred to in Spain.

I much prefer the old road, Dora has little use of the faster auto-via, although it does allow others to easily pass her lumbering bulk. When on the new road, I also enjoy trying to spot the remains of the old, that archaeological footprint that still exists if you look carefully.

The mountains were growing before our eyes as we headed eastwards. The last town before we started to lose contact with civilisation was Jaca. We found the movil telefono and topped it up. No refund though, we would have to call back to Pamplona for that .

The place we had chosen for our first Pyrenean experience was Monte Perdido. which was located at the end of the Ordesa canyon. We are talking pretty remote here. After Jaca, the roads were getting smaller and more windy as they started to head into the Pyrenees. The last village, Torla, was similar in size and appearance to our Spanish home, Guisando. Small cobbled streets, with stone buildings hanging on a mountainside.

Although there were plenty of people around, it had sort of closed for the season. We later found out that the influx of people was partly down to a marathon being run the next day. The Information centre was boarded up and the buses taking you up to Ordesa were no longer working. This was good, it would mean we could drive Dora up to the park and leave her there.

We stayed the night in Torla, stocking up with a few bits we would take with us the next day. We left soon after the bread shop had opened in the morning. Although the walk the next day was not that long, 5-6 hours, we had heard that they had closed the park the previous day as they had had so many visitors, hence the early start.

Ordesa is really popular and attracts many visitors. The car park was already busy. It took us about an hour to pack all our stuff and secure Dora, wheel clamp, steering wheel lock, blinds down etc. Then we headed off.

We would have to walk the full length of the canyon to get to the mountain hut nestled at the foot of Monte Perdido. We could either follow the river at the base of the valley, but this was were all the tourists and day visitors would be heading. It would be really crowded. Was there another path higher up? We carried quite a lot of stuff; food for four days, a stove and pans, a water filter, sleeping bag, clothes, crampons and ice axes. We were fairly laden. But anything to get away from the crowds, we started heading upwards.

We were trekking through the woods, with the sun filtering through the leaves. Sometimes the path was fairly shallow, but mostly steep. It continued upwards.

The scale of Ordesa is truly awesome. Formed in the last ice age, huge glaciers would have cut the sheer cliffs vertical. The debris piling up at the edges was now covered in trees. This slope we now headed relentlessly up.

We are well in to autumn now. The woods in Ordesa are a mix of deciduous and scots pine. We climbed higher and looked down on the adjacent slope.

The colours of the canopy above us were amazingly beautiful. Susana’s favourite season is the fall. We weren’t yet at the top of the woods. The path continued up.

One of my many mountain loves is the harsh light and shadow. The floor bathed in darkness while the valley sides were in sunlight.

Up, up, up…

Occasionally we would get to the base of the cliff. Was this the point when we would start to head up the valley? No, quite the opposite, we headed down the valley to find another route around the cliffs, but always heading upwards.

Now we are getting seriously high! We continued to climb.

But a fabulous opportunity for a panoramic, before we were again trudging ever higher.

The terrain was beginning to open up now, even the trees could not be bothered to survive at this height. However we continued our ‘walk up to heaven’.

One of our remotest ‘Dora from a distance shots’. The trees were really thinning now and the views were opening up. We, however, had a path to climb.

After about three hours of never ending climbing we had reached the top and had the full expanse of the canyon to view. Exhilarating, exhausting and worth it. Now we had to head up the valley.

Now before taking in all the views, up and down Ordesa, the people down below, barely visible ants. Susana got chatting to a local couple. This was one of their favourite walks, to climb up here for lunch and then return! They shared some tortilla with us, not as good as Juani’s though, Susana’s mother.

I must admit that I was very impressed with the effort that this couple seemed to make every weekend. They were in their late fifties and still do serious trekking. I hope Gary and I keep like this at their age. SM

Still the cliffs towered above us, tomorrow we would climb much higher until even these would be far below us.

The path now wound its way, mostly flat or slightly descending up the valley. In the distance is Monte Perdido, tomorrow’s challenge.

The valley floor, gradually rose up to us, but still was far below. The tiny dots were cows, with their bells ringing faintly up to us. It was very peaceful.

Walking up I also heard the bells in the distance. At the beginning it sounded as though someone was playing music. I got a bit paranoid. I may be having hallucinations as I was getting quite tired. SM

Now even the trees in the valley below were beginning to thin out, open up. The river meandered down the centre. The Canyon closed off at the end.

Eventually we got to the head of the valley, a waterfall crashing down disturbing the tranquillity. It was about 16.30. Not many day visitors had reached this far, if they had, they were heading back down before it got dark.

We were passed by a couple of more serious trekkers, coming from the direction of the hut. Had they been up the mountain today?

Soon we would see the last of the sun as it descended behind the cliffs. We still had an hour and a half before dusk. We should get to the hut before darkness.

Again we started to climb. We didn’t need to descend into the valley, that would wait for the return journey.

Somewhere ahead just over the ridge was a mountain hut. Our night’s accommodation.

We climbed out of the valley and were able to look back at the incredible path we had taken. Ordesa is amazing.

The last of the sun. We put on another layer of clothes. It was starting to get cold.

 

The paths were again getting steeper.

After another hour we eventually dragged ourselves into refugio Goriz. It is always a bit of a shock, when you have been outside all-day, mostly alone. Suddenly you are inside. There are many people about. There is noise and excitement. Tomorrow we would attempt to climb Monte Perdido. To be continued……

GDR