Day 1 Espot to Amiteges
A very relaxed 2.30am wake up time on Sunday 10th August meant that the majority of the group was half asleep when we piled into the school minibus, but nevertheless we managed to leave with everyone on board and set of for Bristol airport. Due to Major Smith’s top class admin we weren’t carrying hold bags, so were able to prance through the airport avoiding the long queues of the baggage areas. Other than having to finish what seemed like 1000 litres of fluid between 3 of us before braving security, we proceeded fluently through to the duty free area. The ‘lads’ then enjoyed a 5am burger king, while Helen and I watched disgusted and munched on our fruit and breakfast bars. The flight was quick and easy, and before we knew it we were on a small coach on the way to La Mola Campsite.
We were greeted by Major Smith and Steve the Marine (aka Steve Davies) at La Mola who had kindly set up camp for us, and after a short(ish) briefing we were allowed a couple of what would become rare hours of relaxation by the pool.
The following morning we set off for the white water rafting activity. On arrival we were each given some very unflattering wetsuits and a pair of funky wetsuit boots, so we looked like a colony of toned penguins… or perhaps a group of overly enthusiastic British tourists. The rafting itself was fantastic; our guides were encouraged by our thirst for excitement so let us crash into cliffs, jump off rocks and joined in when we sang Shakira whilst standing up on the edge of the raft holding hands going down the river. A friendly rivalry grew between our raft and another group of Brazilian adults, so we chased them and were allowed to jump onto their raft and attempt to throw them overboard- however the mission failed when Mower fell at the first hurdle and didn’t make it onto their boat, and I got thrown off and failed to pull the Brazilians off with me.
That afternoon we began our final preparations for the trek, after a briefing by Major Smith we split up into our walking groups and got to work on fine tuning our route cards. We added attack points for each leg of each day of the trek, so that we were confident on our routes and could ensure that we were on the ball and looking out for each reference point while we walked. We also had a final kit check which was almost perfect other than the lack of a few spare batteries, and packed all our expedition kit away in our rucksacks. After 3 helpings of Chef Smith’s chilli con carne, we got an early night to prepare for the expedition.
For the vast majority of our trek we followed the Carros de Foc trail in the Parc Nacional d'Aiguestortes i Estany de Sant Maurici, which is Catalan for ‘Chariots of Fire’. This is the only National Park in Catelonia, it was made a National Park in 1955 it covers more than 40,000 hectares and has over 200 lakes. The Carros de Foc route came into being in 1987 after a group of guards from a shelter made a walking route between 9 refuges in the park in just 24 hours, and one of them baptized this journey ‘Chariots of Fire’, however the route wasn’t officially created until 1999. The route is 56km in total, and has altitudes ranging from 1,900m to 2,900m.
We set off from La Mola on the morning of Tuesday 12th August after checking the weights of our rucksacks, and headed towards the small town of Espot. Our route for today was from La Mola Campsite to Refugi D’Armitges which was a distance of approximately 13.4km, with a gain of 850m in altitude. The weather was very warm but humid, so within the first hour we were all sweating so much that it looked like we’d had a fully clothed shower. We had a short break by a picturesque stream before continuing along the G11 path, and to keep ourselves amused we greeted any fellow walkers whom we passed, in a different language each time. We had regular, short stops to keep hydrated and before we knew it we had tanked it to the lake Estany Sant Maurici where we stopped for lunch. After devouring our pancake flat sandwiches we set off along the uphill path, and the ascent continued for most of the afternoon. Our aim for the trek was landscape photography, and the stunning mountains and lakes proved perfect scenery for us to practise our panoramas and arty shots.
We arrived at Refugi D’Armitges singing loudly at around 5pm, and we were glad to get our boots off after a long days walking. Much to the amusement of my group and what seemed like every other sensible person in the refuge, I wanted to go swimming in the nearby lake. I could not contain my excitement, so while my three fellow group members enjoyed a hot shower I jumped around like a little kid assuring the friendly Spanish walkers that I would last more than the two seconds they predicted. As soon as someone was ready to go to the lake with me I danced over, and a few well wrapped up kids and spectators watched, bemused. I ignored the sensible part of my brain which told me that no normal person would dive into a freezing cold mountain-top lake at 6:30pm when everyone else was in coats, but I gritted my teeth, and took the plunge. It was the coldest thing I’d every jumped into, I momentarily lost the ability to breathe. I surfaced gasping for breath and let out a huge yell, then started to frantically swim across the lake. The spectators thought I was utterly crazy (‘loco’) but I started to acclimatize and began to feel at home in my natural watery environment, so I got out and did a few jumps off a rock for the camera. I ran back to the refuge afterwards and jumped into a shower, but not before I told the previously sceptical Spanish man that I had lasted much more than two seconds, and I had very much enjoyed it.
