Spanish Pyrenees Walk 7: Above Cantallops

This walk had a bit of everything and that isn’t necessarily good. After a lovely hot breakfast, what  a pleasant change from the merely continental style breakfasts we have been having, we got ourselves ready for the circuit-hike of the day. We expected it to be another very warm day with a high temperature touching 80-82F (it did). However, at the start of our walk around 09:20 the sky was mostly cloudy and the temperature was cool. We strolled on down into Cantallops (Can-ta-lopes) and through the modest sized village. We believe they have some industry in the form of vineyards but at this time of a Monday morning at least it was awfully quiet. We found our way to a dirt single track that had a snail (scallop, isn’t the scallop shell used on Camino de Santiago paths?) shell along with more common yellow waymarks. We began to climb through the hills up the valley. I’m glad it wasn’t too hot yet because though the climbing wasn’t strenuous it certainly got my sweat glands working. Over the next couple km we gained a couple hundred meters and when we remembered to look back were treated to some fine views of the valley below. 

We tried to find , admittedly not too much effort was expended, some of the dolmens in the area. They represent burial grave sites from the 5th century. 

We continued working our way up. A castle was visible in the distance. But only now and then as we worked our way through cork oak forest trails. The tantalizing sound of a stream could be heard but we never really did see it.

In time we came to a mountain road which we would follow northerly and it got us to within a km of the castle. We chose to continue on. We saw numerous cows wandering the roadside or sometimes just laying alongside the road -tails and ears constantly flicking to try and keep the flies at bay. One constant of the walk today were the flies bouncing off us. Irritating. Annoying. At least they weren’t biting flies. Why were the cows up here? I certainly saw no land they could reasonably graze.

Our road walk would take us past the ruins of the Santa Maria church. That church was a pilgrimage destination up through the mid-19th century. People came to pray for a certain type of wind whose name I’m not sure of. But for reasons unknown that practice faded and when combined with the de-population that has struck this region the church fell into dis-use and several decades back whoever decides these things just decided to let it go to ruin. Many stone buildings we have passed have been restored, many in ruins. 

We passed more cows. We continued descending towards a stream. We actually crossed a bridge over a stream with running water. Too bad we could not dangle our feet in the water. By this time though clouds were breaking up and the temperature was certainly rising.  We were a bit more than halfway and had some modest ascending on a trail truly full of spiny plants to contend with. Over the next kilometer we climbed and then for a while we descended and then popped back out of the col de Medas where we had tried to find the dolmen earlier in the day. 

By now the clouds were gone and the air temperature was clearly heading to that 80 plus mark if it wasn’t already there. We could have descended the sane path we climbed this morning but we took the somewhat longer but far easier road descent. The first 1.4kms were on mountain dirt road. Easy going. Then we turned onto what I suppose could be a 4x4 track. For the next 1.75km we continued on down. It took a half hour but felt longer. We were getting tired and the long stretches of just up or just down can be wearing. Besides the views weren’t all that interesting. We were all coming to the point where we were wishing for the end to arrive. The few hundred meters along paved roads into the oh so busy (not) heart of Cantallops to have ice cream and drinks was a chore. The final few hundred meters from there to the hotel was a chore. Sometimes walks whose end you know is in sight just drag more than they should. It is a phenomenon related to the watched teapot never boiling.

An all right walk though not a great one. Now as I sit in my room typing this I’m wishing dinner wasn’t the better part of 3.5 hours away. I just wish the flies would find some other place to be. We were told that a couple of weeks ago when the temperatures had dropped to what would be normal at this time of year, the flies and mosquitoes were gone. They returned with these unusually warm days. 

Distance: 15.8km

AScent and Descent: 420m

Total Time: 6:18

Time for breaks: 1:03 (we had a couple breaks where we pondered directions more than we might otherwise have had to do. Today the directions , or at least our ability to read them, wasn’t as good as usual). 

Photos

`. Harvesting of cork trees is done here. The lower portion is the inner layer exposed after harvesting. I think the tree re-grows it’s bark in 7-10 years. 

2.  Cows, cows cows.  We saw several wandering the mountain roads today. 

3. The overcast has lifted and we are heading back to the village. We had a chance to look back from where we had been and you can see the castle we didn’t visit in the distance. 

