GRP - Andorra (part III) скачать в хорошем качестве

GRP - Andorra (part III)

GRP days 7 and 8, Tuesday and Wednesday, August 30 - 31, 2022 Refugi Juclar to Hotel Bringué, El Serrat It rained during the night but it didn't bother us sleeping in the cozy Juclar refuge. Patsy woke me at 6.10 am even though breakfast wasn't until 7 am. We packed up and I used a patch cut from Lizzy's Tenacious tape to seal the hole in my Thermarest. We stopped at the unguarded Refugi de Cabana Sorda and got the hut stamp. It was clean and slept 10. As we were leaving, 4 teenagers arrived all wearing the same bright orange T-shirts emblazoned with "Refugi d'Andorra". They were employed by Andorra to go around all the unguarded refuges, make sure they were clean, and clean them if they were dirty. Andorra is the best! We ate an early lunch by the lake, Estany de Cabana Sorda, and then it was then another very steep, long uphill climb to reach Refugi de Coms de Jan where we had another cup of coffee. We left the refuge at 3 pm, climbed another thousand feet, and reached Estany de Ransol around 5 pm. We found a great little camp spot and decided to camp here, at 8,150' elevation. We were tired and it was another climb after this, to Collada de Meners that was over 9,000'. We awoke shortly before 7 am. Much to our surprise, it hadn't rained during the night but there was a universal cloud cover and it was ominously quiet yet not really cold. We were treated to the most amazing sunrise that I recall ever seeing, even better than the one on our way to climb Mt. Harvard. I walked over to Estany de Ransol to get some reflection shots. The sky changed from magenta to orange. Somehow I had tweaked my back yesterday so I popped an Advil with my coffee. We broke camp and started up towards Collada de Meners, 9,150'. A cabin was close to the col but it was small, dark, and dingy. We had to descend almost 4,000' to the town of El Serrat where we hoped to get a room in the fabulous Hotel Bringué****. First, though, we stopped to check out a small cabin, Cabana Pleta Serrera, which was nice and clean inside even though it wasn't an official Andorran refuge. We stopped near a stream crossing to forage for blueberries and raspberries. Yum! The sun even came out for a short while. Continuing the descent, we could hear distant thunder and the sky was darkening to the west. By the time we reached the guarded Refugi Borda de Sorteny it had started to rain, not heavily but the drops were large. The guardian stamped my map and we hurried off. Normally we would have stopped to eat lunch here but not with an imminent thunderstorm separating us and the Bringué. We arrived at the Bringué at 12.30 pm. The rain was getting heavier so we anxiously inquired as to the availability of a room. Yes! "Just the room or demi-pension?" Demi-pension, of course. "That will be €145 and drinks aren't included. Is that okay?" Absolutely this was okay. This hotel is awesome, it's almost on par with Hotel Cir in the Dolomites. Unlike Hotel Cir, we would have had to pay extra if we want to access the spa. Even though it's been a very short day we're both really tired. We might stay a second night and take a day to relax, maybe check out the spa, or climb some local peaks. By 1.30 pm the thunderstorm had arrived with a vengeance and the accompanying rain was a 4-dropper (the highest rating for downpours in our lexicon). The stream outside our window turned into an angry torrent of churning mud. We were very lucky indeed to reach the Hotel Bringué on this day and at this time. We caught up with all our chores, which mainly consisted of showering and washing clothes. The GRP is arduous. We think it's harder than the HRP, although that could be due in part to the fact that we're 5 years older than when we did the HRP. The GRP is certainly more arduous than anything we did in Colorado. It's just up and down, almost never level, for thousands of feet of elevation change. I think I'm losing weight. Dinner was served starting at 8 pm so that's when we went up to eat. Dinner was fabulous. I had spaghetti carbonara, boeuf bourguignon, and a cheese tart. Patsy had a salad, orata (sea bream), and the same cheese tart. Pinch me. Am I in heaven, or what?