{"id":3302,"date":"2014-07-13T19:15:18","date_gmt":"2014-07-13T18:15:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.petersphotogallery.com\/rodneyandlaura\/?p=3302"},"modified":"2026-05-23T08:26:21","modified_gmt":"2026-05-23T07:26:21","slug":"moving-to-the-mountains","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.petersphotogallery.com\/rodneyandlaura\/2014\/07\/13\/moving-to-the-mountains\/","title":{"rendered":"Moving To The Mountains"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"The
The abandoned village of Esc\u00f3<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

On the road to Pamplona we expected to meet a lot of traffic. But yet again the road was empty, the nation was either still asleep at 10:30am or they were all already at the bullring.\u00a0 After we passed Pamplona and crossed from Navarra into Arag\u00f3n, the clouds seemed to lift higher in the sky and then gradually disappear.\u00a0 At the end of the freeway the road took us down beside the Embalse de Yesa which was shimmering in the most dazzling turquoise colour under the most vibrant blue sky.\u00a0\u00a0 On the other side of the road was the edge of a tree covered canyon topped by small cliffs that looked like castle battlements.\u00a0 We started to see glimpses of the Pyrenees, with the higher slopes still showing patches of last winter\u2019s snow.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Eileen
Eileen beside the Embalse de Yesa<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

Jaca turned out to be a nice town for a short stop.\u00a0 The cathedral in the centre of the old town is one of the oldest Romanesque cathedrals dating from the 11C and it is very hard to see anything inside with only a few smoky windows and hardly any lights.\u00a0 Not far away is the Castillo de San Pedro built in 1595 to guard the border with France.\u00a0 It\u2019s a perfect pentagon with all of its bastions still intact, it\u2019s just a shame that the moat is now full of grass rather than water, or there could have been the most impressive reflection.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Castillo
Castillo de San Pedro in Jaca<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

We picked what looked like a popular bar for a tapas lunch and confidently asked the barman for a plate.\u00a0 We knew the selection procedure from San Sebastian.\u00a0 He looked at us strangely and in perfect English, told us we should point to what we would like and he would use his hygienic tongs to put them on a couple of plates.\u00a0 He heated a couple of them for us and we tucked in to what turned out to be the best tapas we\u2019ve ever had.\u00a0 We could have sat and eaten more, perhaps all afternoon, but we had a big dinner planned so we had to call a halt.\u00a0 Maybe we should have carried on; I don\u2019t suppose we\u2019ll ever get back to Jaca\u2026.\u00a0 Our last stop in Jaca was the huge Eroski supermarket which was so devoid of customers they might as well have closed, but we were glad they were open, we needed some basics for our next few days in the mountains.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Castillo
Castillo de San Pedro ……closed for lunch<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

Late in the afternoon we pulled in to Camping Gavin, close to the village of\u2026\u2026Gavin.\u00a0 It seems such a funny name for a Spanish village; I hope the next one is called Brian.\u00a0 We picked a spot on a middle terrace with lovely views of the hills to the south and some mountain peaks to the west and a cloudless sky above.<\/p>\n

Friday was a catch-up day, physically, mentally and washing wise, but we got it all done in the morning and the afternoon was spent laying on the grass beside the swimming pool.\u00a0 We did manage a swim in the very chilly water and that was good for clearing out the tiredness and picking me up again.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Swimming
Swimming in the Pyrenees<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

Fairly early on Saturday morning we left the chairs, the table, the bikes and levellers on our pitch and set off on an expedition in Eileen.\u00a0 The blue sky had puffs of white cloud as we set off up the Valle de Tena and Rodney The Mountain Man was happy to be glimpsing snow on the higher peaks.\u00a0 We were off to France for the day to discover more beautiful scenery in the French Pyrenees.\u00a0 As we climbed higher the jagged peaks of Pen\u00e1 Foradada stood proud in front of us at 2,295m.\u00a0 Most of the villages we passed looked like ski resorts and at Formigal the chair lifts came right down to the road.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"
Pen\u00e1 Foradada<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"We
We did our own running of the…..cows, from inside Eileen<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

As we approached the Col du Portalet the clouds dropped lower and lower, sometimes with rainbows hanging under them and as we crossed the border, France disappeared in a thick cloud. \u00a0Hmmph.\u00a0 I could feel the disappointment in the seat next to me.\u00a0 We decided to push on up to Fabr\u00e8ges and see if there was any point in continuing our expedition.\u00a0 We drank a couple of hot chocolates in a caf\u00e9, walked over to the ticket office and finally decided to cancel today\u2019s plan.\u00a0 There is a petit train, one of the highest in Europe, that travels for an hour up to the Lac D\u2019Artouste for fabulous views over the Vall\u00e9e d\u2019 Ossau; with the clouds hanging so low, there seemed little point to sit on a train that would take us deeper in to the damp clouds.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"The
The Embalse de B\u00fabal near Panticosa<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

