For those that have never visited a mountain refuge, well shame on you!
Now you won’t have to as we will tell you what they are like. So far we have visited three in the Aragon region of Spain with differing levels of comfort and facilities, although they share some common themes.
They are like the most basic student back-packing hotel or hostels.
Think dormitories, shared dining and canteens.
They are usually built of local stone, are solid and quite interesting, but sadly also tend to have a slightly dishevelled, unkempt, untidy look about them, with leftover bits of building materials littering the surroundings.
They are usually on an exposed open bit of land, and may have a helicopter landing point nearby.
Animals
They also seem to have animals; dogs, cats and at La Renclusa (Pico Aneto), ponies that took a keen interest in my rucksack.
We didn’t like the cats as one of the kittens was fond of playing with the laces of my boot and I swear it also weed in them (or perhaps I just had really smelly feet that day). Susana also trod on several during the night, serves them right for running under her feet. Cute? No. Bloody annoying.
Photovoltaic panels are the primary energy source. This means the lights will go out at nine, then it’s torchlight. Although they might have telephones they don’t share the Wi-Fi…shame. They usually have a wood burning or pellet stove inside, for warmth. Susana will be very close by.
The dining room
The hub of a refuge is the dining area. It is communal and usually quite loud. Lots of maps surround the walls.
Refuge Goriz (Mont Perdido) – full.
Refuge La Renclusa (Pico Aneto) – empty.
Refuge Angel Orus (Posets) – noisy.
The food
Well, we have yet to try, but it looks quite good. Traditional. Maybe a starter of beans or soup. A salad, main and desert. But is it worth €16? I am not sure. You can also get a can of beer, €3; snacks and wine, €8.50 for a litre. The latter being OK and probably best value of all. It costs a lot as you have to drag it in by hand, helicopter or horse!
The free kitchen
Each has a free kitchen, for those mean ones that don’t wish to eat the refuge food and want to cook their own. Usually quite small with a sink and worktops. Provide your own stove and gas. You could either eat here or in the main dining room. Notice the complete take over, would get quite chaotic if four pairs were cooking!
The reception
For all your information needs, to check in and order food. Sometimes part of the dining room.
Sleeping arrangements
The beds are usually bunk, sometimes three tiers high, which can be problematic getting up to, embarrassing as you are just about to climb a fairly serious mountain!
There can be 20 to 30 people in the room. This means it is quite difficult to get to sleep, and you usually wake up when the first person begins to stir. Particularly bad when someone doesn’t appreciate hut etiquette and puts the light on in the morning! We now don’t take the sleeping bags. Instead we just use cotton sleeping bag liners, compulsory. It is usually a good idea to try and grab an extra blanket if beds are free (they always have been so far).
La Renclusa was sheer luxury with separate bunks, and it was just Susana and me in the whole refuge! Peace and quiet.
A comparison
They all cost approximately the same, €16 a night.
Goriz
The simplest and as we understand, is shortly due to be refurbished. This one is mainly used by fairly serious trekkers and climbers. It is the most remote and does not get casual visitors. It has outside toilets and showers with only cold water, not so good at night, but gives a great view of the solar system if you have to get up. Large multiple person bunk beds over three tiers, fairly cramped. Small free kitchen.
Angel Orus
Interesting design over three floors, would have lovely terraces in summer. 2 tier bunk beds for 12, 6 upper, 6 lower. En-suite toilet and hot shower, real luxury. Small free kitchen.
La Reclusa
The most luxurious, separate beds, inside toilets and a generator, so lights at night. Because it is really close to the road, only 40 minutes walk away, it gets lots of casual visitors. It has a large, well equipped kitchen, so although it is located next to the most serious mountain, probably has the biggest mix of visitors; serious climbers through to Sunday walkers. Grumpy and unhelpful host though.
GDR
These are quite well. It seem be better equipped than most of you can find on the “Camino de Santiago” for example.
Have you been in one of them? I would be interested in how they are like
No I´ve never been, but I know what Carlos (Nuria´s cousin ) told us about
ok
Interesante los refugios , me ha gustado que lo enseñéis porque no los había visto como estarían diseñados por dentro, como yo supongo que abra más de uno . el de la Reclusa me parece una pasada, la cocina,
Me alegro de que te guste. Que tal se traduce el lenguaje de Gary?