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Arinsal ascends from 1500 to 2500 metres with chalets accommodating hikers or skiers in respective seasons.
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Despite the lack of defence expenditure one feels remarkably safe in the pocket country of Andorra. Squeezed between France and Spain, vertiginous Andorra attracts hikers from around the world to tramp the trails of the Pyrenees. In September of 2006 it attracted a group of us, six Canadians plus an American, a French woman, and a dour Scot. The nine of us rented a hillside chalet for a week of exploration in this rarified ambience.
The first impression of the principality was that of one big traffic jam. There is one road in and one road out of Andorra through the mountains to Spain and to France. Traffic in the main town of Andorra la Vella crawled glacially at all times.
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A couple hike a trail upward in Coma Pedrosa Natural Park in the
lower reaches of the Pyrenees.
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Incongruously, a surprising amount of cigarette butts are found along the
well-trodden trails.
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A stone church adds heritage ambience to our nearby chalet perch.
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There was a particular purpose for this Andorra alpine wandering. One in the group had determined that because of global warming there was a chance that we just might happen upon another “Otzi”, the naturally mummified 5000 year-old corpse discovered in the Alps in 1991. Much of the snow cover in northern hemisphere alpine regions is melted by the month of September and, just perhaps, dwindling pockets of old snow on north-facing slopes might reveal traces of Neanderthal artifacts………or better still, another Otzi! That was the hope. Our man Jim was a recognized global authority on Otzi and had already combed through the initial discovery site in the Alps and written an academic treatise on the subject.
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Mountain streams drain nearby peaks throughout the summer with steadily
decreasing flows.
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Gayle was itching to taste a trout from these alpine tarns but
no one had the fishing gear.
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But this fisherman from Poland had the gear. And he had the fish. Gayle offered him a few euros for a single small trout that she hoped to poach to perfection. The gentleman refused the euros and gave Gayle these two juveniles that an hour or two earlier were frolicking in the depths of the Tristaina Lakes and an hour or two later were indeed poached to perfection.
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Andorra has full ski facilities with chairlifts taking hikers to the highest alpine trails. The mountains were searched from these trails for snow pockets at 2500 metres or higher tucked into the lofty reaches of the Pyrenees that just might harbour preserved Neanderthal evidence. We were spread out in three groups equipped with walkie-talkies, each with sampling kits furnished by our friend Guy. These included litmus paper to enable taking pH readings of old snow to look for alkaline readings that might indicate a trace of calcium-rich critters. Maybe we’d even discover Neolithic organic samples of archaeological interest. On with the pith helmets!
The kits never came out. No samples were taken. Not a single snow pocket was seen. Global warming had denied our archaeological pursuits. The expedition was a bust. Old Jim turned yet more dour.
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Beside this alpine pond we heard what sounded like cowbells before locating the source. A shepherd was with his flock up a peak nearby and was headed our way but then dropped into a hidden valley and the audio-visual vignette
faded away to nothingness.
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A Roman-style stone bridge traverses a creek near the Tristaina Lakes.
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Hikers follow a creekside trail in Parc Natural de Sorteny well below the alpine trails.
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Unpredictable mountain weather necessitates emergency shelters, this likely being a shepherd shelter.
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Tobacco hangs for drying, the leaves being a major local cash crop.
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A worker hauls fresh tobacco leaves after harvest.
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Tobacco is loaded for drying.
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Garden vegetables line the stream in the village of La Cortinada.
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Thanks to Andorra’s geology an abundance of slate has provided slabs of the rock for roofs of the older buildings throughout the principality.
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Hotels in the town of Encamp await the influx of skiers within the next
couple of months.
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Sheep graze where skiers will soon ski on a Pyrenees slope at Ordino-Arcalis.
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The top of the Ordino-Arcalis chairlift leads to wide-open Pyrenees
vistas in all directions.
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Despite the expedition defeat, quality time was spent up in the alpine area just for the scenic hiking pleasure, followed each day by a return to the hillside chalet where the kitchen came alive, French and Spanish wines were popped, keyboards were tapped, and chat continued into the night. More serious revelry was at the bars down the hill, especially the outdoor tables filled to capacity with glasses and pitchers where Andorrans our age and older were singing their hearts out, belting out their national songs and hardly holding back on the gusto in Catalan, sometimes French and Spanish as well. We’d loved to have joined in --- all week-long we wished we could share their melodic exuberance and celebrate in Catalan despite our disappointment of Otzi being a no-show.
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The Tristaina Lakes are spread below one of Andorra’s ski areas.
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At this elevation a trail map is irrelevant.
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A trio of French hikers are ready for adult refreshments after
coming off an alpine trail.
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The day before leaving Andorra the menfolk were dragged off to Caldea Spa in Andorra la Vella, the women claiming a need to salve aching leg muscles
from alpine trails.
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