Carros de Foc

The first part of our trip will be spent completing a trek that I've wanted to do since the day I read about it in 2003: the Carros de Foc. It's a 39-mile loop through Aiguestortes National Park in the Spanish Pyrenees. The great thing is that you spend every night in a mountain refuge. It's not fancy, but it's a bed and a blanket and 3 meals per day. So essentially, you can complete a multi-day trek with a day pack. Heaven!


At your first refuge you pick up your "forfait", which you have stamped at each of the 9 refuges you pass by. The warden will list the time and date you arrived at the refuge. When you complete the loop by having your forfait stamped again at your first refuge, you get a t-shirt. Having read some people's description of the hikes, a lot of them, at one point or another, are motivated simply by getting the shirt. Well, probably that and a warm meal.

We're doing it at a leisurely, 7-day pace. At that rate, our longest predicted day will be up to 8 hours of hiking. But one day will be as little as 4 hours of walking. It's hard to know. We cross mountain passes almost every day, and there is always the possibility that we'll get lost. But every afternoon, we'll arrive at a beautiful hut in the mountains and be fed a nice hot meal complete with red wine. After a potentially less-than-perfect sleep in a big dormitory, we'll wake up to breakfast, and be sent on our way with a packed lunch. Very sweet. And did I mention the t-shirt at the end?

We're starting by taking a bus from Barcelona to Vielha, spending the night there, and then setting off in the morning. We'll pass the Restanca refuge, pick up our forfait and other goodies, and then go in a counter-clockwise direction, spending our first night in the Ventosa i Calvell refuge. The next day's trek to Estany Llong is described as the toughest stretch -- good to get that behind us. The third day takes us to Colomina -- the longest stretch, but easier than the previous day's. Then on the fourth day we'll take it very easy -- a 2-4 hour trip to the beautiful Josep Maria Blanc refuge.

Things get a little tougher -- or at least a little longer -- on day 5. We're going to do the 3-5 hour trek to Ernest Mallafre... and then continue on to the nicer Amitges refuge. Day 6 is another 2-refuge day, where we'll hike 2-3 hours to Saboredo, and another 2-3 on to Colomers, where we'll spend our last night in the mountains.

On the 7th day we'll get up early and head back out past Restanca again... FOR THE T-SHIRT ... and then back to Vielha. Ideally, we'll be able to catch the 1:30 bus back to Barcelona. And find ourselves a nice hot bath. And perhaps a washing machine.

Lots more info -- and some spectacular pictures -- from the official Carros de Foc website.