Coronallacs trail, Andorra. #5
Day 2. Stage 5. Refugi del Comapedrosa to the tourist office in Escaldes-Engordany
Tom was really excited for the next climb. It made me chuckle at how excited he was for it. Matt and I were enthusiastic to get it done, the last 900ft, last climb of any significance for the whole trip but we weren’t excited like Tom was.
Our packs were at their heaviest again all now with 4x full 500ml soft flasks - adding about 2kg. We overtook some hikers who kindly moved aside for our group as we gained elevation. It kept me moving at the back since I didn’t want to start yo-yoing with them. Even though they had nothing on their backs we continued to build a gap. We had done very little running but probably were moving better than I imagined the whole time.
I'd said to Matt on the way up I think we deserve a hug at the top. Once we got there it had left my mind as we took in the views satisfyingly and knew it was literally all downhill from here and metaphorically hopefully I could stay up. The food had hit my stomach during the climb and I was starting to feel much better.
The beginning of the descent was really fun, some gradual and easy to make progress, then a small patch of really steep rocky gravel. Hike up to a ski lift then a off camber single track traverse across grassy mountains which was harsh on the ankles but with great views and the winding roads around we could watch the cyclists climbing and even hear them chatting far below us.
Further round as we were descending close to the road it suddenly got darker! I looked at the ground and it was a giant bird shaped shadow, a huge wingspan. We processed the thought at the same time looking up in amazement at several eagles circling. We all tried to capture it but no photo could do the moment justice.
We ran some roads and then into a bike park and long undulating forest tracks. There was about 7 miles to go and we were only covering around 2/2.5 miles an hour by now so it was going to take a while.
I kept my chin up until we descended a really rocky path that just hurt my feet, then happy to have it over we eventually popped out onto a road, dirt track, road where we managed to break into a jog, walk, jog walk. Exposed to the sun again.
We had a town in sight in the distance but couldn’t understand how there could be 5 miles left. It wasn’t THE TOWN. We got close and broke right, ugh more slog.
Matt asked if I was glad I did the day after all and at this point I was pissed off - I can’t remember exactly what I said but it wasn’t the response he wanted. We’d done the mountain part now and I felt like this was an unnecessary commute. I think I said I’d have been happy for a bus from the bike park or maybe my hesitation to answer was enough. He said he’d ask again at dinner.
The distance didn’t seem to go down. We kept moving and my watch kept showing the same mileage. We had a nice bit of woodland single track then popped out under a road intersection, past a concrete yard and along a river under a bypass. Bullshit.
We rubber banded mostly Tom and Matt ahead and me catching up. Matt asked me how I was doing and I answered too honestly again. I said what I'd been thinking - something about “I should remember I have a five hour limit for enjoying these things”. I knew I’d fucked up right away, he barely let me finish a few words before he moved ahead. I realised I’d barked at him and felt bad.
Gradually as we slogged it back to town I realised I wasn’t being what the guys needed. They were suffering too, I hadn’t appreciated that. We all needed to stay positive and I wasn’t doing my part. I maybe needed Matt to tell me yeah it is shit but get the fuck on with it. I probably needed shaking. Or maybe I’d only ever realise this in hindsight.
Some things aren't supposed to feel good at the time. A lot of it did feel good at the time. Some things are supposed to be hard as fuck at the time, horrible at the time but feel amazing afterwards. I had forgotten this.
I felt at times that I didn't have a right to be there, I was out of my depth. The only thing I didn't have a right to be was down about it. I had a few bad hours, during two and a bit amazing days. Never a bad day. I was doing something we get to do a handful of times in a lifetime, a proper adventure with friends.
Maybe I’ll stick to my 5 hour limit in future or maybe I’ll take this learning and get better at it. (It’s a 5 hour limit with diminishing returns after that by the way, not BOOM 5 hours, arsehole mode, but generally if we hit double those 5 hours I’m going to struggle - we had 2x 13 hr days)
The special prize.
I neglected to mention in my previous posts that over the course of the days the subject would turn to us wondering what the special prize might be from the tourist office. The most comical I came up with was a “50p off Burger King voucher” (we drove past a lot on the drive into town and were salivating about BK).
We made it into town and struggled to navigate to the tourist office. Using google maps at this point and our phones were very confusing and we were frustrated at running in circles.
“Do you remember us?!” Matt said excitedly to the man who’d briefed us two days ago.
“Yes” he said, uninterested, at least to our excited expectations of a fanfare. “Do you have the stamps?”
We faffed and thumbled getting our refugi passports out of our bags and were presented with our prize.
The prize? You’ve got 92km and +/- 6,868 m to go around the circumference of Andorra if you’d like to find out.
We made it! All three of us made it!
It was an amazing adventure. I'm grateful to have shared it with Matt and Tom. Thank you guys!
It was brilliant and I love this write up - thank you Andy and Matt for an awesome adventure!