While most of Europe, including the southern half of Norway, was baking in the sun all of June, Tromsø broke the record for the June with the least sunshine and the most rain. In the end we booked a ticket to Madrid and rented a car for 2 weeks in the hope to get some sunshine. I had hoped to go to the north coast of Spain, to the Picos de Europa, where I have never been, but the weather forecast wasn't the greatest in that region and we were looking for sun, not more rain. So when we arrived in Madrid we decided to drive to the Pyrenees, first 4 days hiking in and around national park Ordesa and Mt Perdido, followed by 5 days hiking in and around national park Aigües Tortes. A short, but very nice trip. We particularly enjoyed the abundant wildflowers and wildlife, quite a difference from northern Norway! And the excellent food in this region. Fortunately eating out was quite cheap compared to Norway, so we quickly gave up the idea of cooking and enjoyed many local dishes in mostly very good restaurants.
Ordesa is characterised by very impressive limestone cliffs. The main trails near the entrances of the national park were very busy, but the steeper trails were quiet and just outside the park we walked for hours without meeting anyone. We stayed near Torla on the western side of the park.
View from the hotel in Torla where we stayed the first night
Map of the area around Torla and western part of Ordesa
The first walk was straight from Torla in the mountains west of the national park with good views to the massive limestone cliffs of Ordesa. The highest point was called Collada del Cebollar. A mixture of forests and alpine meadows with lots of flowers, and we enjoyed eating wild strawberries along the way. We saw a couple of marmots in the meadows, but met only a handful of other hikers.
The second day we drove to the end of the road to a large and busy parking area at Bujaruelo, from where we walked up a steep track to Lago Bernatuara at the border with France. Thunder clouds were hanging around all day but it stayed dry. Slopes full of yellow flowering gorse bushes and good views to the south. A couple of vultures were flying around near the top.
The third day we made a round trip through the valley around the campsite, mostly staying in the forest out of the sun. First along the river, back along some small forest trails several hundred meters higher. The higher trail crossed several more open areas that were used for grazing horses and cattle.
The last day in this area we took one of the many busses to the main entrance in the national park. We wanted to try to walk part of the impressive cliff walk Faja de las Flores. This starts with a very steep climb straight up the side of the valley and getting right into the main limestone cliffs. The cliff walk itself is pretty amazing, a narrow trail halfway up a cliff, but not recommended for those with vertigo. We saw several marmots and mountain goats and the first and only edelweiss.
The line 3/4 way up the cliff is where the cliff walk is, difficult to believe from here that it is possible to walk there.
This narrow ledge continues all the way along the cliff and is walkable
Looking back where I came from
