Sue and Martin's Big Adventure
Day 42 - Sunday 5 September 2004 - Stage 34
Postcard Summary
Fishermans
Camp to El Serrat
Into Andorra at last for beer and ski
resort lunch (supplies low) – 6.0 hours, 12 km, 800m ascent
Today, another hazy sky. The morning involved a descent, then a climb
to the Port de Rat – out of France
and into Andorra. The view of ski lifts was rather ugly, but an
open restaurant provided us with cheese baguettes and salad – a good
alternative to tins of fish! We see lots
of tourists walking the short distance to three scenic lakes, then we lose them
when the descent gets steep. Now
enjoying beer, crisps and a valley view from the terrace of Hotel Tristiana,
clean after a good bath. Only one more
day until a day off in Soldeu.
Diary Entry (by Sue)
After not an
especially good night's sleep (bad pillow, sheep bells, gusty, too hot), I
managed to miss both alarms (due to ear plugs), and woke with Martin suggesting
a weather deterioration. Although the same high cloud was present, the pressure
had fallen and the temperature had risen to 16°C. Delayed start due to toilet
stops for both of us, but then we had a good run. Leaving our lake, a path
descended, then contoured around the end of a very hazy valley, to meet a dirt
road. (See top picture for the view down the Soulcem Valley.)
Not long on this
gentle gradient upwards before our path is signed with cairns and yellow marks. We climb steadily, stopping
once for mountain mix, to reach the Port de Rat at 2540 metres.
Ascending to Port de Rat
Two large cairns
mark the border, and a fairly big landmark for us - we've reached Andorra (11
am).
The view is of
ski lifts and pistes, and newly sown grass, but the advantage is that the Restaurant
La Coma, by a large car park and a chairlift, is open. Although only 12 ish, we
welcome a lunch of cheese baguettes and a plate of salad, with a tin of coke.
Leaving there, the
path rose steeply for a short while, and it was soon clear why everyone and his
dog were heading this way. Over a brow, and three lakes lay below us, very
easily accessible from the car park. But, as usual with the HRP, we leave the
tourist spots quickly, and after the lower lake, we saw no one walking.
A steep descent
followed, where care was needed, with a rather scary crossing of a dam at the
bottom, over which water was running (Martin avoided this by crossing the
stream higher). Then, a section of ski piste, one of old road, one of new road,
and one of track, and El Serrat appears.
A ski piste above El Serrat
It was hot (28°C)
and sunny on this section, so no real change in the weather. El Serrat only has
hotels and no shops, so we book into Hotel Tristaina, without finding out the
cost for a night's half board, and immediately swing into the hotel / early
finish routine (2.45 pm) - washing, baths and airing sleeping bags. Once these
chores are done, we can adjourn to the terrace bar, for a beer, crisps and a
few postcards. The swifts fly around this lofty location, and the hazy sun
shines on our view both up and down the narrow valley, lined with pines.
We are their
only customers for dinner at 8 pm, so we sit in the bar, instead of the
restaurant, along with only one other customer - a small man who doesn't remove
his hat and who drinks red wine and watches the blaring TV! Dinner is an
ordinary salad, pork (M) and sausage (S) with chips and veg, and apple cake (S)
and lemon mousse (M) for pudding. The waiter makes an excellent effort to
describe the choices in English, more accurately than the 'English speaker' at
the Graus campsite. Bed is around 10 pm.
Stats
and route (Viewranger):
13
km, 680 metres ascent, 6 hours
