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Epic border crossing arriving to Andorra on GR11 and the Tour of a Typical Refuge | Day 3 – Vallcivera, Refugi de l’Illa, Refugi Fontverd
On our third day of hiking GR11 in Catalonia we did around 16kms from the Cabana dels Espravers, crossed the border from Spain to Andorra and arrived to the Refugi Fontverd. We slept in for half an hour because the sound of the river we camped by was quite loud and thus we didn’t hear the alarm. So we woke up at 7am instead of 6am but tried to move quickly and get out on the trail in time and escape extreme hot hours. Also we wanted to do our uphill until 12am. On the map we saw that we’ll have to conquer a 6km 800m uphill that seemed to…
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First Challenging Day of Hiking and Meeting the Sunset on GR11 in Pyrenees, Spain | Day 2 Refugi Malniu – Cabana dels Espravers
It was our second day of a GR11 section hike when we did 12kms getting from the Refugi de Malniu to the shelter Espravals in Pyrenees, Spain. For that day, we planned to start our trail as early as possible and we did wake up at 6am as we had a quiet warm night and slept quite well. Also the terrain where we camped was relatively flat so it helped a lot too. Unexpectedly there was a bit of rain that night and we even heard the thunder somewhere in the distance. But already being used to the changeable mountain weather we knew that it is a normal thing to…
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How to Bivouac or Wild Camp on GR11 trail in Pyrenees, Spain? | Day 1 from Guils de Cerdanya to Refugi Malniu
These hike report series is going to feature our long distance section hike of GR11 trail. We started doing it in the very end of July 2020 and were very excited to discover what this trail would bring us. The GR trails in Europe are very similar to the popular AT or PCT trails you can find in US and can extend for many miles in the distance crossing pretty much all the European countries. So there is plenty of choice depending on the direction you want to take. The term GR itself stands for the Grand Randonee or the Great Trail. We had been willing to do this trail…
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Final Day of Tour du Canigou – Our Final Thoughts and Tips |Day 5 -Pla Guillem – Refuge Marialles
It was the final 5th day of the Tour du Canigou trail for us when we made 18kms and 1700m of elevation change from the Refuge Devesa to Pla Guillem, passed Refuge Marialles and then finally arrived to the village Casteil. The morning of that day at Ravin Comail was a bit cloudy and foggy but the sky was clearing up and it was promising to be a bright day. We didn’t have a good night sleep because the place where we set up the tent wasn’t very flat and had lots of uneven ground and also it was quite chilly and even our warm clothes didn’t help. We thought…
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The most beautiful old beech forests on Tour du Canigou in Pyrenees-Orientales, France | Day 4-Refuge Sant Guillem- Ravin Comail
It was our 4th day of Tour du Canigou trail in Eastern-Pyrenees, France when we hiked 16 kms from Riuferrera, walked by refuge Devesa and refuge Saint Guillem, climbed to Serre Vernet and arrived to Ravin Comail. The start of the day was peaceful and calm and so was the previous night. We had a great sleep and rested well in the quiet idyllic spot we found the day before. It was quite flat, full of beech trees protecting from the wind and soft dry leaves on the ground creating a nice base for the tent. Also there was no wind and no sounds at night so we had the…
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Scenic place to camp on Tour du Canigou trail in Pyrenees-Orientales, France | Day 3 Refuge Pinatell, Col de la Cirera, Refuge Batere
In this trip report we are sharing our third day of Tour du Canigou trail in Eastern-Pyrenees, France when we hiked 17kms from Refuge Pinatell to the Refuge Batere and further down the trail. The evening before we had a hard time choosing our camp spot because of extremely uneven and hilly terrain with lots of rocks. And at night we realized that it was a pretty bad side hill so we couldn’t sleep really well. Also the temperature dropped down to 5 degrees Celsius and it was quite chilly. We did regret not having our warmer sleeping bags with us as we took our normal light summer ones. It…
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Extreme climb to the Sacred Catalan Mountain Pic du Canigou (2784m) | Day 2 of Tour du Canigou
In this trip report we are sharing our second day of hiking Tour du Canigou when we made 15kms, hiked from Traversee du Cady to los Masos, passed by the refuge Cortalets and climbed to the peak du Canigou (2875m). The night was quite cold and even though it wasn’t windy but the temperature dropped down to 5 degrees Celsius. In the morning up until the sun came up on the sky we were wearing the hats and jackets. We woke up early, quickly ate our breakfast and packed everything. We were very excited for this day of hiking because we were going to climb to the peak and enjoy…
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1000 Year Abbaye Saint Martin du Canigou in Pyrenees-Orientales, France | Day 1 of Tour du Canigou Trail
This was the first day of our Tour du Canigou trail that we started in the middle of September and planned to do the whole 69kms in 5 days. We meant to do this trail a long time ago but were always busy with other hikes and didn´t have time for it. But this year it was finally happening. We planned to make a detour and ascend to the peak de Canigou itself of 2784m on the second day and then continue doing the Tour. Canigou is a very symbolic mountain for the locals and some say it may be even a sacred one. It unites the Mediterranean coast region…
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Tour de Cerdagne- Beautiful 4 Day Trail to do in Pyrenees | Odeillo Solar Furnace, Bolquere, Eyne, Font-Romeu
On this 4th and final day of Tour de Cerdagne we completed the hiking tour and did 15kms starting from Eyne village, then walking through Bolquere, Via, Solar Furnace Odeillo and coming to the town Font-Romeu. We had a quite disturbing night with a lot of rain and thunderstorm in the evening and then cold in the morning. We thought in the early morning the temperature was descending down to several degrees Celsius and we had to wear all of our warm clothes on us. But because our sleeping bags comfort temperature was +11 degrees we still got pretty cold. So we didn’t have a good sleep. But in the…
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Discover 12 incredible mountain lakes of Pyrenees in one day | Day 2 of Carlit Lakes Hike in Bouillouses natural site, France
In this trip report we are going to share Day 2 of our hike around the lakes of the Carlit mountain range in Bouillouses natural site, Eastern Pyrenees, France. It is a 26 kms hike with the elevation change of around 800m. This is an easy to moderate hike that is accessible to most of the people. It is a wonderful opportunity to get to know the region more and enjoy beautiful mountainous landscapes. The day began early in the morning with the first rays of the sun hitting our tent. At night we had a hard time battling with the cold air and trying to fall asleep. Even though…