That night we sat down to a lovely and well-earned meal at the refuge, before we clambered into the incredibly large bunk bed with around 40 other people.
Day 2 Amitges to Colomers
We had our first refuge breakfast at 7am in Armitges before we packed up our rucksacks and prepared to leave for Refugi de Colomers. The route for today was approximately 15km, and after a discussion the night before we eventually decided that we would stick to the Carros de Foc path and would not take the alternative shorter route. While we waited for Ol to fill up his water bottles, Helen and I decided to make a sun dance in an attempt to tempt the sun out from behind the wispy cloud. Our walking poles proved handy assistants, and we followed up our sun dance with a lively rendition of YMCA which the other walkers at the refuge found highly amusing. We climbed uphill for the first part of the day, and the cloud refused to go away and instead turned into a very wetting fog. We kept our stops short to avoid getting cold in the damp conditions, and kept up our moral with a lot of deafening singing.
After passing through the Refugi de Saboredo we continued along the G11 path up to a smaller pass. Our assessor and his team had passed us at lunch time, so we were surprised to see them coming up the path behind us with rueful expressions on their faces. We then delighted in the fact that they had got themselves ‘misplaced’ (but not lost) and had taken the wrong path, a mistake which us four teenagers had managed to avoid without a problem, so we took the opportunity to make a few jokes. We then continued our walk to Colomers, which was by a large reservoir. It was a long day walking so we were relieved to arrive and all looked forward to a good nights sleep, however we later discovered that we were sharing a room with a group of loud and confident Spanish men so a quiet night as not on the cards.
Day 3 Colomers to Ventosa
After a breakfast of toast, rich tea biscuits and several bowls of tea and hot chocolate, we set off from Colomers and headed off towards Ventosa. The weather continued the way it had done the previous day, with lots of low cloud and fog but we knew (or rather hoped) that the sun would make an appearance.
To improve our timing skills, Steve asked us how long it would take to get from the refuge to the peak. On previous days, we had been walking roughly at 2km and knew that it would take us about an hour and a half to reach it. With 10:30 as our deadline, we soon got going.
As a group, we kept a close eye on the map as the GR11 path was sometimes not quite clear on the ground but we soon found our way again. Thankfully, the clouds began to disappear near the tops of the hills and the prospect of warmth was great.
We finally met Steve at the peak around 10:30 so we were right on time. After a quick brief about our timings and the point where we were on the map, we climbed further again singing various different songs which echoed across the mountains. With all the singing voices together, I think Colomers (which was about 2km away at this point) could have heard us. When we got to the peak, we were greeted by some rather lovely cows and decided that it would be the ideal location to take a few cow selfies.
We knew that before long, we would meet up with the pink group as today was the day where we would cross. Before long, we could see the fluorescent pink rain covers at the bottom of the hill with Lydia screaming ‘RICHARD’ at the top of her lungs soon replied to by ‘LYDIA’. We could not have timed our reunion better as it was by a beautiful lake and at lunch time. It was great to catch up on how they had been and what the refuges had been like. Having been told that there would be no chance of hot showers for either groups, everyone apart from Mackie, Ben and I went swimming. Lydia being a pro went miles into the lake whilst Richard and Mower went skinny dipping, much to the amusement of some Spanish spectators. Major Smith said that we could spend as long as we liked at the lake due to the shortness of the route that day so, after a two hour and twenty minute stay, we packed away and headed off knowing that we would not get much signal and it being results day.
After some excellent navigation by Ben, we managed to get back on our track after a slight disagreement (thanks to my stubbornness). Before long, my results came through but Ben was frantically trying to get hold of school but to no avail and soon we completely ran out of signal.