So we left France and drove back to Spain, where the sun was still shining and the mountains were clear.\u00a0 We made another plan for the day and then changed it.\u00a0 Made a different plan and changed it, and finally settled on a plan to drive the 10km road through the twisting Garganta del Escalar up to Balneario de Panticosa.\u00a0 It was a very narrow chasm of a valley which opened out at the top into a huge bowl surrounded by some of the highest mountain peaks in the Pyrenees.\u00a0 There were a lot of people wandering around, but there only seemed to be a huge hotel spa and casino, plus a caf\u00e9 and a shop.\u00a0 The car park was fairly full, so we assumed that they must all be going on treks up the peaks, or a herd of gamblers were in town.\u00a0 The tracks looked too steep for me to attempt and we were hungry for lunch, so with the caf\u00e9 looking rather uninspiring, we drove back down to the village of Panticosa.\u00a0 We found a caf\u00e9 with great views of the mountains and then walked down to the base of the village to catch a gondola ride up to the top of a high ridge on the side of the Pico de Baldairan.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Rodney
Rodney at Balneario de Panticosa looking up to Vignemale<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

The views at the top were spectacular and Rodney was itching for a good hike.\u00a0 We only had three hours before the last ride back down on the gondola, so we set off at a good pace up over another ridge where we could see the clouds still hanging over the French Pyrenees.\u00a0 We stopped when we reached the Ibon de los Asnos and I relaxed in the sunshine, while Rodney continued at high speed around the lake and up over the far ridge.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Hiking
Hiking again<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"
Ibon de los Asnos<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"
Heading back down to the top of the gondola<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

The walk back down was far quicker and the best bit of the walk for me was spotting marmots, lots of them and thankfully, when we got back to the top of the lift, we still had plenty of time for an ice cream and time-out in a deckchair on the sun terrace before catching a gondola back down to Eileen.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"One
One of many marmots<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"An
An ice cream always tastes good after a long hike<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

With an incredibly late start to Sunday under our belt, we hit the road after midday.\u00a0 Singing \u2018Come On Eileen\u2019 and changing gears a lot, we wriggled along the edge of the Sierra de Tende\u00f1era; the scenery thick with pine trees on both sides of the valley.\u00a0 \u00a0As we turned in to the Vallee de Ara the view made us both let out a \u201cwow!\u201d.\u00a0 We stopped for a while at Torla to take in the view and stroll around the core of cobbled streets.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"
Torla and the Parque Nacional de Ordesa<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Information Centre was actually open on a Sunday, so we checked out a few things and picked up a map of hikes in the area; love a good map.\u00a0 Only buses are allowed in to the Parque Nacional de Ordesa, so we drove up to the entrance, checking out three campsites along the way and then stopped for our melon and ham lunch in a lay-by with a spectacular view of the Pe\u00f1a Mondarruego.\u00a0 Lovely lunch, spectacular view.\u00a0 We took a few diversions on the way back to Camping Gavin firstly through Broto, then Lin\u00e1s de Broto and lastly a stop in Biescas for a bank cash machine that worked.\u00a0 We\u2019ve made plans for the next few days; all rather weather dependent, but hopefully we can make them work.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"
Iglesia de San Michael, Lin\u00e1s de Broto<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  On the road to Pamplona we expected to meet a lot of traffic. But yet again the road was empty, the nation was either still asleep at 10:30am or they were all already at the bullring.\u00a0 After we passed Pamplona and crossed from Navarra into Arag\u00f3n, the clouds seemed to lift higher in the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3308,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3302","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-europe"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.petersphotogallery.com\/rodneyandlaura\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3302","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.petersphotogallery.com\/rodneyandlaura\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.petersphotogallery.com\/rodneyandlaura\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.petersphotogallery.com\/rodneyandlaura\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.petersphotogallery.com\/rodneyandlaura\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3302"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.petersphotogallery.com\/rodneyandlaura\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3302\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8313,"href":"https:\/\/www.petersphotogallery.com\/rodneyandlaura\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3302\/revisions\/8313"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.petersphotogallery.com\/rodneyandlaura\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3308"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.petersphotogallery.com\/rodneyandlaura\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3302"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.petersphotogallery.com\/rodneyandlaura\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3302"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.petersphotogallery.com\/rodneyandlaura\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3302"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}