In the summer of 2008 I went to Andorra for a hiking vacation.
In the summer of 2008 I went to Andorra for a hiking vacation.
Since almost none of it is flat, unless you follow a river you almos have to go up or downhill most of the time. But it doesn't have to be very steep.
Practically all flat space is either road, houses or agriculture. With the large influx of population and tourists, lots of houses are built where it's not flat or in small irregular plots.
Most tourists come to Andorra in the winter, to ski, but as it's a small country you'll meet other tourist in summer too.
We flew to Barcelona and went by coach to our hotel, which was located in la Massana.
The first day was a "warming up" day, with a relatively easy hike.
Next day's hike was a bit longer and started further from where we stayed.
Started in a beautiful valley with lots of flowers.
After that, we turned around and over a ridge and then followed the old (up until
the late 1940's) main path to France. Wasn't any road at all until then, so walking
and load on donkey or horse was the only way.
Day after that was a bit more strenous, with 900 m altitude gained.
Didn't have to carry food though, as lunch was served at the refuge at Coma Pedrosa.
A couple of photos from the town we stayed in. The hotel is the building
just to the right of the ski lift. Well, perhaps not a ski lift this time
of year. The ski lifts are more properly those who aren't operating in
summer, but even without them you can get around a lot just using the
really large lift systems.
Day after that was not a planned activity day.
So as an unplanned activity I joined a car trip into Spain, via the old
smuggling road, to a small village called Tor.
The road was really rough, but the view good and trip interesting.
Day after that we went up to the snow line, and a little bit further. Planned
on going to the top of a pass and the French border, but there was still a
bit too much snow left, even though it was melting fast.
2600 m is pretty high anyway.
The last day was the only we didn't have nice weather. +9C and pouring rain at 2200 m.
The cattle is French.
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