We were about 30 minutes from the refuge when my pole decided to break which slowed me down so Ben walked with me whilst Ollie and Lydia walked slightly ahead until we got to the refuge.
Our stay at Ventosa was very memorable due to the many Spanish scouts, everybody staying in one big room and squatting toilets. Nevertheless, we were the lucky ones as it was Miss Blandford's 25th Birthday. A delicious cake and wine were brought to us and the whole of the refuge starting singing Happy Birthday. It was so much fun!
During the day, we took many photographs of our landscape due to the beautiful lakes. However, we had heard from the other group that Day 4 would involve walking over boulder fields (much to my delight). With that in mind, before we went to bed we checked our route and knew that it would take us roughly eight hours. Oh how we were mistaken....
Day 4 Ventosa to E’stany Llong
The day started again, with a quick breakfast. The norm was served, a piece of dry bread, some jam and a chocolate spread, similar to that of Nutella. Once we had packed up our rucksacks we said bon voyage to the annoying Spanish group that were loud and rude during our stay and headed off down the mountain, towards the oncoming hardship that lay ahead.
Passing beautiful scenery and more Spanish hikers, we started to incline, following our progress on the map. A small stream and pond invited us to stop for a short break, and take a drink from its waters, something that we thought back to us not being able to do on previous British treks. Having a fresh water source along our trek made matters a lot easier, due to not having to use water purification tablets, something none of us liked!
As we made our way higher into the valley, we noticed that we were entering the boulder field. This proved difficult for some, as the heavy pack and steep descent (backwards!) meant a tricky climb was at hand. Despite Lydia saying to me, ‘Whatever you do, don’t drop the map!’, I still managed to allow it slip out of my front strap and fall down between two boulders, landing with a small slap. Luckily, Steve (The Marine) found a way underneath and retrieved the map in true Marine style.
As it was difficult for some, Steve reminded us that ‘slow is smooth and smooth is fast’ so we decided to slow things down and take each boulder one at a time. After two hours, we were still in the boulder field. Things were going slow. But morale was high, and a short burst of ‘Jerusalem’ kept the spirits soaring and the energy low. Short quick breaks for food and what our group called, ‘water breaks’, which were breaks that didn’t involve sitting down but everyone asking each other, ‘can you get my water bottle out please?... yeah! The one on the left!’, meant we could go at a steady pace.
Meeting snow meant a complex situation had arrived, as we didn’t realise that you could slip over so much! Lydia was the first down, calling for help from me, but no sooner than she had fallen, I was down too, accompanied by a laugh from Ben and a snow ball from behind. Helen was up front, tackling it head on alongside Steve who just wanted to get out.
Once we finally arrived at the top, what should have been a 2 hour job had turned into a 5 hour one, adding vital time on to the day that we simply didn’t have. We had lunch with Miss Blandford, Mr Hyde and Steve, a little later than usual, at a time of three o’clock. Lunch consisted of the usual junk, a dry bit of bread, some chocolate thing and an orange. Whilst trying to peal our oranges, which was a strenuous task in itself, Steve said that rolling the orange on your leg, makes it easier to peal. Once again Lydia made a comment, ‘It would be so funny if someone dropped their orange down the mountain side!’. She seemed to have developed an ability to jinx because before she finished the sentence, the orange slipped off my leg and bounced down the mountain, making a spectacular explosion of juice and skin at the bottom, or at least that’s what we think happened, because when we finally scouted out the damage, there was no orange to be seen...
Time was getting on and we still hadn’t made it to Estany d’Llong. Things were looking grim and we weren’t looking forward to the further 2KM that we had to walk to finish the hike for the day. But, on the final leg, good old ‘Mr Moral’ (Major Smith’s term!) got everyone going by doing a little marching, coming to an end at the Refuge. With smiles on our faces and empty stomachs, we were greeted by a clean shaven, dirt-free, showered Steve, greeting us in his pants. A sigh of relief was heard by all as we entered the warmth of Estany Llong, a long awaited sleep being needed!
Due to our tardiness, dinner had already been served, and it wasn’t great either. A watery broth was for starters, a bland salad for a second course and very boney chicken was to finish. Our long awaited feast was as bland as our conversation - exhausting all other chit chat as the day had gone on. After a warm shower, some more rude Spanians and a small towel, we decided to get some kip for the night, allowing us to recooperate after the long, long day...
