Coronallacs trail, Andorra. #1
Day 1. Stage 1. Les Escaldes to Refugi de I'illa
“You’re leaving now?! you’re too late, if you’re not there by 6pm you’ll be turned away (from the Refugi)”.
It’s 15:38 pm at the tourist office in Les Escaldes. We were on the 7am flight to Barcelona, we were delayed by the queues at passport control, hire-car faff and the drive took longer than expected. We hoped to start by 2pm.
“It’s ok” we said. “We’ve booked and we’ll be quick!” - we received a dismissive look that said we’re idiots (fair) and he handed us each a map and ‘passport book’… “collect your four stamps at the Refugi’s and bring the books back and we’ll have a special prize for you.”
We only planned to stay with two refugi’s because we were tackling the (normally 5 day) hike over 2.5 days but we’d pass the others during the day with a stop for lunch.
He gave us some initial directions and we asked no questions. We were late after all.
Ahead was stage 1 to Refugi de L’illa - 8 miles, 4700ft ascent. No worries.
Through the town into a steep steady climb, it was hot and our packs were heavy. We didn’t get a good lunch due to the delays (a couple of croissants) but it’s all good, we’ll get a good feed at the Refugi. We hope.
Most of the trail was a rocky woodland beside a stream, my favourite kind of trail. Half way up I realised we wouldn’t make it for 6pm, I emailed the refugi to let them know we were coming and be there by 7 latest and sorry for the delay, hoping we could secure ourselves dinner. We were on track to be earlier than that but I wanted to set expectations with time to spare.
The trail flattened off and opened up to a picturesque meadow with a couple of miles left but less motivating for me to move fast and I could see a way ahead with no buildings in sight.
We met a hiker who asked if we were heading to the Refugi de L’illa and told us there was no water for showers and maybe we wanted to turn back to one of the unmanned hut’s we’d passed. And miss the chance of dinner? No thanks.
I joked to Tom that the refugi might have told him they were full but there was space if the three of us didn’t turn up… I think he (the hiker) had nothing but good intentions but I was still confused at the suggestion.
The trail got a tad steeper, a tad rockier, our pace had slowed a little and by this point we were fatigued, moving as fast as we could, hungry, heavy packs (did I mention the heavy packs yet? #2) We turned a corner and the Refugi was in sight!
We entered tentatively. A little unsure if we’d be scolded for our lack of punctuality. At the entrance we clambered, taking off our packs, hanging our poles, removing our shoes for the crocs provided and generally being a nuisance in the way for people passing us to head outside.
We crossed the boot room to the reception window - “oh you’re Andy - welcome! don’t worry we’ve got dinner for you - we’ve got no showers but water and I can show you your room”
The lady who greeted us couldn’t have made us feel any more welcome - she was fantastic! She showed us around and the table we’d eat at and then to our bunk room. We spent a few minutes changing our clothes and setting up our beds before heading out to the main room for dinner.
Food was my biggest concern for the trip. I don’t do well when I’m hungry. I’m a moody bastard when I’m hungry. I also don’t like cheese. It’s not a dietary issue. I just hate the smell and taste, since I was a kid. I’ll eat pizza, mozzarella but that’s all.
I knew on this trip I couldn’t be fussy. I knew I’d be so tired I probably wouldn’t care but I knew I might not like it. Mostly though I was just worried about not getting enough food. I needn’t have been concerned about dinner.
We were set up at a table shared with two young girls who had also hiked from Escaldes-Engordany, over a more sensible time than us, using just this leg for a hiking experience as they travelled Europe.
Water and wine for the table, a big bowl of (mostly) chicken noodle soup to start, with a few random things thrown in (hotdog?). A huge dish of pasta bolognese covered in cheese on top (it was ok I could avoid the top layer) and custard for dessert.
Our bellies were full and we were feeling good again.
I caught the host and let her know that we needed to pay for our (on tab) drinks because we’d be leaving very early in the morning. She kindly offered to make us a sandwich to take but she was super busy tidying up - I could see that, I had picked a bad moment.
She said come back at 10:30 (it was maybe 8:30pm at the time), Matt looked horrified. I said “ok, we’re going to bed soon but I can get back up.” In the bunk room Matt said “I ain’t staying up until 10:30!” and he meant it. I didn’t want to be rude or a pain so we gave it 45min and I popped out to the main room. Our sandwiches were ready and the (other) host sorted the bill. I also collected our first passport stamps - I let him know how much we appreciated it and how great dinner was.
It should be noted they did tell us they don’t normally offer take out breakfast, you could see how hard they were working over dinner, they were just being very kind and I felt super grateful.
Lights out. Bedtime. In our sleeping bag liners with the provided pillows and duvets. Bags at the ready to scoop out the room in the morning, aiming to disturb our roommates as little as possible when our alarms go off at 5:30am.
We planned to start the next day at 6am to see the sunrise at the highest elevation we’d reach - Collada dels Pessons (2,814 m).