TRANSPIRENAICA GR11 ETAPA 25: NÚRIA - PARKING VALLTER 2000

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Nos despertamos con fresquito en Núria así que nos abrigamos, desmontamos la paradita y salimos hacia el Pic de Noucreus con Ernest y Caty.

No había nubes y el sol salió a media subida; inmediatamente empezó a hacer calor. Pudimos ver un par de buitres y algunos rebecos.

Llegamos hasta el Pic de Noucreus (2799 m) y seguimos cresteando hasta el Coll de Tirapits por donde empezamos a bajar.

Nos encontramos con la Barraca de Tirapits, el único refugio libre en el que hemos visto un sistema de radio de emergencia, lo que da una idea de cómo debe ponerse el panorama en invierno.

Una vez llegamos al valle, por donde viene el Camí dels Enginyers desde Núria, subimos al Coll de la Marrana desde donde ya se ven las pistas de Vallter 2000.

La bajada hasta el Refugi d’Ulldeter es muy sencilla así que vamos rápido porque nos hemos entretenido un poco y habíamos quedado con los padres de Marina en el aparcamiento de la estación de esquí.

Nos encontramos con los padres de Marina y nos fuimos a comer a Camprodón. Una vez estábamos sentados comiendo se desató una fuerte tormenta; qué suerte que no nos pilló caminando por la montaña.

RESUMEN DE LA ETAPA:

Fecha: 1 de agoto de 2018

Hora y altitud de partida: 08:00 a 1965 m

Hora y altitud de llegada: 13:00 a 1595 m

Distancia:  12 km

Desnivel acumulado: +1000 / -720

Tipo de vía: Sendero y carretera 

Meteorología: Soleado con tormenta al final

Alojamiento: Piso estilo AirBnB en Molló por 30 €/persona (120 total)

Enrique & Marina

English version

PYRENEES TRAIL GR11 STAGE 24: NÚRIA - VALLTER 2000 CARPARK

We wake up in the cool Valley of Núria, put some warm(ish) clothes on, took the tent down and packed. Ernest and Katy joined us on the way to Noucreus Peak (which name stands for Nine Crosses). 

The sun and the temperature raised quite fast and we didn’t need any warm clothes soon after starting. We managed to see a few vultures and many chamois in that valley. 

We reached the top of Noucreus (2799 m) and its nine crosses and kept hiking along the crest up to Tirapits saddle where the trail starts descending. 

We found Tirapits shelter standing by the trail. This is the only mountain hut where we’ve seen an emergency radio which made us figure that the conditions there can get really prickly specially in the winter. 

We navigate across the valley and saw the crossing with the Engineer’s Way which is a circular route that starts in Núria. Then we had to climb up to Marrana saddle where we could already see the ski slopes of Vallter 2000. 

From there, the trail to Ulldeter guarded hut is simple while still scenic. We hurried a bit because we had been spending quite a lot of time taking pictures and enjoying the views and we were meant to meet my parents at the parking area in a few minutes. 

My parents picked us up from the carpark and took us to Camprodón for lunch. Camprodon isn’t  on the way of the GR11 route although close and it’s an iconic town of the rural Catalonia that I had never visited before. As soon as we sat down at the bar’s terrace, it started bucketing down for at least an hour. We still can’t believe our luck for the day. 

STAGE OVERVIEW:

Date: 1st of August 2018

Start time and altitude: 8:00 at 1965 m

Finish time and altitude: 13:00 at 1595 m

Distance:  12 km

Cumulative elevation gain/loss: +1000 / -720

Type of track: trail and some road

Weather on the day: sunny and thunder after midday

Accommodation: apartment in Molló for 30 € per person (120 € the apartment)

Enrique & Marina