Montañas - Time for a trip report?

ainsa-02-25.jpg


We had lunch on the big rock on the lower left side of the above photo. Laura also figured out it was a nice spot to enjoy the sun while I was hiking uphill to the waterfalls -- I could hear and see the remarks "Don't go there!". I could swear she was just giving a thumbs up and challenging if I can go any higher.

ainsa-02-21.jpg


ainsa-02-18.jpg


ainsa-02-22.jpg


ainsa-02-23.jpg


In the heat and sunshine the cold mist from the waterfalls and blue water was just "yelling" -- jump in!


After a while, it was time to go back down. The beautiful thing about the mountains is the variety of scenery. The fauna takes different colour, shape and form at the different altitudes and even the rocks can be anything from dark grey to almost white. Just beautiful.

ainsa-02-13.jpg


BTW, Telefonica has built a great mobile network here. We had great reception (Just sent a few texts.. honesty) but we never saw any cell towers. I recently read about a dutch woman who was hiking in Spain and was missing for two weeks. She had fallen into a waterpool of some kind and while looking for her, they also tried to triangulate her last known position from the cellular history data. Interesting.

The route back down was pretty simple as we just followed the gravel road we had passed before. We also got a nice view to the waterfalls on the other side of the valley.

ainsa-02-10.jpg


And the valley itself.

ainsa-02-08.jpg


We also got to witness some mountain action. There was a helicopter flying pretty low on top of the mountains and we saw some Guardia Civil's looking uphill with binoculars.

ainsa-02-05.jpg


There's a helicopter in the center of the above photo.

ainsa-02-06.jpg


It's still there, almost right in the center.

ainsa-02-04.jpg


And after a while it gets up, and flies to the parking lot in the valley. I guess someone had a bit of an accident or similar and needed a ride. Or perhaps someone was trying to escape from Spain to France to get their bigger, crispier baquets. Hard to say, I didn't have the telezoom with me on the camera (zooming into the photo did reveal it was Guardia Civil heli).


ainsa-02-03.jpg


The waterfalls still looked beautiful from another angle. If we had been a bit smarter -- and woken up earlier, we could have done both routes -- and had we known that the hike up to the waterfalls starts from the other routes return path.

ainsa-02-01.jpg


And we could even spot the edge of the plain where we had just been. The small waterfalls in the middle of the trees are part of the stream that started from the waterfall where we had lunch. Also the other waterfalls in the plain lead to this single stream.


Another great day for these tourists!
 
LOVE these reports! So glad you took the time to post all the photos and descriptions. We also want to spend some time in Spain (we have a long list!)---want to go from Barcelona to San Sebastian, and see the Pyrenees along the way!
 
Again Petri-Thank you for exploring the nooks and crannies in destinations I shall never get to explore. I so enjoy your comings and going.
 
The Pyrenees - Third hike

For the final day it was time to do something longer, basicly a full-day hike in the main valley of the national park. During the season one can't drive to the park itself but one has to leave car to the nearest village and there's a bus connection every 20 minutes.

ainsa-03-01.jpg


Already on the way to the village our travel was troubled with those crazy creatures that stare you with their big eyes. Scary. At least to the driver :)

ainsa-03-02.jpg


There it was, one of the many majestic mountains in the valley. Perhaps we would end up somewhere up there, perhaps not. We didn't really have any idea where the route would take us. We actually had two route options, majority of ascend would be the same for both of them so we decided to go up and see which one we'd prefer. The other one was considered advanced for the terrain.

ainsa-03-03.jpg


Going uphill was rocky but unlike the other routes, it had some flatter parts and there was plenty of space. One didn't really have any idea how high up one was in the forest. The route was going both up and deeper to the mountains.

ainsa-03-05.jpg

(PIC A)

until things started to clear out and we could start to see the mountains and rock formations. Looks awesome, doesn't it?

ainsa-03-07.jpg


ainsa-03-08.jpg

(PIC B)

We eventually reached the waterfalls that was the end for the first part. From here we had the two different routes, both going to a "terrace in the rock wall" to different directions. 100 m difference in altitude.

