cyclosapiens: Aneto 3404 pt.3

4.day- way to the top

We didn’t slept good that night-the ‘bed’ was really hard and uncomfortable to sleep on.

The big day was waiting for us, so we woke up early in the morning (it was still dark outside), made some breakfast and started our journey. According to other people experience, it takes approximately 5 hours to climb up to the top, and the same time is needed to go down.

It was still dark when we found the small path which leaded up. Sun was up after a while and we discovered colorful trees all around us. Luckily, our photocamera started to work at that point.

The small path is pretty steep and is surrounded by rocks and dead threes. Autumn was all around us.

We could hear no sounds except our footsteps on the rocks and springs bubbling in the distance. So we found one of them to fill up our bottles with crystal clear, ice cold water.

Really old refugio.

After climbing for about 1 hour, all the trees gradually disappeared from the view, and now we were all alone with gray rocks. It could only mean that we had crossed level of 2000m altitude.

There was no path which you could actually see, and the only way to not get lost in this desert of rocks, was all the time look for small pyramids made of rocks. Steepness of climb was really intensive-we had a feeling that we’re climbing up steep stairs non-stop.

After 2h 30min we had reached the first mountain lake on our way. According to map, there should be more lakes a little further. We rested for a while, tired of the hard climbing, and continued our way up.

Next lake. With its greenish-blue water it is located on flatness which perhaps has been made by glacier long time ago. Rocks were all around. Under the smallest ones we could see big monolite rocks, which has been polished by glacier and cracked by the sharp teeth of the time.

Looking around I had a feeling that I have transported myself to a different planet. It seemed that there are no living souls except us as far as my eyes could see. And I’m not talking only about people-also I couldn’t see any plants or animals except poor layer of moss growing on the rocks and some lonely birds in a distance. It was weird feeling to be there.

We stoped to rest for a while and to eat something. It was really cold, and we decided to boil water using a dry alcohol (as there were no signs of any materials for making fire) and to make a tea.

We had already all clothes on, so there were no any extras left in our backpacks in case of more colder conditions. Only moving on could save us from freezing, so after a short rest we continued our way towards the peak, although we were already tired of non-stop climbing.

Getting higher, we found our selves surrounded not only by huge mountains, but also by thick clouds, who were hiding behind them highest peak and our destination-Aneto.

Tālāk taka vairs nav redzama un mums ir jāmanevrē starp milzīgiem granīta bluķiem, uz pelēkā fona meklējot pelēku akmentiņu čupiņu, ko ir atstājuši iepriekšējie kāpēji, lai palīdzētu orientēties nākamajiem piedzīvojumu meklētājiem.

Situācija visnotaļ stresaina. Var viegli pamanīt kā mainās laiks- mākoņu dūmaka, caur kuru brienam, te pazūd, te atkal parādās vēl biezāka nekā ieprieš, vējš arī tad ir tad nav. Pēkšņi idillisko klints klusumu izjauc ledāja, kas atrodās uz pretējās nogāzes, krakšķēšanas skaņas, un kāda kaudze ar akmeņiem noripo kaut kur tālu, tālu lejā pa slīpo, gludo nogāzi.

We were getting little bit worried about weather-it was changing up there so quickly and unpredictable. It seemed that it could start rain any moment.

Then suddenly cracking of glacier from opposite side broke through the silence and several rocks rolled somewhere far down the steep slope. It was then when I realized how tiny and unprotected we actually were facing those giant mountains. They are so immense and powerful.

It didn’t started to rain. But it started to snow instead. But before that, really loud thunder shattered the air. It was the first time when I witnessed thunder and snow at the same time. That was powerful. And a bit scary, I would say.

The last 400m were ahead, but it was still snowing, covering all the rocks with dangerous layer of slippery snow.. All our poor clothing became wet and we started to freeze soon.

