Walking In Andorra

5:24p.m., Sun 11 Jul 2010

I've just returned from a week in Arinsal, Andorra. It's a popular ski resort, but almost the whole town seems to shut down in the summer. Only 1 in every 3 hotels seemed open and even fewer bars were operating.

On the edge of the Pyrenees, it's a spectacularly good place for hiking. The downside is that it's difficult to find any written information on the subject. The Andorran Government publishes next to nothing, there aren't many good books and a dearth of detailed maps online. There are some routes on hola-andorra.com but that's all I found. When you in Arinsal arrive you'll find no solution to that shortcoming either. An OS-style map of the area was available in the local shop, but at a pricy €11. Our tour operator, Inghams, offer a book of walks priced at €12.50, but had none available :(

The hola-andorra.com routes seem sketchy, both as maps and as descriptions. I'm used to Alfred Wainwright's detailed descriptions of the Pennine Way and Lakeland paths. In truth, the paths are so well marked with dots of yellow paint on rocks and trees that you don't need much of a map. But having more detail in advance would certainly have given me more confidence before starting the walk and maybe even whetted my appetite a little more. It maybe that you prefer to explore for yourself, which I can understand - if so, stop reading right now and good luck! For those of you choosing to read on, here's my Wainwright-esque notes for the walk (no pen and ink drawings though).

Circular Walk: Arinsal, Percanela, les Fonts, Pla de l'Estany

This to augment the route description and map on hola-andorra.com.

The path "Cami de Percanela" starts behind the buildings that are directly opposite the gondola bus stop. Take the steep paved path in front of Hotel Montané and the neighbouring ski shop. Follow it around to the left and you'll see a sign announcing the path which directs you along a grassy terrace directly behind Hotel Montané. In summer the flowers here are plentiful and include wild orchids, poppies and roses. They attract seem to attract a wide range of butterflies too.

About 100 metres along you'll see a sign welcoming you to the 'Coma Pedrosa Parc Natural'. The climb up the mountain starts here. The slope is gentle at first, and frequently interrupted by flat sections, but then, after the path follows the crook of a small, shaded enclave in the hillside, the incline steepens noticeably and starts to zig-zag straight up the mountain.

You get great views over Arinsal from this path, particularly the huge concrete monolith that is the town's unfinished hotel. It was planned to accommodate 1000 guests and it dwarfs the other (finished!) hotels that typically have no more than 100 rooms. The building has been unfinished and untouched since the mid-nineties - no one seems to know for sure whether building stopped due to cashflow problems or planning difficulties.

As it climbs to Les Fonts, Cami de Percanela is often rocky, with loose rocks underfoot it's steep too, but this is the toughest part of the walk. After climbing a little while you should be able to look across the valley and see the ski station above Arinsal where the gondola lines and those of the higher chair lift intersect.

When the trees clear to reveal (hopefully) blue sky you'll emerge from the forest to find a collection of buildings (Bordes de Percanela on the map). From here there's a further climb of fifty or sixty metres to the highest point of the walk. The path is wider here and less well-defined, but thankfully, the guiding yellow dots are more frequent.

The path finally bends around to the left, the slope becomes less severe as you are leads through a clutch of pine trees before emerging at a small, two-storey stone hut (Borda del Torner).

You continue to climb from here, but gradually and exposed roots underfoot offer a natural set of steps. Just a little further along is a final clutch of buildings, Bordes del Prats which affords fine views down the valley to La Massana - you should be able to make out the three ski stations above la Massana. This is where Cami de Percanela ends, a path to Coll de les Cases goes off to the rightm but goes left to follow the les Fonts / Pla de l'Estany path. This is marked by white and red markings (in addition to the now familiar yellow dots rather than instead of them).

This is the most pleasant part of the walk, first skirting meadow land, and then, after crossing a mountain stream and passing a turn off for the 'Refugi des les Fonts', through delightful woodland. The rocks here are coated with a bright yellow-green lichen and the trees are often heavy with a paler variety. It's a sure sign that the air is pure. The path is largely float and easy underoot. In the forest you'll see spectacularly up-rooted trees and wild mushrooms (the region (and cuisine) of La Massana is well-known for it's fungi).

The town of Arinsal is well out of view now, but you should still be able to make out the ski station or, at the very least, the zig-zag access road that leads there.

The walk will finally start to descend and the woodland path turns rocky again, but this descent is nowhere near as treacherous as the Cami de Percanela. You'll eventually emerge into rolling meadows and the path appears to fray into three different threads. Keep on going though and you'll soon see the 'Mountain Refugi'. A waterfall descends here into a shallow lake which in turn feeds a stream that babbles down the mountain side. The easiest path to follow here is the one that vaguely follows the stream. After only a few hundred metres you'll see some kind of concrete service hut and a track to access it. The track is wide enough for a 4x4 to use. Follow this path for a while - at one point it does get dangerously steep, but pathways either side offer an easier descent for walkers.

The path diverts from the track after a while, but it's very clearly signposted. You pass two cow sheds and drop down across meadowland - it was here that we noticed a particularly pretty blue species of butterfly that we'd not noticed previously - a little further along we encountered a grass snake, no doubt lying in wait for the very same tasty blue creatures!

A sign soon announces that you are leaving the 'Parc Natural' and you rejoin the track. You pass Font de Moixo on the left and then leave the track to the left, crossing a small cattle-grid-style gate to take a forest path which leads to a final stony descent to the Torrent Ribdal, from where you follow the road through the tunnel back down to Arinsal.

My (notoriously vague) pedometer measure the trip out at 19,705 steps: 11.8km for a 60cm stride. Given that you're climbing around 500 metres, and starting at around 1500 metres above sea level anyway, it felt much further! It took us a languid 6 hours including two lengthy stops for refuelling and resting.

I hope this description is useful - either as a guide or as a way of persuading you to do the walk - if you do take the trip let me know how you get on.

And finally, a quick disclaimer - I walked this route ONCE. There may be inaccuracies, please don't rely on these notes alone. I am not responsible for your safety! Also, be prepared for intense sunshine and rainy showers - the weather can be unpredictable in the mountains. Take food and water, local guides recommend you take AT LEAST 1 litre of water for each person - this sounded like a lot to me, but the effects of the altitude can be unexpected. Arinsal town sits at 1,500 metres above sea level - bear in mind that the peak of Ben Nevis is only 1,344 metres above sea level. If you're not used to the altitude it takes a few days to acclimatise. It also makes it difficult to pace yourself, so give yourself lots of time.