Story: A visit to Ordesa

Barcelona is one of my favorite cities. But, after getting our pockets picked on the Ramblas and having one of our backpack stolen the same night while taking pictures of Gaudi’s Casa Batllo, we were ready to get out of the city and commune with nature. We turned to our newly purchased guide book, the old one was in the backpack, to see what Spain had to offer. What we found was Ordesa.

On the Spanish side of the Pyrenees about 323 Km (200 miles) northwest of Barcelona is the Parque Nacional Ordesa y Monte Perdido. The 21 square kilometers of the Ordesa Valley was declared a national park by royal decree in 1918. In 1982 it was enlarged to cover 56,000 square kilometers. In 1992 it was included by UNESCO in the Biosphere of Ordesa-Viñamala. Ordesa is sometimes likened to Yosemite in the US. Like Yosemite, Ordesa is known for its mountain formations. The valley is unique in the area in running east/west in stead of north/south. Formed by glaciers, the valley has a rough folded appearance. It also has Monte Perdido,the third tallest in the mountain peak in the Pyrenees. With all this it seemed like just the place to refresh ourselves.

We set out in the morning from Barcelona and arrived in Torla a little after 1:00p. The entrance to the park is by bus and tickets can be purchased at a kiosk in the parking lot outside of Torla. While waiting for the bus to arrive we got an to meet some of the locals. A herd of five cows with their herder arrived just before the large tour bus and walked slowly down the road past the parking lot. Their brass bells ringing and their hooves clip-clopping on the pavement. After the cows passed we all got on the bus and started the trip to the park. The twenty minute drive wound through the mountains and at times it seemed we came within centimeters of the large boulders that lined the roads edge. After arriving with out a scratch and we stepped off the bus into the shady forest of Ordesa.

It was a warm weekend afternoon and the shade of the forest was welcomed. We walked the short distance to the visitor center, picked up a free map and bottled water and started along the main trail through a small meadow then up agently sloping trail back into the forest. Just to remind us the city is never that far away, may of the ladies hiking up the trail looked like they dressed for a day of shopping. Wearing high heeled shoes and carrying there large purses. The trail led us up higher into the mountains and along the way we found spigots with spring water to refill our bottles. The water was cool and delicious. There were great views of the many water falls, the map from the visitor center giving us names of the falls we saw along the way. The large quantity of limestone gives the water an emerald green color similar to the Mediterranean.

The mountains rose vertically all around us as we walked up the trail. After an hour or so the trail led down to the valley floor. The flat wooded meadow has a river running along the trail adding to the peaceful atmosphere. My travel companion was a herpetologist and we spent some time turning over rocks looking for lizards, until we realized the lizards were watching us from on top of other rocks. Butterflies were everywhere.

We followed the trail back to the visitor center and the waiting bus. The entire hike only lasted a couple of hours, but we were refreshed and ready to continue on our trip to Madrid. Ordesa was just what we needed to pick up our spirits and clear our heads with its cool water and fresh mountain air.