We had something to drink and settled down, and as we were feeling pretty good after the ascend we decided to go uphill to see the higher route first. It can't be too bad?

ainsa-03-13.jpg


The scenery was getting better and better as we hiked uphill.

ainsa-03-14.jpg


ainsa-03-15.jpg


We finally reached the highest altitude on this route. And soon enough, a spot that was described as "walking on the bedrock". I thought it meant walking on a large, flat stone surface but it was a damn steep stairs of rocks with a narrow path and a stream going over it. One misstep and you roll down a bit until you hit the straight fall of hundreds of meters.

ainsa-03-18.jpg


This was a place where our government decided it was a good spot to turn back and try the other route instead. And to check that the description for it doesn't include the word "bedrock".
 
Petri

Wow and thank you! For how long are you in Spain (are you still there?)?

We are beginning a trip on Monday which starts in Barcelona, then driving to Biarritz and San Sebastian; so directly and intentionally through this area. The pictures are so beautiful you are causing me to consider taking more time en route -- and also helping us choose the route. Ainsa looks quite charming, and the lakes to the south too!

I am curious if you drove across the Col du Tourmelet? (just north of the Parque Ordesa), as it is one influence in our planning?

We'll be in Barcelona from the 12th to the 17th, then San Sebastian area after, in case you might still be visiting and would like to have lunch, etc. I'll have my wife and two boys 12 and 14.

Oh, and your Rioja comments and pics are great too, as I will now consider reservs . . . impressive architecture!

Dave
 
So we turned back and started walking downhill to see the other route. It started from the waterfall and we were wondering if we should have lunch somewhere.

The other route was going quite steep uphill next to the waterfall and scenery was getting better all the time.

ainsa-03-20.jpg


We could even see the place where we had turned back on the other route. There are two rock formations on the top, just below the right one is a lighter green/yellow area. The bedrock is next to it.

ainsa-03-21.jpg


Another great view to the waterfall.

ainsa-03-22.jpg


And we settled for a nice lunch spot. I was looking downhill a bit and noticed that some ~20 meters away the trees end and it looked very much like the edge of trees on the PIC B on the previous post. Hmm.

ainsa-03-25.jpg


After the lunch we packed and the route continued next to the trees. High up but "protected", at least in our imagination.

ainsa-03-26.jpg


... but.. but.. if one looks at the PIC A in the previous post, there's the mostly green stripe that goes along the mountain. That's where the route was going and it wasn't all trees. Far from it.

ainsa-03-28.jpg


Laura started humming to focus on walking and to keep her legs from shaking. We thought that it we go across here, rest of the route will be by the trees and we'll be safe.

ainsa-03-30.jpg


ainsa-03-32.jpg


The views were fantastic.

ainsa-03-33.jpg


ainsa-03-34.jpg


ainsa-03-36.jpg


And hardly getting any easier or covered. There was something very psychological about having a few tens of meters of steep downhill with rocks and a few trees, followed by a straight drop from the terrace. We knew it was relatively safe as long as we keep our feet on the narrow path and don't do any missteps.
 
ainsa-03-38.jpg


We continued. The instructions said that hiking on the rock terrace would be "gently descending" and it would finish by a waterfall.

It wasn't descending, it was going up here, and down there. We couldn't help wondering if we were on the right path? The only other people we saw where by the first rocky part, sitting under the single tree having lunch -- and they had full rock climbing gear with ropes and everything.

It felt like there were about a thousand corners where you couldn't see what was coming -- and just hoped it would be the waterfall. It never was.

ainsa-03-37.jpg


Photos don't capture the dimensions well but looking at the trees give some idea.

Laura was wondering about the Nike slogan. "Try harder", was my first thought. "Just do it".

Finally we started to hear the sound of a motorway, which is also known as the sound of a waterfall from distance. A few moments we could even see it, still far away but we knew this was the right route and we were approaching the finale.

ainsa-03-39.jpg


.. and part of the finale was this nice, narrow path on a green meadow. Too bad the meadow is pretty steep and there's a straight fall down -- the express exit.

ainsa-03-40.jpg


While preparing to descent, we enjoyed a view of the valley itself.

ainsa-03-41.jpg


And finally found the waterfall.

ainsa-03-42.jpg


And while kissing the solid earth, we took the final looks up to the mountain. The route went there on the upper terrace.

ainsa-03-43.jpg


And we even found a map. The big "rock" on the right is the piece of mountain we went around on the rock terrace. The first waterfall was between those two "rocks" and our torture ended on far right on the map.

ainsa-03-44.jpg



Ok, it wasn't too bad. But the requirement to be extra caution perhaps took away some parts of the ability to enjoy the views and the grande picture. From the photos I noticed that I could have stopped to take photos much more times but didn't.