Spanish Pyrenees: Rest Day (day 7)

I am sitting in my posh room in Hotel Canxiquet (Can-chi-let)  feeling quite sated after another very good supper. The village of Cantallops (Canta-hopes) though tiny shines just a few minutes downhill from here and way off in the distance what we think is a combination outlet strip mall and mega truck stop glints. The sky is pretty dark but we don’t see much in the way, if any, of stars though the Moon when up is still quite bright. It’s been a restful day.

We spent the morning exploring a bit more in Besalú. We had planned on visiting Figueres but the bus schedule , from what we could tell, did not work for us. So insteaad we spent time in Besalú and then came earlier to this large, though seemingly pretty near empty, hotel on a hill above Cantallops. Our impression that Besalú is a bustling town that does a serious tourist trade was re-enforced though we remain unsure why this is the case. I suppose it doesn’t matter but you wonder sometimes how things develop. It was a nice way to spend a sunny clear morning. Seeing actual grocery stores and some very nice little shops that sell all sorts of goods from Knick-knacks to fine leather products was enjoyable.

When we were dropped off by our taxi in early afternoon at the hotel it was time for lunch. What a meal. If we had lost any weight up to today I bet we made good inroads on gaining it back. Lunch was very good from the salmon rolls to pork; the small starters to salad; they made very good food. Like our first hotel, back in Mollo, the food (lunch and dinner at least) are clearly going to stand out here. I expect that breakfast will be basic “continental.” 

Cantallops seems tiny. We found the local cafe/bar which had a few people, including another couple doing an Inntravel trip, enjoying afternoon drinks. Other than that place I don’t think we really saw anyone. In fact, the liveliest people we saw were I guess the prostitutes (we assume though hard to see what else they were) hanging out on the minor highway a handful of km short of the truck stop. One even gave us a wiggle as we went by. I wonder what the laws on solicitation are here in Spain.

Tomorrow we return to the walking. We will do a circuit-hike of about 16km. We have options to do a couple excursions but I doubt we will. One is to a castle that we might be able to see but can’t explore as it is closed tomorrow. Also if it is as warm as it was today that will likely affect how we feel. The heatwave is continuing and as far as I know tomorrow will be much like today which means sunny, clear and quite warm for this time of year.

Spanish Pyrenees Walk 6: El Sallent to Besalú

The morning dawned overcast and cool. Our first day with weather anything other than clear and warm. We understand that this part of Spain is experiencing something of a heat wave. Average temperatures should be considerably cooler than we have been feeling. Today I doubt it really got much above 70F until the sun eventually did break through the overcast and the clouds moved away. But at the outset of our walk things were much cooler at least compared to what we had seen. 

Our taxi dropped us off just outside the village of El Sallent where we joined the GR2, walked past a house with what seemed to be an exuberant and maybe dangerous dog before joining a paved road that we would follow for several kilometers to the hamlet of El Torn. The road wound through farmland but was pretty uninteresting. El Torn is quite tiny though large enough to have a church and civic center. But beyond the couple of tiny dogs we saw no people in obvious evidence. We continued on more gravel roads which were rather uninteresting.

In time we joined a mountain path that took us up and over hills that were full of scrub forest and briars and brambles. We met a fellow, with his two dogs, doing some  pruning. He has lots of work to do. The trail continued to be rather uninteresting. The forest was scrub bushes and small trees with little distinctive character like the dark woods we climbed through on walk 5.

It wasn’t a hard walk just unexciting. The rocky dry streambed we had lunch at was a nice place. But after that we returned to a winding gravel road that would eventually take us past the church of St. Fruitos which is a couple kilometers outside of Besalú. More road walking and then narrow woods trail and then road into town. Besalú is certainly the high point of the walk. By now the sun was out and it had warmed well into the 70s and we found hundreds of cars and camper vans parked outside of town. It’s clearly a town with a thriving tourist industry.  Most visitors probably from Barcelona about 140 km away. 

This is another distinctive hotel just outside the town walls and on the east side of the Fluvia River and is a little worn but nice enough. We joined the throngs of people strolling through the town to explore a bit. The L-shaped bridge with portcullis is certainly a standout feature. We couldn’t really see the old Mikva which is one of 2 or 3 still in this part of Spain (though not used I think). Jews that once thrived in the town were forced out in the 15th century in just a couple of decades.  We also saw a bit of an artisan market. Besalú has a population of some 2,000 people but it is clear that tourists come to visit though we aren’t quite sure why as the town isn’t near the sea or mountains. 

