CHILL OUT and EASY Level Trail on Foggy October Day in Pyrenees | Tour du Capcir – Bolquere

On our final third day of the Tour du Capcir hike we walked 15 kms from Pla de Mir to Jaca d’en Calvet Lake then Pla de Barres campsite, Etang de Ticou and arrived to the village Bolquere.

So for that day we planned to hike around 15kms and get to the village Bolquere walking through the several lakes in the area. Studying the map we saw that the day won’t be very challenging with only 350m of downhill and mostly flat terrain. On the weather forecast there was a probability of rain later in the day so we hoped to be able to do most of the distance before that.

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At night we slept quite well, one of the reason being that we chose a nice spot to camp and also the proximity of the river and the sound of water flow was very soothing. To our surprise, the temperature at night didn’t drop down very low and it felt even warmer than the previous night. Also we were hearing the deer sound all night long.

There was a bit of a rain at night so the flysheet was all wet. And overall there was a lot of humidity in the air and it was a rare case when we had the condensation droplets on the inside of the second wall and some of them were coming down to the meshed tent body fortunately still not entering inside.

So we had our breakfast as always from the night leftovers, but this time heating it up previously on the gas stove as we wanted to have something warm. Then we wrapped up all our stuff, trying to preserve the tent body as dry as possible which was quite hard to do as the flysheet was drenching wet. So the tent ended up weighing at least two times more because of the amount of water it had on its surface.

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The weather conditions were incredible foggy and we think the visibility levels were at 100m only or even less. It felt like we were walking in the clouds, which probably was true, but it created a unique moody atmosphere of the autumn October day and we appreciated it.

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The first part of the trail was quite confusing to navigate through because we didn’t know the area well and there were many crossroads and possible deviations to take. Fortunately the navigation still did work and thus was helping to direct us.

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On the way we met several cow and horse pastures that were looking quite unusual too with the silhouettes disappearing in the distance. We were enjoying the nice flat forest trails we were going through and especially the smells of the forest on such wet day. To us it is one of the most delicious combinations of the smells of pine needles, pine cones, wood and the ground itself.

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So we followed these easy forest routes up until the first lake Jaca d’en Calvet which was quite small but looking very natural with lots of reeds in it that made it look almost as a pond. It was located next to the secondary car road and had lot of picnic tables and wooden paths around it.

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There we met a powerful and handsome looking bull pasturing quietly and grazing in the forest and continued to go along the farmer´s routes. The forest was quite dense and nice to walk through and even though the roads were wet we didn´t meet any real bad muddy parts. We almost didn´t notice any elevation changes as the trail was going so smoothly and flat. The low clouds were getting higher and the fog was gradually disappearing as the day went by.

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At one point we thought we’ve spotted the hare crossing the road very fast and it seemed to be a big one. We have never actually had a chance to observe the hares in this area nor get it on film. Only in winter we´ve seen the footprints of them but never spotted an animal probably because of their secretive lifestyle. But knowing that they are living somewhere around us was very nice.

This way we arrived at the Pla de Barres campsite that served as a proper camping in summer and was closed now but the trail was passing through it. So we found one nice picnic table and decided to have our lunch break there. The site was quite nice and wide with lots of pine trees on it. Also it was located close to the river Tet which had quite wide flow there and deep enough and we could imagine people swimming in it in summer.

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So we crossed the wooden bridge across the river and were heading in direction to Bolquere. There were no specific indicators we followed, just our map and choosing the straightest path to our destination. The weather was getting warmer and even the sun was getting through the clouds sometimes. So the second half of the trail we did in more comfortable and dry conditions.

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Following the mostly flat and easy dirt roads we were soon at the second Lake de Ticou which was located in the outskirts of the village Bolquere. It was very similar small sized lake same as the previous one but this one looked more artificial of origin. Still it had a nice park area around it with dense pine forest and lots of rest and sports activity areas. In 1km or so we arrived to our destination – the center of the village Bolquere.

This last day turned out to be the easiest out of 3 we did on this hike and we can recommend this part to anybody who feels like doing a chill out and relaxing forest trail.

Overall we enjoyed this 3 day hike a lot because it allowed us to discover a beautiful area in Capcir region that we didn’t know before. It didn’t have any extreme parts and was of a moderate difficulty most of the time. On the way we explored many amazing mountain lakes all different in their kind and admired lots of fascinating panoramic views. We appreciated a lot the wilderness of the area and a few people that we met on the trail. You have a big chance to meet some wildlife like marmots, hares, deer, ibex and alike. We were hiking in October so pretty much out of high season and thus we could enjoy the solitude and have the trail all to ourselves. One important thing to bare in mind if hiking in autumn is to bring all the necessary warm clothes with you as well as the warm sleeping bag with a comfort temperature at least +0C in order to be comfortable. There are plenty of spots to camp along this trail with lots of plateau and flat areas alike. Also the bivouac or a night stay is allowed from dusk till dawn so it is very nice if you like to wild camp. All in all we can recommend this trail to everybody with any level of fitness who enjoys nature and its peacefulness. And because these are not the popular treks but yet very beautiful we can recommend it to anybody who likes to go off the beaten path and discover some hidden gems.

If you enjoyed this trip report and would like to get more hiking inspiration in Pyrenees check out our other trip reports here:

Hiking trails in Pyrenees (France and Spain)

Here is the link to Google map to follow the hike: