Len and the Bath boys

Thanks to Len, Phil, Julian, Peter, Alan and Trevor - our first guests of the summer. They walked  a new village to village itinerary staying each night in different villages in the Valle de Tena. Hope you had a great week guys.

Bit unseasonly cold at the beginning of the week but we were rewarded with fantastic views and one of the best birding days I’ve had in the Pyrenees. On the final morning we first saw a booted eagle, shortly followed by a short toed eagle that hunted near us all morning. Next a pair of golden eagles came not too far away followed by the obligatory griffon vulture. Day was rounded off by 2 sightings of a lammergeier and then a kestrel which looked tiny after seeing all these huge birds. 

The unmistakable profile of a lammergeier with it's long diamond shaped tail, dark wings and rusty coloured body. A magnificent vulture.

Brilliant bunch of guys – thanks for a great week – really enjoyed music, football and election chat (but not the singing!).

Read Len’s and other previous guests comments about their Hike Pyrenees walking holiday.

Looking across the snow capped peaks of the Valle de Tena

Walking in the Ordesa Valley

Last week Hike Pyrenees welcomed it’s first guests for the season and our first from the US. Our walk on the first day took us through the medieval villages of the Serrablo.

Inside the 11th Century church of Susin

These ancient villages have some of the finest examples of Romanesque churches anywhere in Europe and date back to the 11th century. Our walk took us through woodland with a couple of huge ancient oak trees to the village of Susin with just one remaining inhabitant. She came out and had a chat with us and showed us inside the church the 11th century church. Later on we had some excellent views of a pair of egyptian vultures that took off from a nearby field.  

The Monastery of San Juan de la Pena

San Juan de la Pena was our destination the following day. Our walk took us along a ridge with fantastic views of the snow covered high Pyrenees to the north and over to the cliffs of Los Mallos to the south. A huge colony of griffon vultures roost in the cliffs below us and we watched them fly close overhead. It was a good day for flowers with fields of tiny narcissus covering the higher meadows and  we found a couple of white alpine narcissus. Hepatica and primroses were in flower along with the first early purple orchids that I’ve seen this year. Pine processionary caterpillars lined the road at the start of the walk. These strange creatures build web like nests in the pine trees and when they go anywhere do so in a huge long line walking literally head to tail. They make a strange sight and the trains can be really long. If you ever see these don’t touch them as they have long barbed hairs which get caught in your skin causing swelling and irritation and can be fairly serious. After the walk we visited the superb monastery complex. The old monastery is fascinating and dates back to 920 and is built under an overhanging cliff. Read more about San Juan de la Pena here.

Waterfall in the Ordesa Valley

Our final day took us to the Ordesa Valley. We had a beautiful day and the air was crystal clear. The valley looked wonderful and was still covered in quite a lot of snow. Great views of the cliffs all day and Monte Perdido stood proudly at the head of the valley. The waterfalls were in good flow and very impressive. Not too many flowers out in the valley yet but the insect eating butterworts were just starting to show themselves.

I hope you guys and girls had a great time in the Pyrenees and enjoyed your hiking. We’d love to see you back in Spain again - next time for a stay in Refugio Goriz and an attempt on Monte Perdido!

Phil

The cliffs of the Ordesa Valley

Whilst Phil was away this weekend I discovered village life in Spring. I enjoyed my first Calçotado in the village of Sardas on Saturday. Sunday I joined the Sabiñanigo Mountain Club on a relaxing walk between the villages of Mianos, Artieda and Ruesta. I completed my weekend with a trip to the Panticosa spa (La Paul) with my good friend Jaqueline.

Calçot is a Catalan tradition where large scallions, a little like spring onions but milder, are roasted on coals and eaten with romesco sauce (almonds, garlic, olive oil and red peppers are the main ingredients). It´s mucky business eating the calçotades and even the most seasoned of the 45 diners ate with blackened fingers & romesco flavour t-shirts! Later in the evening there was more eating, drinking, music & dancing. Plenty of time for me to listen to the traditional ´jotas´, folk songs from Aragon.

Sunday´s walk was a relaxed affair with brilliant sunshine, a left-over-from-the-party cold meat sandwich & an energy drink to get me through the day. An hour on the coach gave us all a great opportunity to nap. We started at Mianos, east of Berdún, set atop a hill and made our way to Artieda. Another spectular village atop a hill overlooking snow capped mountains with cobbled streets lined with pink blossom trees. Just after breakfast a villager invited us into the 12th century church to admire the beautifully kept interior and climb the bell tower.

We made our way along an old narrow path to Ruesta with the cool blue Yesa reservoir on our right. At Ruesta an albergue (hostal) with a sunny terrace & cold beer was our lunch stop. A national project (Confederación General del Trabajo) is trying to reinvigorate the area after it was abandoned when the dam was built.