A not terribly exciting walk but a very nice town.

Distance:  14.4km

Ascent: 240m

Descent: 429m

Total time: 6:10

Break Time (not moving): 58 minutes (bit surprised by that amount).

Photos

1. Mom and Dad in El Sallent.

2. After dinner at the restauraunt the hotel recommended where we had a pretty good meal in a very elegant setting we walked back across the L-shaped bridge which is wonderfully lit at night.

3. Looking east from the Jewish quarter towards the river Fluvia and the 13th-century bridge. 

4. The bridge over the Fluvia not long after sunrise the following morning.

Spanish Pyrenese Walk 5: Finestra Sanctuary

What a day. We would tackle a circuit-hike today that would start and end at our hotel (Cal Sastre) in the village of Santa Pau. The hike was reported by the Inntravel guide to be about 12km long and have elevation gain and loss of 675m. Those numbers would turn out to be off if the GPS track is correct. The distance was 12.77km and we had a gain and loss of just under 500m (call it 490). That is a larger difference than we have been seeing but I am here to say it was more than enough for us.

Like the last several days the morning temperature was probably about 60F when we set off under clear blue skies. A handful of hot air balloons drifted above us as we left the village. They look so peaceful. A mist was clinging to some areas we could see but it would clear away in short order. We strolled along concrete and dirt roads that wound past small farms and homes and took us over dry streams or streams with so little water you couldn’t tell.

Soon our gentle ascent on roads and later mountain paths would steepen and get more rugged. In fact, the terrain became quite a bit more challenging after the first couple kilometers. We were climbing narrow and steep, sometimes rocky, trails that wound upwards through dense and dark thick forest. It was definitely tough going for all of us. I think we were all quite happy not to have sun beating down upon us even though you could be forgiven for thinking you were entering into a realm of some dark fantasy story as the forest blotted out the light.

It is hard to judge from the altitude profile but I reckon the bulk of the 440 or so meters we gained to reach the sanctuary probably happened in less than 3km.  I am glad we were ascending that rough trail. It would be far worse descending. Why people would set up charcooal burning ovens here is beyond me. Just moving the wood and then charcoal would be a wretched chore. For that matter why anyone would build the Finestra sanctuary just below the top of the mountain we were climbing is something of a myterdy too. It is certainly a tough place to reach and so I guess a good place for contemplation but building it must have been very difficult. Today it seems all but abandonded. We thought we were alone when we reached it about 3 hours into the hike. It turned out a Catalonian couple (and dog)  were there. They had a key so maybe they’re caretakers or perhaps the place is now rented out for couples or other people like them to use. They left us and hiked down a small trail to where a road must be as we heard a car pull away.

The descent followed a trail that wasn’t nearly as rugged but , for me, wasn’t all that easily dealt with. This hike was proving to be a tough one indeed. Down and down we went through forest that seemed only a bit less impenetrable than before.  We crossed more dry streams and took great pleasure in sitting on the edge of a long grassy field a third of the way down. We still had considerable trail to descend before reaching concrete roads that gradually took us back towards Snta Pau.

Even when we got to that point the tough bits weren’t done. We passed through another church (church or maybe now school: Santa Maria dels Arcs) with several yowling cats in attendance and for  the next couple hundred meters climbined up a forest path once again more than merely gradually before picking up a narrow path that wound through farm fields  down and towards the village. A cruel joke as we were still not back to the hotel and had walked more than 12km. The final hill climb along the road that had taken us out of town hours earlier was just a pain even if it was only a couple hundred meters long. Just under 7 hours after setting out and we were back sitting down for well deserved drinks. 

This walk is certainly a tough one even if you have normal vision. The views, when you have them, are quite good. You will be out for many hours and you will certainly have a sense of accomplishment especially as you finish the ascent. But be warned though not as long as some walks it is tough.

Postscript: We did the walk in 5:18 with 2:52 in vreaks. It felt harder than it was because some sections were steep. However, realistically speaking I bet walk 1 was tougher where descending was concerned. 

Photos

1. I know it is hard to tell but mist is rising. My guess is that it is coming from the area of a rather tiny stream in a hollow where the temperature is definitely cooler than the surrounding land. We would be quite happy that the majority of the climbing we would do, up and down, would be in forest as even by mid-morning under cover the temperature was over 70F.