We stoped by the wall, and there were no ways to go around it. Everything was already covered with pretty thick layer of snow, making every rock a potential threat for us. We became desperate and couldn’t decide what to do. Going up seemed dangerous thing to do, because any wrong step could cause trouble, but from the other hand, we were almost there, and going back would be the same long and dangerous way down. So we decided to take a risk. In the end it appeared not to be as hard as it seemed. But it was dangerous anyway. Luckily we got through safe.

Ok, now we’re on the other side of the hill. It was still snowing here, and it was impossible to see anything except Paso de Mahoma which is naturally formed rock bridge, with 50m deep drops on each side. Once you cross this paseo, you reach summit of Aneto.

Now it was time to start to think is it really worth it to cross this passeo in these conditions? Is it really worth to risk and be for some metres higher than we were already, even without possibility to see anything around because of the thick clouds?

Sad and tired faces

3100m above sea level

We decided not to go up. We were about 300m away from our goal.

Our shoes were full of snow, and all body but mostly feet and hands, was freezing.

We had reached glacier of Aneto, so we put on crampons to cross it.

cramp-on-kung-fu!!!

When we were ready to go, weather become better-it stopped to snow and we could even see blue sky above us.

But the weather was so tricky, that after a while everything was covered in gray clouds again.

We started to move down, but snow had hidden the path, so we just tried to find our own way down.

We could see big cracks in the ice with water flowing under it. It would be scary to slip in one of those and get lost forever, I thought. So I tried to keep away from those cracks.

After a while looking back, it was impossible to see the place where we have been before-it was all surrounded by clouds.

Snow is almost gone

Kingsize rock

Snow was gradually getting thinner under our feet and also big grey clouds vanished opening bright blue sky for our sight. Also mood was getting better.

After 30min walking down, we were off the glacier. We actually expected that it would be bigger.

Now there was only monolith granite under our feet, which was so smooth that it made me wonder how many centuries it’s been lying under glacier before getting free of it.

Many smaller and bigger currents were rushing down the cliff, at some point connecting with each other and in the end forming one grand current which was falling down the slope with powerful rush and big bubbling sound.

We were following that stream, because from up there we could see that all this current forms river at the foot of mountain we were on, flowing into the valley, which was what we needed to reach.

Step by step we were heading down, dancing our way through unsteady rocks.

It took more time than we thought it will to get to reach that valley. And although we were heading down, that was not much easier than climbing up.

When we finally reached the „valley” it appeared that it’s not actually that much of valley. I would rather say that it was field covered with rocks. We were jumping from rock to rock, to move forward.

It took more time than we thought it will to get to reach that valley. And although we were heading down, that was not much easier than climbing up.

The river suddenly disappeared somewhere under the ground.

We were happy to see trees again. There were beautiful views all around, but right at that moment our photocamera refused to work. That’s way following photos are taken by phone Nokia Express Music 5310 camera with only 2MP. It’s a pity, because nature around us was getting more gorgeous with every step. We were surrounded by cliffs, which were covered with colorful trees and impressive waterfalls.

The path was changing all the time-at one moment we could go through small meadow, at the other -we could already be maneuvering our way through the hill of rocks.

It started to rain and evening was coming, but we were still fighting with slippery rocks and searching our way forward.

Finally we had reached Plan de Aigualluts-flat land, with many small, calm rivers crossing it several times.

To get out of the labyrinth, we were forced to cross one of the rivers.

Water was ice cold.

Somewhere around this place supposed to be refuge which we were looking for, but we didn’t found it. Instead we saw Cascada de Aiguallut-very beautiful waterfall, which was falling from height of 10m straight in to big pit (10 m deep and 50m wide) where water mystically disappeared under the ground.

We were really tired already, but we still had to find next refuge which is approximately 4 km away. It was getting dark already and the rain didn’t help us at all. All we wanted was to find that refuge and fall into warm bed. In best case.

But it wasn’t that simple.

When we finally got at the place where supposed to be refuge (it was on the map), there was nothing. No refuge. It was still raining and the night was coming. It wasn’t comfortable feeling. We already thought that we’re doomed.

