Please don't tell me today is an indicator of the entire trip. Rain. Lunch divided in our day packs and raingear on, a short van ride brought us to the trailhead. Today's 10-mile/6.2km hike would go from Pont de Rius (5,610'/1,709m), climb to the Col of L'Stany de Mar (8,145'/2,482m) and then descend to the Hospital de Viella (5,379'/1,639m). By the way, a Col is a pass.

I prefer uphills to start off with because you warm up quickly. The rain kept changing to snow and back again. Put on Goretex...took it off...put it on again...leaned against a rock and took the trousers off. There were mountains (Besiberri and Montardo/Montarto - 9,842'/3,000m ) around us, glacial cirqes and beautiful lakes down on the valley floor. Through forests and meadows. Eight long hours later, we were finished. Everyone survived a very tough first day.

Continue reading "Hiking in The Pyrenees Over Col L'Stany de Mar" »

Posted by Sheila at 05:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The Hotel Regencia Colon is situated in a fantastic location. The old quarter. It was just a few blocks to Las Ramblas and footsteps from Place Catalunya with its massive 13th century Cathedral. Easy to walk down Las Ramblas to the Mediterranean Sea. Las Ramblas is filled with newspaper and flower stands, artists and tourists. You can walk past the old red light district (Barri del Raval), small restaurants and bars, Miro's mosaic and Gaudi's Palau Guell.

From there, a fast walk to Temple Sagrada Familia, Antonio Gaudi's famous unfinished church passing a few of his other unique constructions on the way. Before we knew it, the small group had arrived and we were all transferred to Arties for two nights. There were only eight of us: Gary, with two sons Chris and Lance from California; Kansas Carol; July and Dick from Michigan and us.

Continue reading "Interesting Barcelona and Into The Spanish Pyrenees" »

Posted by Sheila at 05:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Air? This was semi-easy. The least expensive air fare at this time was to fly Chicago-Frankfurt on United, change to a Lufthansa flight from Frankfurt-Barcelona on the outbound. The return was a little more complicated. An Aviaco flight from San Sebastian to Madrid, Iberia from Madrid to Paris, connecting to United back to Chicago, our final destination. A multitude of airlines fly to Spain. You shouldn't have any problem deciding for yourself what carrier to use.

Hotels? Some additional reservations were required. Since the tour began in Barcelona, we decided to spend one extra day at the Hotel Regencia Colon, the group hotel. We had never visited Barcelona and would do a little power-sightseeing. Picked the Hotel Ezeiza in San Sebastian for two nights at the end of the tour (down the road from Hondarribia, tour's end) and Sofitel Madrid for one night.

Continue reading "Planning The Spanish Pyrenees Trip" »

Posted by Sheila at 05:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

ex-Marine (husband, Steve) and I have day-hiked and walked extensively through Europe and the Alps over the years but never gave a thought to the Pyrenees. The Pyrenees are shared by France and Spain with Spain containing the three highest summits and, supposedly, the best scenery. The Pyrenees look like the Alps with peaks, flower-filled meadow, glacial amphitheaters, dense forests and rivers but are much less visited than the Alps.

I knew nothing about any of this until my yearly Wilderness Travel catalog appeared with a trip into the "Heart of The Pyrenees." A 12-day rigorous inn-to-inn hiking adventure. (Since we took this trip, the itinerary has changed slightly.) We've traveled with Wilderness Travel on nine (9) different trips. They are reliable, quick to respond and take action when a trip doesn't go to plan. For example, read about our infamous Hunza Odyssey. Wilderness rebated a nice chunk of money to all participants for the inconveniences and general trip dissatisfaction.

Continue reading "Into The Isolated Spanish Pyrenees" »

Posted by Sheila at 05:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)