2. Hot air balloon rides are popular here. Every morning here in Santa Pau we saw balloons rising over the countryside. 

3. The views from the Finestra Sancuary don’t photograph well at just past noon but you certainly have them. Had we pushed on the fairly short way to the summit we would have had 360 degree views showing the mountains and the sea. But, we had climbed enough already.

4. Just a grassy field. A nice place to sit and have an afternoon snack. 

Spanish Pyrenese Walk 4: Garrotxa Volcanic Zone Natural Park

I suppose I should be calling these walks now something more like Catalonia Walks as we are certainly still in that particular region of Spain. We are certainly moving away from the Pyrenees mountains. The walk today continued the trend of moving us from one town to another. We left our hotel in Olot to hike through Garrotxa Volcanic Zone Natural Parker and the seemingly older Santa Pau which appears to have the feel of a much older village.

We got a small sense of what parts of Olot might be like as we walked along a busy street and then past many small gardens, what Inntravel call “allotments,” and past small and slightly bigger homes. It was easy walking. So easy we made a mistake. I think we just skipped a direction in the guide and so kept walking along the path we were on. That path gently curved around for nearly a kilometer. We popped out on a busy major set of roads, clearly still in Olot and could not find the field or major monument to people who died in the Spanish Civil War on the Republican side. We wandered around and saw nothing. We found a path that looked promising and followed it. Mom and Dad recognized the place. We had seen it before. We just walked a near 2km circle. The GPS track confirmed that.  Mom had felt we were making a circle before that confirmation. I had no clue.  We still weren’t quite sure what had gone wrong but with the help of a local we found a way back to where we should have been all along. Her way may have been an alternate route to get us back on walking route 3 (as signposted). What a joy to see the big field with the cross memorial standing tall in it. The goof cost us likely almost an hour but at least it was easy walking.

For the next 1.4km we ascended a paved quiet road past small farms and homes before turning down a woods path that seemed to have plenty of people on it. Families were out and about. Maybe hunting for mushrooms. We were working our way towards the visitor center  in Garrotxa Volcanic Zone Natural Park. It got more crowded as we got closer. When we walked through a parking lot it was clearly full. Walkers everywhere. A couple of horse drawn wagons carrying people went by. Families with numerous dogs were all over the place. 

Our walk took us along single-track dirt paths that gradually ascended through thick forest towards a mountain road and a hot air balloon center (we saw balloons in the early morning; sure looks like fun but I guess we will never do that). The mountain road would open up and take us through a wide open space bounded by fields and volcanic cones rising in the distance. Vil Crascot rises and people do walk the slopes to the summit. We ambled down the road along with scores of other people. The views are decent but there was something missing when I think of this bit of walk as compared to the between-the-peaks walk along a mountain high road in Sao Jorge in the Azores.I can’t put my finger on what that something missing is but the Azores walk had it and this stretch doesn’t really. I am not knocking the walk just saying it lacked something.

We had a leisurely lunch at a roadside picnic/park area. The scores, if not hundreds, of people were still about. It is a national holiday of some type and that accounts for the crowds. We decided to climb up Volcano Margarida and down into its crater. It’s a steep-ish climb covering some 500 meters on a woods road. You’ll know you worked. Then you drop down along a 300 or so meter descending path into the crater of Vol Margarida.  The volcano last erupted ages ago. The crater floor is covered by grass and shrubs and is probably a couple hundred meters across. The church Santa Margarida sits in the middle of the crater. An odd spot for a church by itself. Margarida is, according to legend, to have slain the dragon that lived in the volcano. Today the crater hosted hundreds of people (and numerous dogs ; they abound in this region of Spain) picnicking, running about, playing soccer. You have to work to get to the crater so I imagine people make a several-hour day of it. We left by another route ascending back to the rim before joining another mountain almost-road to descend down the mountainside towards Santa Pau. 

You walk through forests again before stepping out onto a paved road that winds through farmland towards the old village of Santa Pau.   Once again  a small village has a centuries-old feel about the buildings. This time though it is clear that more people hustle through the village. Perhaps that is because it’s a holiday today but I think we will see more people about tomorrow too.  

Photos

1. The crosss in the field that we were so happy to find. This cross is a memorial to republicans who died during the Spanish Civil War that brought Franco to power.