We noticed that there is tiny house on the other side of the road, and smoke coming out of the chimney- for sure somebody must be there. So we went towards that house, and met old man standing in front of it. We asked him if he knows something about refugio. „Refugio?” he asked „That’s far gone! There is no refugio here for a long time already!”

Rain was getting heavier and the night was almost there, so we asked old man to give us shelter for this night. Without lot of thinking, he let us in his small but really warm and cozy house.

There was big fireplace which was exactly what we needed after more than 10 exhausting hours walking up and down cold mountains. We were sitting in front of fireplace and drying our wet clothes. The man said to us that we are mal equipados or badly equipped, which, no doubt, was true. We were talking with him some more, and found out that he is shepherd for all his life. All the time he spends here in mountains, keeping animals in different places, depending on season. We actually were really lucky to find him here, because he is changing places all the time, and actually this small house is not his house, but common house for shepherds. He is really dedicated to what he is doing, or as he puts it :”Those sheep are all my life”.

Old pastor was very hospitable and offered us some vine to warm up. He also offered dried meat, but when we refused, he asked: „Vegetarianos?” He disappeared in other room and came back with bunch of potatoes which he wrapped into foil and put them into fire. He did the same thing with eggs, proudly adding, that all of it comes from his home. While potatoes and eggs were getting ready, pastor chopped some garlic and added it to olive oil-in the end that was really good sauce for potatoes. Dinner was wonderful-we ate potatoes with eggs and drank some wine. Old man told that he doesn’t like to drink vine before sleep. After a while there appeared improvised glass (empty jar of spices) on the table where he poured some yellowish liquid, also from his home, of course. It was self made alcohol which contained grapa (spirit made from grapes) mixed with honey. It tasted so good!

When all plates and glasses were empty, pastor said: „Postre!” (dessert) and went into other room to fetch some oranges. This man was amazing! We were so lucky to find him here and be in his house, instead of sleeping somewhere out in coldness and rain.

We were really happy, but we didn’t realize that the best part will only follow. We were eating oranges and chatting with old shepherd, when at one point he said something about Mairia and papeles. First, we were confused and were not quite sure what old man meant by that. But when he put on the table jar which was filled with marijuana, everything was clear. Wow, that was something!

He asked to Stas to make two joints-one for us and one for him. He specially asked to make his joint without tabacco, saying that tabacco is shit and he likes only maria pura y dura (clean and strong marijuana). Then he added, that we will smoke weed now, and then we are going to sleep like generals. And we really did. I think in our case it was more tiredness and soft bed which made us to sleep like generals. It was the best possible ending of that day.

5.diena - 'day off'

Next day we woke up with sunrise, because old man was leaving.

Our legs hurt so much, that we couldn’t even walk normally. Until then I didn’t realize that muscles can hurt that much. We sincerely thanked old man and went. It was still overcast, but at least it didn’t rain. We had to go some kilometres down on asphalted road to get our bicycles. And I was really happy that all way to Benasque went down, so we just sat on our bikes and relaxed our muscles.

It was more than sure that we have to make break from physical activities, so we found nice place where to put our tent and relaxed all day.

After good rest, we were ready to push the pedals. We changed tires for our bikes, because we decided to make a detour, riding smaller roads and paths through woods, to see Pyrenees from different angle.

6. diena - Benasque - woods

Tm 4;10 / Av 13,3 / Dist 55,5

We were going through rural territories, passing many small peaceful villages.

Nevertheless we were off the main roads, we still met a lot of people in the woods. They were picking mushrooms. We also had some luck with that, and we collected enough mushrooms to make us a nice dinner.

After some time there were no more people around, and it was really peaceful. We were slowly making our way up and down through forests and meadows, enjoying tranquility and beauty of nature.

When day came to end, we were on asphalted road again, which pretty fast leaded us to our camping place.

even in bike-free time Gita is pedaling

even asleep

This time we made our camping place next to abandoned house, so we could have shelter from the cold wind.