Day 5 Estany Llong to Espot
Looking at the map we knew we had a very long day ahead of us. The route for today stretched the whole width of one map, but there was some comfort: we knew that within the first 5km we would have broken the back of the route as the highest point of the climb was just outside the refuge. It didn't take us long to get there, only 2 hours or so, but that's mainly due to the fact that we were enjoying our time up there, making it last as long as possible, and Lydia had to strap up her feet. Like on previous days we had leapfrogged a group of people on the way up, but just before the top of the pass they disappeared out of sight.
With Lydia making some new friends by making them jump over her leg (“It’s a hurdle, go on jump!”), we pushed on with us each having one of Ollie's car sweets in our mouths and eventually reached the top of the pass. There waiting for us was a group of 3 people that we had met many times already and knew could speak English. Having said good bye to them we pushed on down the windy path down into the valley meeting several people we had met before on the way.
While walking we talked about our favourite films and ones that people MUST see, as Ollie kept enforcing until a familiar sight came into view. We had made it to the lake that we had first seen on the first day. This filled us with excitement as from now we knew that we weren't far from the campsite. As it was 12 o'clock we decided that the best thing to do was to have some lunch, unfortunately the peace and quiet was broken very quickly. There were some houses there for the people to look at, and unfortunately some stupid people set a dog on one of them. An argument occurred that not one of us could translate or understand, but we got the general gist.
Now one of the main reasons for stopping was we were under the impression that Steve, Pippa and Phil were to be meeting us at some point, however they never arrived, so after a long lunch we set off again on a trip back down memory lene.
Not long after setting off we met the group of 3 people who we had seen so many times already on this trip. After an exchange of goodbyes that almost reduced the girls to tears we moved off pointing out every memory that had happened on our way up all those days ago. Passing the time came easy as we placed games (tree, rock, trock) so eventually we came to a spot that we knew well from the first day. It was a large rock that was by a stream, this rock was the symbol to us that we were almost in Espot.
Spurred on by this new found excitement we raced off down through Espot, shouting rather than singing the greatest of Abba hits that would have won us the X factor. We marched back down the road and found the path that would take us to the campsite, then we could hear English voices - it was the other group telling us we were late, which we didn't think we were... But oh well...
After rushing back to the campsite we set up our tents, got our stuff squared away and set off for a well deserved meal out in the evening for some of the most amazing wild boar steak and chips! After the meal out we went back to the campsite and spent hours talking about all the comical mistakes or comments made throughout, most of them by Ollie... How he "wasn't a walker" or how "maps are useless" or a rare one from Lydia asking if a "wind up touch needed batteries..." Yes this from a girl who got 5 A's... We went to bed exhausted and most people fell asleep as soon as their heads touched the pillow, apart from me because I was scared that Ollie would explode from the amount of snails he had consumed.
Now we were off the trek we could relax, or so we thought. We woke early ready for gorge walking, which much to my terror included heights...
The walking took around 2 hours and saw us go down 5m, 10m, 20m and finally 40m drops, not to mention the various slides and climb downs! But eventually we reached the bottom after an amazing time expecting to see Steve and Phil, but they weren't there... They had in fact been helping a man who fell off a ledge and falling into the very stream we had just come out of, had lost his car keys. But eventually they patched him up and we were on our way back to the campsite where we got changed as fast as we could and helped Major Smith get the bus ready for his and Steve's departure at around 4pm. After some heartfelt goodbyes they set off, leaving us a few hours to wait for the taxis to take us up to a ski chalet for the night. This is where we played cards and enjoyed our final dinner together.
Finally we awoke early in the morning ready to leave. With a 4 hour bus journey to Barcelona we knew we had a long day ahead of us. At the airport we said goodbye to Richard who was going off on his family holiday, which was a good thing as it later transpired that Lydia didn't have a place on the plane, which was quickly sorted.
In the airport to pass the time we played cards and ate anything we had left. Finally we boarded the plane ready to come home from our long and amazing trip.
All that remains to say is thank you to all the staff that made this wonderful trip possible, and we all hope next year’s is almost as good as ours.
