I've just returned from a 12 day family holiday to North East Spain, staying at a resort called Malgret de mar, followed by 3 days in Barcelona. Although there are many great birding areas in the region, we had picked a resort which in the middle of August was almost birdless and miles from anywhere good. However, it was within striking distance of the Eastern Pyrenees. It had been an almost lifetime ambition of mine to walk in the Pyrenees (that's walk, not just twitch the local specialties), and I saw the holiday as an opportunity to get up amongst the high mountains and sample the alpine atmosphere, see the flowers and mammals, and hopefully a few birds as well.
So for several weeks before the holiday I collected maps and guides and planned my route. I decided to drive to Ribes de Freser, and then catch the rack train to Nuria, a skiing lodge some 6,000 feet above sea level. I'd been as far as Nuria on a previous holiday, and knew that it can get a bit touristy but it does allow straight forward access to several mountains, which are in the region of 10,000 feet high. Since most of the tourists buzz like flies around the ski lodge, you're more or less on your own once you start walking.
I had been to Nuria once before, but because I'd had the family with me, I'd been unable to get anywhere near close to the high peaks, and had been forced to content myself with playing mini golf in spectacular scenery. This time I told my wife I was going on my own.
Then there were a couple of unexpected developments. Firstly, I desperately wanted to see Lammergeier, and I knew that Nuria was not the best place for them. I made a few enquiries, and discovered that there was a much better site a few miles to the west, at Coll de Pall in the Pre-Pyrenees. But does walking in the Pre-Pyrenees fulfill the ambition? Not really was the conclusion I kept coming to. The Pre-Pyrenees, spectacular though they are (and almost equally as high), are only the foothills. At Nuria I could walk into France. Even so, I wavered for a while with the thought of Lammergeier, but it was the second unexpected development that convinced me to stick with Nuria. My youngest son asked if he could come with me.
Josh is 13 years old, taller than me, very fit and athletic and has accompanied me on several mountain walks in Britain over the past year or two. He is diabetic, but I had no concerns about him being able to handle the walk. In fact I decided that it just wouldn't be fair to take him to Coll de Pall to chase Lammergeiers, probably spending most of our time in the car, or hanging about waiting. That's not what he wanted to do. So Nuria it was.
My alarm went off at 4:45am on 10th August 2007. We had just over a two hour drive to Ribes de Freser, and I wanted to catch the first train, which was due to leave at 7:30am. We got there at 7:15am, and were the first people on the train, though we were soon joined by many Nuria staff making their way to start work, as well as a few other walkers.
The rack railway winds its way through a steep and narrow gorge, before eventually emerging from a tunnel to be greeted by a truly alpine scene, a lake and skiing lodge surrounded by spectacular mountains, and alpine cows wearing bells. By now it was about 8:15am, and we were ready to start our walk. There were a handful of other walkers going off in different directions, but we were now alone. It would be at least three or four hours before the first tourists arrived, and by that time we would be no more than a speck of dust on the side of the mountain. In fact, we didn't meet a single other person for about another 3 hours.
The first section of the walk, about 3 miles in length, was also the hardest, along a stream called Torrent de Noucreus to a pass called Coll de Noucreus, literally "Pass of the crosses", a climb of about 2,800 feet above Nuria. Very soon after leaving Nuria you are above the tree line, but for about quarter of a mile there are scattered pine trees, and here I saw a stunning male Crossbill sitting on top of a pine, a first in Spain for me. Also in this area, a few Citril Finches and a couple of Water Pipits. Citril Finches are very under estimated birds. I think this is because most bird artists are hopeless at painting them. Take a look at Lars Jonsson's paintings to see how they really look. Beautiful birds. Once above the tree line, they became more common, and we saw about 50 in total, but they were never seen very far from the trees. At a point where a small wooden bridge crossed the stream we flushed a Dipper, another first in Spain for me. We rested here for a while, and looking back down the valley could see 2 distant Griffin Vultures already soaring, despite the fact it could have been not much later than about 9:15am and was still quite chilly, though cloudless.
