At the first opportunity when travel relaxed within Spain I set off for the Basque Country. Having been in one of the strictest 2-month housebound lockdowns in the world in Barcelona my training wasn’t as good as I would have liked but hey, nothing’s perfect! I can share my trip photos on request if anyone is interested.
Day 1: Cabo Higuer – Elizondo (61.2km 2090m 10hrs 49m)
Immediately jettisoned some sandwiches and prunes and decided on taking only a 500ml soft flask due to the weight of my bag. 6.25kg without water and food suddenly felt very heavy with provisions. Easy running through the foothills and valleys of the Basque country and Navarra. No real difficulties and I arrived in Elizondo feeling reasonably fresh. I took too much food and there is a supermarket in Bera. Water wasn’t a big problem on this stage.
Day 2: Elizondo- Villanueva de Aezkoa/Hiriberri (53.7km 2395m 13hrs 57m)
Extreme heat was the order of the day and my 500ml soft flask started to seem like a bad idea. Bad blisters and the heat slowed me down and sapped my energy. Arrived at the end tired. No services open in Villanueva but I had enough already. Countryside running through forests presented no difficulties.
Day 3: Villanueva de Aezkoa/Hiriberri - Isaba (41.7km 1455m 8hrs 14m)
Terrible blister pain that went away after an hour. First sight of the high mountains from the grassy ridge. Had a break in Ochagavía where there were no shops but a bar. The next section to Isaba had no water and I didn’t have enough. Fountains only appeared very close to the end of the stage. Isaba had a shop and various bars and hotels.
Day 4: Isaba – Refugio Lizara (43.5km 2365m 10hrs 59m)
Finally back in the high mountains. Took the Belabarze Valley because my plan was to take the GR11 without any variations. Easy long valleys followed by a climb above Aguas Tuertas led over to Refugio Lizara. I stayed in a hut just below the refugio on the road. The section from Aguas Tuertas is new as of 2017 and it avoids the cut through in France to Candanchú. It adds a half day to the route but is worth it.
Day 5: Refugio Lizara – Sallent de Gállego (40.1km 1950m 9hrs 36m)
Picturesque high mountains over to the ski resort of Chandanchú followed by a long climb up the Canal Roya and over to Sallent de Gallego for the night. I beat a thunderstorm by about ten minutes. Plenty of water on the route. A bit of road running at the end to trash the legs nicely.
Day 6: Sallent de Gállego- Puente de los Navarros (52.4km 2547m 15hrs 20m)
One of the most difficult days up past Respomuso hut and onto the snow fields above. Extensive snow cover persisted all the way over to the descent into Panticosa where suddenly the whole of Spain appeared in vast numbers on Saturday afternoon. The next climb was really steep up to Puerto Viejo but it had amazing views of Vignemale. The descent was grassy and easy but very long down past San Nicolás de Bujarelo where there is a bar and Refugio. A quick feed at the bar and I continued to Puente de los Navarros for the night because I wanted to make it to Parzán the next day.
Day 7: Puente de los Navarros- Parzán (51.1km 3128m 12hrs 58m)
Spectacular scenery up the Ordesa valley to Góritz Refugio. Then over and down to Fuenblanca Valley. From here an easy but stunning climb led to Collado de Añisclo and one of the steepest descents on the route: 1200m in 2.5km. It wasted my legs and the final 20km to Parzán was a struggle but with hostels and shops it was great to refuel again. There were no shops for the next 3 days so my bag was quite heavy with food.
Day 8: Parzán – Cabaña de Santa Ana (38.9km 2485m 10hrs 9m)
This was supposed to be a rest day but it turned out to be harder than expected. Two nice high passes between huts. Biados was closed when I passed but Refugio Estos was open for a beer. I tried to go down the valley to stay in Cabaña del Turmo but it is no longer a free refugio so I continued to the next one for the night.
Day 9: Cabaña de Santa Ana – Refugio de Conangles (29.8km 1705m 8hrs 28m)
Today was a rest day of sorts but the terrain underfoot was very slow with boulder fields and rocks everywhere. Fantastic mountain scenery with Aneto to the left hand side for the morning. The first climb is up a good track then it changes into trail until the road before Refugio Conangles. Cap de Llauset Refugio is in the middle of the stage and is enormous and more like a hotel but they sell coke which is important! The descent was easy enough and back into Catalunya for the first time! Had a great sleep in the Refugio and breakfast.
