{"id":23545,"date":"2018-07-11T16:49:47","date_gmt":"2018-07-11T14:49:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.surfingtheplanet.com\/?p=23545"},"modified":"2024-04-16T22:27:09","modified_gmt":"2024-04-16T20:27:09","slug":"carros-de-foc-route-spanish-pyrenees","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.surfingtheplanet.com\/en\/carros-de-foc-route-spanish-pyrenees\/","title":{"rendered":"Carros de Foc in 3 days – The best route in the Spanish Pyrenees"},"content":{"rendered":"

We had been planning for a long time to do one of the greatest multi-day hikes in Europe<\/strong>, the Carros de Foc<\/strong> (Fire Chariots, the literal translation), a fantastic circular trail<\/strong> that goes through the most beautiful part of the Spanish Pyrenees<\/strong>, the\u00a0Aig\u00fcestortes i Estany de Sant Maurici National Park<\/strong>. If you complete the full circuit<\/strong> in the recommended 5 to 7 days<\/strong>, depending on your physical form, you will have the chance to see the most beautiful lakes and mountains of the Catalan part of the Pyrenees mountain chain<\/strong>. Nevertheless, if you don’t feel prepared<\/strong> for such a long and exhausting trail, you have the chance to get a taste of this experience<\/strong> and cover part of the trail in a circular 3-day route<\/strong>. This way, you will have the chance to enjoy the fascinating landscape and the atmosphere of mountain refuge houses. Here, we will tell you all the details of this variant of this magnificent experience in the high mountains of the Catalan Pyrenees<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

3 days in the Pyrenees, following the Carros de Foc trail<\/h2>\n

This circular variant of the Carros de Foc in 3 days<\/strong> starts<\/strong> in the small Pyrenean village of Espot<\/strong>. In order to get there you will need to take the C-13 road in the direction of\u00a0Guingueta d\u2019\u00c0neu and then take the turn to the steep LV-5004 road.<\/p>\n

Day 1. Espot – Refuge J. M. Blanc<\/h3>\n

Distance: 7 km, Slope: + 1025 m<\/p>\n

We started the hike in Espot<\/strong> very early in the morning to have the full day to enjoy this wonderful natural environment. In addition, rain can always be expected in the Pyrenees in the afternoon<\/strong>, therefore it’s better to start the route as early as possible. The trail is well indicated with the red and white signs of the GR footpath<\/strong> that has to be followed the whole day.<\/p>\n

After leaving Espot it’s easy to find the trail<\/strong> that follows the Peguera River<\/strong> that gradually ascends inside a pine forest, and although you will have to overcome quite a slope, the trail is not especially difficult. After the pine trees you will find yourself on a large meadow, while you get more and more deep into the valley.\"Small<\/p>\n

The views start to become more astonishing and Espot becomes a small spot on the horizon. You will pass near a small lake called Estany de Lladres<\/strong> (Lake of Thieves), while from some other points of the trail you will have the chance to look down on other small lakes, sucha as Estany de Trescuro<\/strong> and Estany de la Cabana<\/strong>. Although this part of the route officially doesn’t belong to the Carros de Foc itinerary, you can already notice the typical alpine landscape of the Pyrenees and the Aig\u00fcestortes National Park<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

After about 3 hours of hiking you will find yourself in front of your eyes the beautiful alpine lake of Estany Tort de Peguera<\/strong> and Refuge<\/strong>\u00a0Joan Maria Blanc<\/strong>. This mountain refuge has probably the most amazing location<\/strong> we have ever encountered on a small peninsula surrounded by this beautiful crystal clean lake.\u00a0\u00a0\"JM<\/p>\n

You can spend the afternoon having some rest before the exhaustive day waiting for you on the following day and simply enjoying this unique natural surrounding. It’s worth to climb some of the rocks<\/strong> near the refuge to have a great view of the lake<\/strong>, which is especially spectacular at sunset<\/strong>, when you will think that you have been transported into a real fairy tale. These are some of the most fascinating views of the Pyrenees<\/strong> that we have ever had the chance to see.\u00a0\"View<\/p>\n

Day 2. Refuge J. M. Blanc – Refuge d’Amitges (a real stage of Carros de Foc)<\/h3>\n

Distance: 13 km, Slope: + 1125 m \/ -1020 m<\/p>\n

We spent the night in the J.M. Blanc Refuge<\/strong> and really enjoyed the ambiance in a mountain refuge<\/strong>. It’s like a world apart: there’s dinner at 7 PM<\/strong> in large tables, where lot of excursionists share their stories and at 10 PM they turn the lights off<\/strong>. It’s not surprising that at 5 AM we were already awake to watch the magnificent sunrise on the lake<\/strong>. The lights and the colors made us cope with the cold temperature you can find in a refuge 2300 m above sea level, even in summer.\"Sunset<\/p>\n

After an abundant breakfast<\/strong>, we continued with the main stage of our mini Carros de Foc<\/strong>. This is one of the largest and most difficult of the stages of the Carros de Foc trail. You will have to climb<\/strong> more than 1000 meters in total<\/strong>, just like the day before, but the climb is much steeper. The highest point<\/strong> of the track is the Coll de Monestero<\/strong>, one of the tallest mountain passes of the whole Carros de Foc<\/strong> trail with 2715 m altitude.\u00a0\"Alpine<\/p>\n

