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Camino Routes
🇪🇸 Routes in Spain
🇪🇸 Camino CATALÁN (from Barcelona /Monts. /Llança)
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[QUOTE="Undermanager, post: 1253165, member: 46206"] Day 13 - Sarsamarcuello to Ena This is a fabulous stage, but mortals beware - it might kill you off. No seriously. It might!! On earplugs and eye blackouts - I'd never leave home without a few dozen industrial earplugs in one of my bags. Quality ones with a high dB rating do the job, keeping out snorers and unhousetrained mobile phone users. Cheap ones just don't do the necessary. I also like to have a few pairs of airplane eye covers handy as well. They can be helpful if you are in bed before others, or want a lie in. It was a balmy evening last night. I spent most of it on the grass outside the albergue, looking at the magnificent vista before me, sipping yesterday's leftover wine. It was also the only place I could get a decent mobile signal, as I attempted to put together a new playlist for tomorrow's walk. I popped into the Social Club again for a few beers later in the evening, as it's only a minute from the albergue. They weren't doing any food, though. As usual, I left at 7.00am. You have over an hour of uphill slog out of Sarsamarcuello to look forward to, but there are many goodies when you start to get the worst over with. First up is another castle, Castillo de Marcuello. The backdrop of the plains far below make this very photogenic. There are a few associated buildings near it worth a look as well. You need to walk 500m or so to the ruins but I left that for another day. Further along is the turnoff to Mirador de Los Buitres. I would say this is a 'must see' since you're just a couple of kilometers there and back. The track takes you up to a viewing point, where there are magnificent iconic views of rock formations, and where vultures fly about and mountaineers do their thing. I'm sure it makes most people go, 'WoW' so don't miss this one - it's probably the highlight of this Camino (so far). If you're lucky, you may see some of the vultures this area is famous for flying about but sadly, they weren't around today 😢. One option if you aren't in a hurry is a stay at the hostel in Riglos and have a semi-rest day, watch the climbers, do a trek, visit the canyon etc. After Mirador de Los Buitres, the dirt path is downhill all the way to La Peña. There are lots of loose stones on the track and a few hairy downhill clambers so walking poles are definitely helpful if you have dodgy body parts. This is a very pretty walk for a few hours through valleys and gorges, and you'll stop frequently to take photos. You eventually emerge from a gorge and after a few twists and turns, you arrive at La Peña, a collection of a few dozen buildings. It does have a bar and a bakery, too, apparently, but the trick of course is to arrive when they are actually open - almost no chance then 😁. The bar seems to sometimes serve food but not today apparently (Sunday) although beer and ice cream were available (don't open the freezer yourself, though - a real no no in this bar). There was a working water fountain 20m before the bar, if you need to top up. It took 6 hours to get from Sarsamarcuello to La Peña, including the hour side trip to Mirador de Los Buitres and a 20 minute stop at the bar in La Peña. From here to Ena is about 11kms away and it's all very pretty, uphill, through a forest and long!!! When you come out of La Peña, there's a GR17 Camino sign pointing to Ena to the right after about 500m. I took that and clambered uphill for half an hour. Then I checked, didn't like this route and went back down to the road, knackered. I was a little confused by the lack of yellow arrows at this point but further along the road, you will pick them up again! You will turn right after another kilometre into the forest again. Someone must have bought a job lot of 'Ena - 10.5kms - 2hrs 10mins walking' signs and put them up everywhere. TAKE NOTE, this section took me nearly 4 hours, and it's nearly all uphill. I got lost once (30mins) but you need to ask yourself if you can do a nearly 10 hour walking day, 30kms, much of it uphill? I was hurting when I stumbled into Ena at nearly 5.00pm, my longest day by far. You need to concentrate on this stretch to Ena. The yellow arrows start well, then do disappear for some stretches although they reassuringly seem to appear again when doubt creeps in. The forest walk is very pretty, often with a fast-flowing river down in the valley, and small pools and waterfalls nearby. There's a lot of uphill and big boulders to go over and of course, you need to keep looking out for directions, head up even though you are getting tired. It is really beautiful, though. The whole day is without doubt fabulous and it really helped having perfectly cool walking conditions all day long. If I had known then what I know now, I don't think I would have attempted this section in one day from Sarsamarcuello. I would have stopped (if possible?) at La Peña, then walked to either Ena or Botaya the next day. If you are young and fit, it's fine, if you are clapped out, 60+, dodgy hips and knees like me, you may have a heart attack. The only thing is, I'm not sure what accommodation options there are in La Peña? Maybe look up the name of that bar I mentioned and phone them if your Spanish is up to it? Perhaps they do rooms, or know someone who does? Don't forget to post here, whatever you find out, though 😉. The good news in Ena is that it is a lovely, friendly, tiny oldie worlde place, and the albergue is top notch, with kitchen, wifi etc. There's no cafe, bar or shop but there is a tiny social club that may be open at some times at random hours for a beer. There is still another 10kms of uphill to look forward to in the morning before the descent. Hopefully, I'll have a bit more energy at 7.00am to enjoy these wonderful hills. I should have just missed out the first week of this Camino and started in Monzon, Berbegal or Huesca, then gone slower and explored more in this far more interesting section. I never wanted the irrigation ditch experience anyway! [/QUOTE]
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