Aigüestortes i Estany de Sant Maurici National Park

One of several fields of rock we had to step carefully through

[Sound of slipping on rocks]. “I’m ok”  That’s a memorable part of our hikes high in the Pyrenees Mountains of Spain.   But, let me start at the beginning. It was a long drive from Pamplona with the last half of the drive consisting of mountain roads that were occasionally single lane.  This mountain range consists of tall rocky vertical peaks.  After driving past a ski resort, we started seeing lots of cattle and a few horses.   

 We are staying in Espot, Spain.  One of two entrances to the only National Park in the North Western most part of the region of Catalonia.  The park has mountain peaks over 9,000 feet and almost 200 lakes.  Espot is a small, beautiful mountain town located in a valley with a nearby Ski resort.  In the summer, its rather quiet.  The area is experiencing a heat wave with highs in the mid 80s.   You may think that’s nothing, but July is the only Month that doesn’t average some snowfall.  Our hotel which is a wonderful small family run hotel doesn’t have air conditioning either.  We are left with the choice of letting flies in (which are abundant) or having a warm room.  

I should mention that we have determined the name of our next Spaniel, whenever that should occur.   We met Choco, a very large brown and well-mannered dog who seems to belong to the restaurant we had dinner at.  Once he sees you have finished dinner, he comes over with those large eyes to see what you have for him.  If you ignore him, you will receive a paw or maybe he will rest his chin on your leg in the hope you will share what’s remaining on your plate.  

The next day we are off for our first hike of the trip.  An out and back trail called the Camino del Estany de Sant Maurici with the idea of doing something longer the next day if all goes well.  It starts at the entrance to the park.  It’s a beautiful assent.  We work up a sweat as we make our way up to Sant Maurici.

Our reward at the top of the climb

For an evening activity, we sign up for “Astronomy and local liqueurs.  We are sent coordinates to meet the guide at 10:30 p.m.   The route takes us down a single lane road that climbs up the side of a mountain.   I’m wondering what I have gotten us into when I see some cars parked in a field with some cattle.   In the pasture with cows are a group of people seated in a semi-circle around a telescope.   My concerns are relieved, and we enjoy a wonderful night sky that we never see any more due to city lights. Our guide uses a laser pointer to help us find various constellations and we are lucky to see the International Space Station pass overhead.   The evening concludes with a local liquor called ratafia which is made from green walnuts.  It was quite nice.

The next day we are going for a longer hike.  A trail the son of the hotel proprietor recommended, though we opted for a slightly shorter version we found in the AllTrails App.  Since only pre-approved vehicles are allowed in the park, we take a Taxi.  This Taxi is a Range Rover 4x4 set up to carry 8 people.   We climb in and it takes us to Lake Sant Maurici.   We did not realize what we were committing to do.   Our AllTrails app had it listed at Moderate with a distance of 6.2 miles with an average completion time of 4 hours.  We required 6 hours to complete it.   I should have paid more attention to the 1,800 foot elevation gain.   While the elevation gain was a challenge, the intimidating part was the rocks we had to carefully step through.  Why didn’t we turn around you ask, it started out quite pleasant.

Looking back at the lake in the prior photo

Approximately halfway there was a Refuge at 10,761 feet elevation.  It had hot food, and places hikers could spend the night.  The views were stupendous.  We took a break and then started the second half of the loop. 

That’s when we had to cross what looked like rockslides.  There was beauty too, during this rugged stretch.

Can you find the trail from right to left?

Flowers along the trail

The next morning when we saw the proprietor's son and told him we had done 11km (6.91 miles) hike up there he was impressed.  We were thrilled that we were not exhausted or sore.  Maybe a little sore in a couple of muscles, but not bad which was good since it was time to hop in the car for another long drive.  We were going back to the beach only the Mediterranean side this time.