The Perks and Peaks of the Pyrenees

If I were to redo my Spanish trip I would fix two things: spending so much time on a bus and missing the famous Running of the Bulls. Yes that is right, we did not realize that Pamplona's daredevil festival was underway until we were on a bus driving through the city. The streets were filled with people wearing white outfits and red scarves, and judging by the photograph on the front page of my seat-buddy's newspaper the actual run (for your life) had been the day before. I was tempted to jump off the bus, but I fought the urge because I knew I had my own adventures waiting for me. Lauren, Chad and I were spending about 13.5 hours on a bus to get from San Sebastian, via Barcelona, to a little town called Llavorsi nestled in the Pyrenees mountains.

The upside of the bus-ride was that I got to witness the change in landscape as we headed from the Northern coast into the interior and then towards the Eastern coast. There are rolling hills along the Northern coast covered in lush forest, but as you move inland the landscape flattens, becomes sandier and slowly hotter. I watched the temperature rise from 30 to 34 degrees on the bus's screen. The heat makes Spain far ahead of Canada's growing season. Farmer's already have crops harvested and straw bales resting on fields. Lauren said that if the passing gravelly mounds had been more red in colour than it would have been exactly like Arizona. I was very interested to see several windmill farms along our route, maybe they use the power for air-conditioning! As the bus moved closer to Barcelona and the coast, we once again entered rolling hills and forest. Of course when we headed to the mountains the hills only got bigger with denser trees and more exposed rock.

Lots of windmills!

We were granted some amazing elevated views as we headed into the Pyrenees mountains.

 

The three of us all immediately fell in love with Llavorsi as we got off the bus. It is a very small town which appears to have been erected exclusively at one time by one company, judging by the uniformity in its resort-like façade. We were staying along the riverside in the charming Hotel de Rei, a paradise compared to our regular backpacker's lodgings (though also at a higher price). People in the town spoke mostly Catalan, but as we were so near the border of France we were also able to rely on the expertise of Chad who speaks French. 

 

 Our cheery yellow hotel above, and a stunning view of Llavorsi taken on our mountain hike (which I will get to in a bit).

 

We were in Llavorsi on very serious business; two fun-packed days of outdoor adventuring booked through RocRoi/Yeti/Paddle in Spain (we never really figured out which business name was correct). One unexpected event occurred while in Llavorsi. We were stopped in traffic by a herd of horses. Now I've seen a lot of livestock on the road in my life, usually it's cattle back home and sheep here in Ireland, but it was a first for me to see that many horses. They were trail-riding horses being moved to their mountainous pastures for summer. A very unique sight!

 

 

Our first afternoon started with canyoning, an activity where you rappel, slide and swim your way down a mountain canyon. Over time the canyon had been eroded by a stream flowing down the mountain, creating natural waterfalls and smooth waterslides. Some of the canyon's pools were deep enough for us to be completely submerged as we came off a slide. We wore wetsuits to combat the cold water and helmets and harnesses for safety. Our guide Gerard was extremely fun with an infectious laugh. When you were rappelling down a wall he liked to block the stream with this body so that when he stood again you would be completely drenched by a flood of water. I think we were all sad when it was over and would definitely try a longer, more challenging excursion in the future.

 

The three of us with Gerard above, and our harness "diapers" which Lauren and I found fascinating!



 

Now for the first time ever I will attempt to add some videos to my blog. Cross your fingers that they work! The first video is me rappelling down a wall!

 

Second, me slipping down a waterslide!

 

Third, Lauren tackling a waterfall!

 

And saving the best for last, a prime example of how Gerard sent an massive flood of water over poor Chad.

 

The next day was devoted to white-water rafting and puenting. Never heard of puenting? Neither had we; we thought we were going bungee jumping, but puenting is a bit different. It was invented as a way for rock-climbers to overcome their fear of falling. Basically you put on a rock-climbing harness around your middle and jump off a bridge. Instead of being caught by cushy bungee ropes you are shockingly sent swinging by tension ropes. Our bridge was only 25 metres high, and although a great adrenaline rush, it was also a super awkward way to fall. The interior button on my shorts dug into my stomach leaving a deep scrape and Lauren had her back jarred. It was still a neat experience, but I probably wouldn't do it again. However, by far the worse part of the jump was that the picture CD we bought was half corrupt! Sadly we only received professional photos of Chad's jump and about three photos of me before the files would not open. Lauren has a video of my jump on her phone, so look for it to be posted on my Facebook page in the future.  

 

Chad happily swinging away. 

Here I am, anxiously awaiting the "go-ahead."

And my big jump!

White-water rafting was a bit more satisfying than puenting because it lasted about a million times longer. Once again we had a fabulous guide with a taste for tricks. His name was Albert and he liked to send us into 360s as we entered rapids. Once he purposely crashed us into a rock wall and another time when no one was looking he slapped his paddle on the water and let out a long hissing noise to make us think the raft had popped. It was a bit of a wild ride down the river. Luckily our group was fairly stable, while others seemed to be losing an uncomfortable amount of people and paddles (don't worry all were returned safely to their rafts). Our team did get into the water a couple times though by choice as we had the opportunity to swim. Again I was really glad I had a wetsuit on as my exposed hands turned to ice quickly in that cold water. Fortune was on our side this time as the professional photos of our boating adventure were not corrupt, so I have some great shots to share!

 

 

After two days filled with adrenaline we were all sleeping well at night. Despite our tiredness we needed to find one more adventure for our last day since our bus did not arrive till 2pm. How about climbing a mountain? Great idea! ... At least we thought so until we were half an hour into hiking up a 500 metre ascent. Still as I think about 500m in elevation it does not seem really that high to me, but let me tell you in real life that path weaved and weaved in a strikingly steep manner! Plus going up we had to battle with loose rocks and coming down it was rolling conveyor belts of pinecones. We had to resort to alphabet games and singing to keep our minds off the building lactic acid.

 

To illustrate the steepness, try to find Chad and I in the picture below.

 

Despite all my complaining, the positive aspects of the hike remain much more memorable than the physical exertion. When the trail did finally level out near the top we were able to wander through a gorgeous mossy pine forest, very much like the Canadian Shield back home. The best present of all awaited us at the very top where we were greeted by five horses. Four friendly mares came for a visit while the black stallion could not be bothered by sweaty humans. There was also the best look-out of the entire trek. Even bigger mountains stretched out before us and in the distance you could see snow still resting in their peaks. In the end I was very glad we completed the hike, especially in the recommended 2.5 hours. We needed the exercise before our 5 hour bus ride back to Barcelona, but I'll admit my legs were extremely thankful to be back on flat land.

 

 

I'm back to the city in my next blog with tales of Barcelona!

Adios,

Shannon