The Vagabond Hiker

Hiking, trekking, and climbing the world

Val d’Aosta redux

Last month I returned to the Val d’Aosta for 10 days hiking in the amazing Italian Alps. I managed to secure an AirBnb apartment above St. Nicolas at 1550m elevation (the valley is only about 900m here) with a great view looking south to Gran Paradiso National Park. Although I never made it across the valley and into the park (see my blog post from last August that included GPNP), I was well placed to do several interesting hikes either directly from my front door or necessitating only a short drive to the trailhead.

Morning view from the shared balcony of my apartment. The Grivola summit was almost always shrouded in clouds.
A piazza in Vens, a hamlet located about 20 minutes walking uphill from my apartment. Note the traditional shale roofs on the houses.
Cappella della Madonna delle Neve, near Lago di Joux above Vens.
View on the descent to Vens with Gran Paradiso NP behind
Less than 30 minutes walking from my place, this canalized stream near the hamlet of Vedun reminded me of the Levadas of Madeira.
Fireweed with Monte Bianco, taken from near Vedun (and . There were some nice “balcony” trails right out of my apartment. This morning view (very similar to a photo from last year) was taken before Monte Bianco became completely cloud-covered
This is a view on the trail north of Punta Oilletta looking towards Punta Leysser. I did a longish loop hike/scramble up from Lago di Joux.
Punta Leysser from the ridge-line trail
A Cobweb House-leek. It was late in the season for many flowers. Although I managed photos of several species, nearly all (including this one) I had photographed last year and included in my blog. Oh, well!
My final big hike above the Val d’Aosta was to the summit of Monte Fallere. Here the view is near the start of the hike in Vetan, looking back towards the trailhead.
“Ibex” seen near Rifugio Monte Fallere. Someone there is quite a sculptor as there were several dozen wood sculptures of animals and people along the path up to the rifugio, about 1/2 the way to the summit.
The Monte Fallere ridge traverse. Only about 15 minutes, but airy enough to have some chains installed!
Monte Fallere domesticated Ibex. With bells on their necks, from a distance I thought they were cows. The alpha male took exception to my presence close to his herd, and I discreetly retreated after a couple of photos.
A misty morning view from my apartment towards Gran Paradiso NP. I never get tired of mountain views!

As my sojourn in Italy continues, stay tuned for some photos from the Dolomites and Lago Garda. . .

The Vagabond Hiker

A Spanish Pyrenees walking holiday

June is such a wonderful time to hike in the Spanish Pyrenees! Many wildflowers are at their peak. The weather is generally good: fairly dry with moderate temperatures. The summer hordes have not yet descended (or rather, ascended) on the mountain villages. Did I mention the wildflowers?

Maggie and I spent nine days hiking: the first six from village to village in and above the Valle de Tena in the central Pyrenees and the last three doing center-based day hikes in Ordesa National Park, located less than an hour’s drive from the Valle de Tena. (I then spent a final two days soloing a couple of peaks in Andorra). To arrange the accommodations and luggage transfer from village to village in the Valle de Tena, we engaged Hike Pyrenees. For our self-guided hikes they provided daily maps and directions which were definitely a help as some routes were not at all obvious. I highly recommend Phil and his team and they do guided hikes as well if that is your preference.

Enjoy the photos which follow, many of flowers. The book Mountain Flowers Pyrenees & Picos by Cliff Booker & David Charlton was invaluable in flower identification, though augmenting it with Wildlife of the Pyrenees purchased from a Hike Pyrenees guide, was beneficial as neither are comprehensive but used together there were only a handful of flowers we couldn’t identify.

A buttercup field and the Valle de Ripera path. Our first day was our only circular hike, looping around this side valley from the village of Panticosa.
Elder-flowered Orchid. One of 35 orchids found in the Pyrenees. Both pink and cream colored varieties are often seen together.
A Trumpet Gentian, one of my favorites.
A rock garden along the Valle de Ripera. Still beautiful though the saxifrage is not in bloom.
Common Mallow
Valle de Tena vista above Panticosa with the northern end of Embalse (reservior) Bubal. We headed from Panticosa to Sallent de Gallego on the second day.
Likely Bedstraw Broomrape (Orobanche caryophyllacea)
Early Purple Orchid
Maggie ascending a scree field to the Ibones (lakes) de Arriel on the third day. To our village-to-village walks we added one night at a refugio high above the upper end of the Valle de Tena. This was a tough day hiking.
One of the Ibones de Arriel, a lovely set of high mountain lakes set in a rocky cirque, on the way to the Refugio Respomusa.
The Refugio Respomusa in a stunning landscape at 2200 m (7218 ft), our abode for the night. Both trekkers on the GR11 and climbers of some local peaks frequent this refugio.
Snow reflected off the Embalse Respomusa in the morning light
Fire Salamander near the Refugio Respomusa. Usually nocturnal, we were lucky to see it as we started our day 4 descent.
Rio Aguas Limpias. This riverside meadow provided a charming rest stop both on the ascent and descent from the refugio.
Vista with Sallent de Gallego on the lower right at the start of day 5. Marginal weather in the morning added atmosphere to some of the photos.
View north from Punta de la Cochata (1901 m, 6237 ft). A pleasant little scramble during our day 5 lunch stop.
The bucolic barranca below Ibon de Piedrafita on day 6
Bell flower (possibly narrow leaved, Campanula persicifolia)
Pyrenean Poppy