Day 10: Refugio de Conangles – Refugio Ernest Mallafré (37km 2522m 12hrs 12m)
Amazing scenery over the Aigüestortes national park. A quick Coke at Dera Restanca Hut and I was off up the next stunning valley to a pass at 2457m where I realised my error: I’d got carried away and taken the GR11.18 an extra 2.5km and 465m up the mountain! My plan had always been to do the original GR11 without variations despite the fact that this one was clearly the most popular route. The original and much less traveled route went down into the valley and round the mountain of Montardo mostly on tracks until the final climb up a stunning valley of granite bulges and pine trees to crest the ridge and traverse over to Refugio Colomers. Another easy climb led to Ernest Mallafré.
Day 11: Refugio Ernest Mallafré- Tavascan (42.1km 2220m 9hrs 28m)
Terrible nights sleep due to snoring in the hut but a refuel at a good shop in Espot made up for it and the net downhill first half of the day. Big thunderstorm caught me going over the Collada del Jou just before Tavascan and I narrowly avoided lightning strikes all around. A relatively easy day with nice trails and sections on the road.
Day 12: Tavascan – La Cortinada (47.4km 3380m 12hrs 59m)
A tough day due to the ascent and the three big climbs up and over to Áreu, Arinsal and La Cortinada. Slow and steady on the uphills and it w<s good to arrive in Andorra. Arinsal has lots of bars and restaurants and many hotels. The valleys were mainly on tracks and good trails with the climb over Port de Baiau into Andorra being quite steep but without any snow. There was a little on the other side on the descent but no need to crampons.
Day 13: La Cortinada- Guils de Cerdanya (54.3km 3310m 12hrs 31m)
Planned to catch the post office in Encamp to post my snow kit but with great disappointment I discovered it was closed on Saturday despite what it says online. Still a good refuel here in the supermarket before a very long climb up to L’Illa refugio and then back into Catalunya for the last time. A draining climb up to Portella de Calm Colomer o d’Engorgs, which still had snow on it, marked the final descent for the day past Malniu where there were literally hundreds of people. On Saturday night it would have been impossible to get food here it was so busy. I continued to just outside Guils.
Day 14: Guils de Cerdanya - Santuario de Núria (49.2km 2635m 13hrs 40m)
Luckily the garage is open in Puigcerda on Sunday so I could get some supplies before the slightly boring but easy section to Planoles. The climb was straightforward but the descent was overgrown and poorly marked. Here I left a small bag of snow kit to reduce the weight in my bag a little and continued to Nuria via Queralbs to follow the original GR11 route. I arrived pretty tired and the Santuario had closed but there were some vending machines for Oreos. From here I took a spare 1.5 liter water bottle to supplement the 500ml soft flash and it was absolutely essential in the final days.
Day 15: Santuario de Núria - Can Nou (65.1km 2975m 16hrs 7m)
A long day with a lot of climbing but also a lot of downhill. Setcases and Mollo are the places to refuel. Beget just has a restaurant but no shops, so it seemed. Good trails led into the heat of the lowlands and at times the heat became extreme. Water was never a problem and there plenty of fonts. The marking was good and I arrived at a free refugio with a font called Talaixà at 5pm. I decided to continue on a recommendation from someone there to Can Nou where there is a refugio and a good place to bivvy outside.
Day 16: Can Nou - Portell de les Creus (66.1km 2250m 14hrs 55m)
A long day in the heat. It is really noticeable now but there are a few towns Albanyà, Maçanet de Cabrenys, La Vajol and La Jonquera that have shops and services. Good trails but sometimes poor marking with turnings that were easy to miss. I slept for 4 hours to start at 3am for the final day to finish in daylight at Cap de Creus.
Day 17: Portell de les Creus - Cap de Creus (58.4km 1230m 11hrs 46m)
Really early start but easy downhill and road running all morning. The pass over Coll de la Plaja was overgrown to extreme levels and barely passable and I emerge bloodied and cut from the bushes. There is a big supermarket at Llanca and Port de la Selva so supplies aren’t a problem. The running is easy but the heat is the biggest factor to consider. It became unbearable at times at over 30 degrees Celsius but eventually the trail passed around the lighthouse and out to the end of the GR11 at Cap de Creus. There are a few restaurants here but then a further 1.5-hour walk got me to Cadaques where I took a bus to Figueres for the night, exhausted but satisfied.
Final stats: 832km 40,642 m
Useful websites:
https://travesiapirenaica.com/en/gr11/gr11.php (reliable GPX files)
http://semprecorrent.blogspot.com/2013/09/gr11-en-18-etapes-860-km-4700…
Comments
For a more information, see the report on my website at https://www.mikecoppock.com/post/running-sea-to-sea-the-gr11
Feel free to message me for more information.