Throughout the entire walk I was aware of the fabulous array of alpine flowers which were all around us. As we reached higher and higher altitudes, the species changed, but even on the very summits saxifrages, houseleeks and gentians could be found, and many other species which I just didn't have time to identify. Alpine flowers are a passion of mine, but I don't visit these places enough, or normally have the time to study them in detail to be any kind of expert.
Photos: Spring Gentian, Josh climbing Pic de Noufonts and the French Pyrenees from Pic de Noufonts
As we approached the final assent on Coll de Noucreus, the path made its way through scree and became much steeper. High up on the hillside, we spotted 2 Mouflon, sheep like creatures with curly horns, and incredibly, at around the 8,000 feet mark, a Stoat ran past us carrying prey. We reached the ridge just before the pass, and were greeted by simply stunning scenery. We were now on the border with France, and the view across the French Pyrenees was breathtaking. As we took in the view, a movement caught my eye, and I was delighted to discover that it was a male Rock Thrush, a stunning combination of blue and orange. Nearby, a male Black Redstart. We continued to the pass and rested there a while with a few other walkers.
Now we could see stage two of our journey. The ridge rose fairly gently, following the French border, to Pic de Noucreus, at 2799m (9166 feet), and behind it we could see our target, Pic de Noufonts, 2861m (9370 feet). The only problem was, between the two mountains, the ridge dropped by about 450 feet, giving us a final climb of about 700 feet to the summit of Pic de Noufonts. Pic de Noufonts is a very shapely mountain, which reminded me a lot of Great Gable in the Lake District, when viewed from Wasdale, and I was pleased to have chosen such a beautiful mountain to climb.
About 200 feet below the summit of the mountain, we were finally starting to struggle a bit, and were forced to rest for a while, and ate some lunch. A couple of Griffin Vultures circled over us, quite low down, and in the distance I could hear the calls of Choughs. They sounded a bit different from Red-billed Chough, but I never saw them well enough to call them Alpine. There were about 50 in total. There were also a few Northern Wheatears and Black Redstarts in the area, but the star bird, and my only lifer of the holiday was an Alpine Accentor. I had a dodgy view of one a few years ago, but as time has gone by I've become more and more convinced that it was simply a Dunnock. There could be no doubt about this bird though, everything was absolutely perfect, and it allowed good close views for around 5 minutes.
From Pic de Noufonts, the path heads down again, and then back up to Pic d'Eina. The border runs along the ridge between the two, and because there is a sheer drop on the Spanish side, you are now forced to walk in France for half a mile. All along the ridge I could hear the calls of Choughs, but still no conclusive views. Also here, lots of butterflies which were very like dark Ringlets, but I couldn't be sure. Also a few blue butterflies, a skipper, a Hummingbird Hawk moth and many bumble bees, mostly unidentified and all above 9,000 feet.
On the final part of our journey, the path dropped down quickly from Coll d'Eina, into a valley which leads back to Nuria. At the top of this valley, still at about 8,000 feet, we came across about 20 Isards, or Chamoise. These are deer like creatures, with almost badger faces. Quite beautiful. We surprised two, and they came very close as they ran away over the hillside. Also in this area we saw and heard three Marmots, like a mixture of Prairie Dog and Beaver. Their calls echoed around the valley. We looked for Pyrenean Brook Salamander in the stream, but the best we could find were eggs, which may have been this species, on the underside of some rocks. Griffin Vultures circled overhead.
Wearily we made our way down to Nuria. Our legs ached, we were hot and sweaty and we were desperate for a sit down in a cafe, with some refreshment. We'd completed about 10 miles and climbed about 5000 feet in total, allowing for assents and decents.
Unfortunately, at Nuria the tourists had finally caught up with us, and the queue for the cafe was almost out of the door. So we made our way to the station to try to catch an earlier train and go to a cafe in Ribes. The platform was 10 deep in people, and though we got on the train, we had to stand. We had a drink in a cafe in Ribes and got back to the madness of Malgrat de Mar at 7:30pm.
I missed out on Lammergeier yet again, but given the same two choices again tomorrow, I'd go for the Pic de Noufonts experience again and take my chances with a stray Lammergeier over Nuria.
Photos: Pic de Noufonts and some more of the French Pyrenees from the summit.