Three days of hiking in the heart of nature, discovering this incredibly wild park. We slept in two of the many cabins in the area. They're rustic but do the job well… Off we go for three days of snowshoeing in the Catalan Pyrenees!
From the station to Serrat del Freser
Fresh off the night train, we immediately began the climb opposite the station. The path passes near the hamlet of Bena, then follows a stream up into a pretty, secluded valley. At the top of this valley, we lost track of the path. It has to be said, it's really quite narrow and increasingly covered in snow! Undeterred, we put on our snowshoes and cut straight up the slope.
We arrive quite early at the Serrat del Freser cabin in which we planned to sleep. Surprise: after freeing the door, which was jammed with ice, we discovered that the cabin was filled with 20cm of snow! How it got in remains a mystery, since the door was closed. It must have squeezed through the tiny gaps between the ceiling and the wall, but how much? A good problem to ponder for us, a group of physicists.
However, there's no time to dwell on it, as evening is falling and the temperature is dropping. We grab our shovels and start clearing the cabin. After an hour of effort, the snow is outside, but a thick layer of ice remains on the ground, which our efforts can't dislodge! So we'll sleep on this rather chilly mattress. There's no way to melt it since the stove doesn't have a chimney, so we can't warm up without filling the cabin with smoke. As you can imagine, it's not the most comfortable cabin I've ever slept in! However, the view over the Latour-de-Carol valley is perfect.
Snowshoeing in the Catalan Pyrenees
We set off, warmed by the bright morning sun, which allowed us to enjoy a hearty breakfast in front of the cabin. We climbed directly up the slope towards the ridgeline, without following any path. In any case, there wasn't one in this area!
Unfortunately the weather deteriorates before we reach the ridge. We orient ourselves using GPS, but it could become complicated without it because the landscape becomes a white mist where everything is unrecognizable! We don't even know if the terrain rises or falls in front of us.
We descended the ridge quite quickly since there was nothing to see. We slowly made our way down the slopes in the mist, finally arriving at the place called "els Passavets" on the IGN map, where the weather cleared up a bit. Finally, we arrived at the Mata Negra hut opposite a sort of small canal. It has a good chimney and isn't covered in snow, bliss!
Descent to Angoustrine
It snowed all night and it's still snowing this morning with large flakes. Nearly 40cm have fallen… We happily make our way through this beautiful layer of fresh snow. In fact, we sink in up to our waists in the bottom of the small valleys!
We drove through a very pretty coniferous forest in the midst of the storm. Then we reached a drivable track which allowed us to descend gently towards the village of Angoustrine. In the distance, we could see the Thémis solar power plant emerging: it's safe to say it didn't produce much that day!
Once in Angoutrine, we hitchhiked back to the train station, but it would also have been possible to walk back along the road. The snowfall had been particularly heavy, and the night train wasn't running to Latour-de-Carol that day! Luckily, the SNCF (French National Railway Company) arranged a taxi for us to get to Mérens station in time. And that was it, the end of the route already… We didn't see a soul on the trails for three days… Hooray for snowshoeing in the Catalan Pyrenees!
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