Before climbing the mountain pass, we walked near a series of pristine alpine lakes<\/strong> which reflected the peaks of the Pyrenees. We would never be able to get bored of this view. After leaving the crossroads where the ascent to the Coll de Monastero starts, we followed a steep trail crossing large blocks of stone<\/strong>. At the top<\/strong>, the weather was really cold because of the chilly wind, but the astonishing views<\/strong> compensate you for all the suffering. This mountain pass seems to be a border between two worlds: on one side there’s the view of so many lakes that we were not able to count and on the other side, you can enjoy the view of the Catalan Pyrenees mountain chain. Simply spectacular!\"Lakes<\/p>\n

The downhill through the Monestero Valley<\/strong> is even steeper than the way up on the other side, and you get to lose altitude in very short time<\/strong> between these giant rock walls. The descent is quite difficult<\/strong> in some places, and it’s hard to keep the equilibrium between the small rocks, therefore, major precaution is recommended.\u00a0\"Monestero<\/p>\n

The most beautiful thing in the\u00a0Aig\u00fcestortes National Park<\/strong>, in which it stands out from the rest of the Pyrenees<\/strong> is that the landscape gets to change and show you different colors in short time. A few minutes before we were in the middle of a rocky landscape, and then we almost immediately arrived in a totally different landscape<\/strong> of vivid colors<\/strong> with forests and green meadows.\"Flowers,<\/p>\n

From here<\/strong> on the path<\/strong> is much calmer and doesn’t represent any challenge<\/strong>, at the end of which we arrived at the Estany de Sant Maurici<\/strong>, largest lake<\/strong> of the national park. There’s the Ernest Mallafr\u00e9 Refuge<\/strong> here, where you can spend the night, but our route didn’t finish here, since the climb up to the Amitges Refuge<\/strong> was still waiting for us. There are several alternatives to climb up to the refuge house, we chose the dirt road, which is probably not the most beautiful, but the easiest alternative, since we were already quite tired at this moment.<\/p>\n

In the end we finished the second day of our Carros de Foc<\/strong> in the Amitges Refuge<\/strong>, situated at 2380 m altitude. It’s another refuge house situated in an unbeatable national environment<\/strong> next to the Estany Gran d’Amitges<\/strong>, a precious lake and the Agulles de Amitges<\/strong>, a mythical peak amongst rock climbers.\"Estany<\/p>\n

D\u00eda 3. Refuge d’Amitges – Espot<\/h3>\n

Distance: 12 km, Slope:\u00a0 -1.120 m<\/p>\n

The last day, after spending another memorable night in a mountain refuge<\/strong> watching the sky full of stars<\/strong>, was to be the easiest of our 3-day Carros de Foc route. It was actually a comfortable descent from the refuge to Espot<\/strong>, where our trail started. This time we took the longer trail in the forest, and got to visit some beautiful lakes in the area.\"Estany<\/p>\n

First we visited a group of lakes, the first of which was the Estany de les Obagues de Ratera<\/strong>, one of the most picturesque lakes<\/strong> we found in the Pyrenees<\/strong>. Sometimes, we felt the temptation to take a bath, but we have to remind you that it’s completely forbidden to swim in the lakes of the Aig\u00fcestortes National Park<\/strong>. If you want to take a dip in Pyrenean water, you can go to visit some of the lakes of Andorra<\/a>, there it’s not prohibited to swim.\"Estany<\/p>\n

Before getting back to the dirt road, we took a small detour to visit one of the most beautiful look-outs<\/strong> in the area, the Mirador de l’Estany<\/strong>. From here you can enjoy a wonderful view of the\u00a0Estany de Sant Maurici<\/strong>, the largest lake of the national park and the double peak of\u00a0Els Encantants<\/strong>, the symbol of the Aig\u00fcestortes National Park.\u00a0\"Mirador<\/p>\n

After getting back to the main trail, we went along the edge of the picturesque lake called\u00a0Estany de la Ratera<\/strong>, and later we left the trail behind to get into the forest till the\u00a0Cascada de la Ratera<\/strong>, a beautiful waterfall. You can get to contemplate both the inferior and superior part of the waterfall.\u00a0\u00a0\"Cascada<\/p>\n

From the waterfall it takes a few minutes to arrive at the lake of Estany de Sant Maurici<\/strong>, and from there the descent to Espot<\/strong> is probably the most boring part of the trail, especially after 3-days of nonstop walking. When we arrived back in Espot, we were quite satisfied of completing this challenge, in spite of the fact that we were very tired.<\/p>\n

We think that this mini Carros de Foc<\/strong>, covering part of the original the trail in the Aig\u00fcestortes National Park<\/strong>, the most beautiful part of the Pyrenees<\/strong>, was a fantastic experience, which also tried us physically. We loved every single moment of it, and we might come back once to do the whole track.<\/p>\n

Map of the key points of the route<\/h3>\n