The national park itself was superb, not crowded (there were both more and less advanced routes available so that everyone could enjoy their visit) and everything was clearly marked. And instead of big fences and concrete viewing platforms there it was pretty much all natural.
 
That should wrap it up.

We enjoy Spain a lot and I spent several days learning to pronounce the "ce" in Barcelona properly, putting your tongue between the teeth. I believe they do that only in Spain, not in Latin America. The next step could be spending a few months in the country and actually learning some spanish.

We continue to hike in the mountains. The sceneries are just unbeatable. But we'll check the routes more carefully so that we can both enjoy the hikes to the fullest. Altitude isn't the issue, the proximity of the fall is :)

Rioja is worth a visit, like any other wine region -- with "mandatory" winery bookings. Our interest in more in the combination of wine and food so we like to see it matched with local foods, or see the winery match their offerings with various food. Likewise we prefer affordable wine, not the fancy ones. They didn't seem to cater this type of interest particularly well but most restaurants we had dinner in preferred local wines so it was kind of covered.

Barcelona is one of the great cities in Europe. The amount of mandatory sightseeing isn't too huge and the city has a great vibe, there is always something happening. Check out the events in Montjuïc. Festival Grec de Barcelona has activities across the summer.

I want to go back. Absolutely.


Tech bits;

I bought a Vodafone prepaid SIM card for my MiFi device. It never worked, I called the english customer support and they had some kind of a "major technical problem". No idea what it was but all our accommodation had internet access so it wasn't a big deal.

For navigation I bought a classic Michelin paper map for Spain and Portugal. They are nice for the generic route planning and they mark the scenic routes well. That worked exceptionally well with our convertible as I was able to plan the route to enable plenty of time with the roof down (~100 km/h seemed to be the comfortable limit). To navigate through the cities I used Offmaps2 on the iPad. Smooth traveling and driving in Spain was easy.

OffMaps2 was also useful to locate the petrol stations next to the airport. Our cast cost ~210e for a week and if we had returned it without the tank full, they'd charges us 370e.

All our accommodations were about ~100e a night. Eating out was inexpensive.
 
DaveM,

Sorry, already back in sunny and hot (yes, this is about the only week it happens!) Finland. We flew to Spain on 23th June and I returned 4th July, Laura will be back 11th July.

I have heard good things about San Sebastian and the atlantic coast in general but we just didn't had the time on this trip. Just the driving from Barcelona to Rioja on a single day was long enough, something we don't like to do.

I also had the thought of visiting El Bulli (150 km from Barcelona, on the coast), the best restaurant in the world for four years in a row but it closes end of July and is fully booked until then. The owner does have some interesting restaurants in Barcelona, though. We didn't visit them (Ticket and 41 degrees) but they're worth checking out. Not so "sit straight" dining as El Bulli.

If you haven't booked the full itinerary yet, you might want to consider a night or two in the mountains when traveling between Barcelona and the Atlantic coast. Ainsa is a good half way location (we stayed at the Los Siete Reyes) but I'm sure there are other ones, too. The motorway across the country is easy and fast -- but also a pretty boring drive. Driving the smaller roads to the mountains and from there to the coast is something worth a consideration.

The national parks had family friendly paths as well. If you speak spanish, even better.

Considering that we booked everything just one to two weeks before leaving, the choices worked out pretty well :) We're not always so lucky..
 
DaveM said:
I am curious if you drove across the Col du Tourmelet? (just north of the Parque Ordesa), as it is one influence in our planning?

I looked into that road as a backup plan in case the weather on the spanish side was bad. We were pretty close to the french border but never crossed it, though.

When arriving from Rioja, we drove the smaller roads from Jaca to Biescas, Broto, Fiscal to Ainsa. The roads on the french side look similar in size but more in the mountains so the views must be just just stunning.
 
noreturn-small.jpg


Laura got back home yesterday evening as well (not in the picture, it's just the sign..).

I looked at the plane on flightradar24.com, left home with the car, 4 minutes of parking, and we drove back. Pretty efficient :)
 
Top