2. The church Santa Margarida in Volcano Margarida. (Olot to Santa Pau)

3. Entering the village of Santa Pau. Mom and Dad standing under an arch that leads to the heart of the village. Certainly larger than a place like Beget and a lot busier too. Beget still has the best “old feel” about it.

Spanish Pyrenese Walk 3: Oix to Castellfollit de la Roca

Some  breakfasts are more “continental” than others. Our breakfast at Can Pei was very continental. We had a tiny selection of bread, ham (very pale), two cheeses, a hard salami, donuts that made us all think of Dunkin Donuts, and that was about it. Perhaps we should have seen that coming as dinner was limited in its way too. However, we enjoyed dinner with its good bacon and potato starter, hearty though hard to pierce with a fork sausages, well seasoned potatoes, and chicken. They also provided a nice dry red wine. If you stay at Can Pei it helps to think of it as a farmstead, though not a farm anymore as far as I can tell, that happens to host guests. We were out the door and on our walk by 09:20 on yet another clear blue morning. The temperature at this point was creeping towards 60F but it was not there yet and we started the walk along the road into Oix (Osh) along the quiet road past working farms wearing some xtra clothing. 

We goofed a bit and so did not walk through the heart of Oix. I doubt we missed much as the goof was slight and had us go one block beyond the “Main Street.” Maybe I am doing Oix a dis-service as a quick check of Wikipedia suggests the population is 970 and that suggests to me a decent sized village based on what we have seen thus far. However, we will never know as we quickly left the buildings behind and began climbing a dirt road past numerous sheep grazing along the forested road.

We were passing mountain farmsteads I suppose though the amount of farming that they can do must be limited as the slopes are hardly ones you could sew with crops. I guess that is why they have scores of sheep grazing here as they can get by in this type of terrain. Up and around we went. In time we actually had some views of the River Oix valley below (about 4.5km into the walk). I suppose the most exciting bit was when we had to slow down to let a momma goat her newborn  pull ahead and move off the dirt road. We didn’t want to disturb them more than we had too.

After reaching the high point of the walk we began descending on more mountain road and then a rock-strewn path that got rockier as it went. For most people it would be merely irksome. I slowed down somewhat.

What views we had earlier were all but gone by now. We gradually lost elevation as we walked more woods roads down into another valley. No views. No animals. Plenty of heat as the temperature soared to about 80F.

In due time we approached the cliffs that Castellfollit de la Roca sits atop. It’s too bad we were walking and looking into the sun as the stupendously large Catalan flag that is hanging from the cliff top is certainly quite a sight. CastellFollit itself is impressive in its way too. We were in the most densely packed bit of civilian action (as it is) that we had seen since disembarking the train in Ripoll. The streets are clean and there is a mix of the old and new in this town of just over 1,000 people. Not that we saw many people out and about but maybe that was because it was just edging past 15:00 when we settled down for a snack in a cafe before walking the final 100 or so meters to where we would catch our taxi to the hotel we are staying at tonight.

This is a walk that I would not really recommend. Perhaps we missed something special but I am not sure what it would have been. Spending a bit more time in CastellFollit might be alright but otherwise this walk was mediocre at best.

Once again the GPS reported ascent and descent numbers that were about 120 meters less than the numbers Inntravel cites in their notes. The distance is pretty likely correct since I stopped the track before reaching the “end” of the walk and given we made a couple hundred meter goof walking down the dual carriage way before a turn off to the River Fluvia.

Distance 13.5km. Ascent:  335m. Descent: 431m. Average speed 2.7KPH. We did the walk  in 5:40 with about 42 minutes in breaks.

Photos

1.  Looking back towards the village of Oix (pronounced “Osh”). 

2. We have climbed most of the way to the top. The house, called Mas Pineda, is clearly a sheep farm. You can see the river Oix valley below. Photo by Judy. 

3.   Has n the center of the picture hanging off the cliffs upon which CastellFollit de la Roca sits is a staggeringly large Catalan flag.  Phito by Judy. 

4. Ken walking across a bridge that has undulations built in. The bridge crosses the river Fluvia. Photo by Judy. 

5. A street in zcastellfollit de la Roca. 

Spanish Pyrenese walk 2: Beget to Oix (Osh)

The night was quiet, still and not as dark as I would have expected it to be. Perhaps the nearly full moon accounts for that but I am not convinced. After a fitful sleep morning came with clear skies and crisp early temperatures. I expected it to warm up considerably though it turned out that it would warm up a lot more than I thought it would (that’s what you get for not checking the weather report - Dark Skies is a great app).  We had nice hot breakfasts of eggs and bacon (of a sort; not cooked well and gristly) before hoisting our packs and heading out on our second walk starting at about 09:20. Today we would hike to the outskirts of the village of Oix (pronounced “Osh”). The book says this is a 12km walk and gave ascent and descent numbers that were substantially less than the day before: an easier walk perhaps. 