7.diena - away from Pyrenees to Torre d'Amargos

Tm 4;13 / Av 16,5 / Dist 69

Today we made 50km trough rural territories on small unpaved roads until we reached Puente de Montana. From there we took small curved road which should lead us towards two abandoned villages-Torre de Amargos and Castellnou de Montsec.

After 10km intensive climbing up, we finally reached first village-Torre de Amargos. It’s located on altitude 1000m above sea level.

The legend says that people left those villages coz there was no water near by, and also because of urbanization-they left for better life in the city.

We met some man there, and he told that actually this village is not abandoned-it has 5 inhabitants, which all are living in one house which is restored. It has electricity and water. We were little disappointed, as we were expecting that village actually will be empty.

All the other houses in this microscopic village were in really sad condition-they were missing roofs and windows, in some there were bushes growing inside… But we were not surprised about that-this village is really ancient and we couldn’t expect anything better.

We made our camp close to the village. There was nice place were to hide from chilly wind, and also a lot of rocks around-we used them to make fireplace.

It seemed that it could rain soon, so Stas started to make fire to prepare dinner before rain comes.

Small cactus lives in abandoned house

It didn’t took a lot of time to make fire- wood was really dry. I was sitting under the tent because it started to rain. Stas was in front of the fire making dinner, when suddenly loud, scary blow broke the silence. I was scared and confused. I looked at Stas and saw him jumping away from fire, so only after some while i figured that it must have been some rock which made all this mess. All our dinner was on Stas-he was soaked with that and also he got some burns on skin from the hot water. It was not fun and it really scared us. We took that culprit out of the fire, scared that it could burst again. It was smashed in several smaller pieces.

It was raining heavy. We were both sitting under the tent and instead of eating hot soup we were gnawing almonds and pumpkin seeds. Evening was spoiled. And it was raining a lot. We went to sleep in bad mood.

8.diena - From abandoned villages to warm Barcelona

Tm 4;13 / Av 16,5 / Dist 69

Last night, as all previous ones, was cold and we didn’t slept good. We made breakfast, packed our stuff, and went up the hill, to the next abandoned village-Castellnou de Montsec. When we started day, everything around was wrapped in white clouds and we couldn’t see anything. But when we arrived to Castellnou de Montsec, clouds disappeared and there was only fog on the bottom now, and we could see mountains in far distance-they were covered with snow. It was really beautiful view.

This village was even more inhabited than previous one. They even had lanterns on small streets between houses. It was pretty, though.

We made some more kilometers passing small villages, until we reached paved road which leaded us to Tremp.

It was nice and sunny day, and we decided to stop for the lunch in Tremp. We bought some huge olives from local market and unhealthy crisps and beer from supermaket, and enjoyed sunny and warm weather, which we were missing so much lately.

We went until our first camp place and stayed there for night.

9. diena - finally home!

Tm 6;17 / Av 22,5 / Dist 141,3

One more cold and uncomfortable night. We were already really tired, because we haven’t been sleeping normally for days. Last day on the same road, and we were in Barcelona before day was gone.

Summary:

Well, one more trip full of challenges and adventures is behind our backs. It’s a bit sad that we didn’t manage to conquer the peak, though. But still, it was new experience climbing so high and this altitude which we reached-3100m above sea level- was new record for us anyway. And, if we didn’t do it this time, it doesn’t mean that we won’t try it again some other time. Only next time we maybe would take some extra clothes, but not much. All other equipment, in our opinion, was good enough.

Numbers:

Tm 5;37 / Av 21,2 / Dist 119,5
Tm 4;20 / Av 20,6 / Dist 97,1
Tm 5;36 / Av 17,1 / Dist 95,8
Tm 4;10 / Av 13,3 / Dist 55,5
Tm 4;13 / Av 16,5 / Dist 69
Tm 5;39 / Av 20,4 / Dist 115
Tm 6;17 / Av 22,5 / Dist 141,3

Tm 35h 52min / Av 18,8 km/h / ODO 693,2 km

Lapas

Friday, August 2, 2013

Aneto 3404 pt.3