42nd Day (18.9.22)

We started our hike at Refugio d'Estany Llong, where we said goodbye to Eva after breakfast, as she was planning to hike two stages at once. So we started slowly and climbed the easy ascent. The higher we went, the stronger the sun was shining down on us. Although we had to climb quite high that day and even reached the highest point of the hike, the paths were easy and not too steep, so we quickly made our way through the rocky lake landscape to the pass. We took a short break there.

The descent was similarly relaxed. We passed many lakes, where we threw stones and went swimming. We came across a shelter that had probably served as a hiding place for Spanish freedom fighters during the Civil War. The sun was scorching and especially Paul, who preferred to run without a shirt, got a sunburn. As we walked across a high dam, Merle and I felt the need to jump into the water from there. So we first went to the shore, dipped in briefly, and I checked the depth of the water at the jumping spot, which was more than deep enough. So we climbed back onto the dam, counted to three, and jumped five meters down into the icy cold water.

In the last part of the stage, we walked along old mountain railway tracks that had apparently been used during the construction of the dams. We balanced on the tracks and looked forward to reaching the hut. We crossed a smaller pass and then reached the valley overlooking Refugio Colomers. We walked the short distance up to the hut and first put down our luggage. Behind the hut was a large mountain lake.

We sat on the large terrace with a view of the valley and looked into the distance. Soon we noticed the big birds circling in the sky. We quickly identified them as bearded vultures, the largest birds in Europe, and could hardly contain our excitement. We borrowed binoculars from the hut to get a better look at the birds. The hut owner told us that there were so many birds here because a few days earlier, a cow had died not far from the hut. So before dinner, Merle and I went on an exploration tour when the birds had retreated. We descended the green valley and after some searching, we actually found the unfortunate animal surrounded by feathers, which probably came from the competition among the large birds. After dinner, we played cards and then went to sleep.