We left Beget without company. Shep and Panter did not re-appear. We walked down steep cobblestone streets past more aged buildings to the river where we picked up a concrete path that took us quickly to a modern paved single lane road that connects Beget with Oix. We would follow the road, a very quiet one, for about 1km before turning onto another concrete path. These paths are interesting. The concrete is rippled which must make for an interestingly bumpy bike ride or , I suppose, drive. This path lead us through extensive corn fields with mountains rising quickly not far away. It’s a pretty scene. A quiet one too. Some bird calls, squirrels, and bugs buzzing but not much else. Certainly few, if any, mechanical sounds. This gives you a sense of remoteness even though you are clearly walking through lands worked by people. We followed our gentle path to a stream crossing. In spring and early summer perhaps this water rages and represents a major water crossing but now the water was just a couple inches deep. 

We had been making excellent time. The sun was steadily rising and the temperature in direct sunshine was already well into the 60s. . We were heading towards a place called Talaxia. By this time we were once again following the GR11. We would leave the path for the major climb of the walk at his point. We climbed through forest up a mountainside for 1.5km gaining perhaps 200m in the process. The footing was good so we made good time. It was warm going but not stressful. It also was not particularly eye catching as the forest blocked any views. Throughout the morning remains virtually free of man made sounds. When someone started up an internal combustion engine to do something (cutting fields, slowly driving) it ruined the feeling somewhat. We kept climbing.

At the top is a ruin of a house and a decent view. It would have been better if we’d not been gazing into the sun but it is a spot that shows off how long people have lived here as the stone house is just bits and pieces now with roof tiles scattered on the ground.  There were several trails at this point. We turned to the right and began descending a woods road. We heard voices in the distance and soon came across a man and woman wearing full backpacks heading up the road we were descending. We’ve no idea where they are going. They would be the only people we would see.

The mountain road wound down and down the mountain. Over 2km we probably dropped nearly 200m to a pasture with some more old stone buildings and our lunch spot.  By now it was midday and the temperature was pushing 80F. It was still a lovely day if suprisingly warm.  Our mountain road would plunge us further down through forests taking us past a small church which I suppose we should have checked out. I suspect it is quite nice. But we didn’t make the detour and just kept going. For several kilometers the road continued down towards a dry river and we stuck with it and the GR11. However, eventually we would leave the GR11 for a different route that continued on more hard packed dirt mountain roads through limestone gorges over bridges that seems to spin dry rivers. Some impressive cliffs can be seen here but once again if you have a yen for big vistas that will take your breath away this walk really doesn’t provide those. It provides an enjoyable walk through peaceful conuntryside that sometimes has good views.

We walked steadily on and at about 14:20 we came to the easy-to-miss gate that marked the entrance to Can Pei (no idea what that means) which is the collection of stone farm buildings that is now a family home and site for 7 guest rooms and other rooms for travelers like us. The predominant feature of these buildings is stone: exterior walls, interior walls, steps, floors, everything. Small windows let in some light. But the rooms are good enough if quirky. Mom and Dad are in a room with 3 single beds; I’m in one with 2 singles and one bunk bed. If you stay here make sure you arrive before 14:00 to be shown where you will stay. At 16:00 the owner, and I think Mother of kids, departs to do other things and though nothing is locked you’d not know where your room is.  We just hung out for the rest of the day. Our impression is Oix is very small and since we will walk through it  on the next walk we elected to stay put. I kind of wish we’d looked to see if Oix had a place to get a snack. You won’t find anything in Can Pei.

It was a nice walk. My only complaint is that my quads really hurt. Walking down steps is a real chore now. The Inntravel guide suggest the walk is 12km with something like (going from memory) 360m ascent and 495 descent. The GPS track recorded 12.2km distances; 242  ascent and 380m descent). we arrived at 14:20 averaging about 2.8KPH taking about 4 hours 17 minutes to walk and 48 minutes of breaks.

Photos

1. Parents in the corn fields.