Our short drive to the Parque Nacional de Ordesa y Monte Perdido gave us a break from hiking and a day to explore Torla-Ordesa, the charming mountain village where we would be staying for the next three nights. As the hikes are well established and several of the best start at the same trailhead in the Valle de Ordesa, we stayed at an AirBnb apartment within a 20 minutes’ walk of Torla-Ordesa. A very picturesque village only a few kilometers from the park entrance, it proved a great choice. What’s more, we were able to relax on our balcony after hiking all day and cook dinner ourselves if we didn’t want to wait until 8 or 8:30 when the restaurants opened!

Bridge across Rio Arazas, Valle de Ordesa, with the Mondarruego massif looming behind. Our first day in the park was a short loop hike on the south side of the valley.
Rio Arazas featured numerous waterfalls and cascades as it descended the Valle de Ordesa.
Bears Ears (Ramonda maconi)
Punta Mondarruego, Ordesa, seen on our second day in the park. We did the Calzadores (Hunters’) loop, a 7+ hour hike with 900 m (3000 ft) altitude gain that ascended and traversed the slopes on the south side of the valley and returned along the valley bottom itself.
Mountain vista along Calzadores path, Ordesa
White Asphodel. We only saw it two days, but a couple fields were filled with it.
Another cascade along Rio Arazas, Ordesa
St Bruno’s Lily, the only example we saw the entire trip
Globe Flowers
Pyrenean Cranesbill (Geranium endressii)
Large-flowered Butterwort (Pinguicula grandiflora). Insectivorous, the dark dots are insects trapped on the sticky leaves and slowly being digested.

After returning to Barcelona so Maggie could fly home, I drove 3 hours to the Principality of Andorra the following morning. For the three nights I had booked a room in Hotel Babot above the village of Ordino, which had the twin advantages of being centrally located and away from the ugly conurbation of the main valleys of the Principality. Enjoy the photos!

View from summit of Casamanya, Andorra. This was a quick exercise hike (about 750 m, 2460 ft gain). Ordino is seen directly below.
View from summit of Casamany towards Coma Pedrosa, which is indicated by the arrow. As a climb, Coma Pedrosa was a horse of a different color from the hike up Casamanya.
Butterfly and flowers, one of only two I managed to photograph
What primary colors! Spring Gentians and Buttercups were running riot on the slopes of Casamanya.
Early view of some peaks during my 7 hour climb of Coma Pedrosa, the highest mountain in Andorra at 2,943 m (9,656 ft). At this point, I wasn’t sure which is the actual peak. In fact, I’m still not certain!
About half way up the climb, a natural amphitheater provided the site of the Refugio Comapderosa, behind me to the left. Notice the bee on the right of the photo?
The upper Negre Lake on Coma Pedrosa, mostly still frozen. The steep gully route above here was covered in deep snow, so I opted for the ridge route (next photo) for both the ascent and descent.
The long ridge route to the summit of Coma Pedrosa. The summit is the high point furthest back in the center of the photo.
Coma Pedrosa summit view northeast towards France
On top of Coma Pedrosa with the orographic summit “cairn” and Andorran flag. I took a selfie as there was nowhere convenient to place the camera.
From the summit, a view towards the Coma Pedrosa trailhead about 1500 m (5000 ft) below. A long way back to the car for tired knees!

I write this from Hastings on the south coast of England. My next post will either be some highlights of local walks on England’s south coast, or if I don’t have the time to organize the disparate photos from the past several months, from my two week trek in the High Atlas of Morocco coming up in July. Either way, keep enjoying the outdoors!

The Vagabond Hiker

Hikes & Scrambles in the Highlands of Scotland

One doesn’t associate abundant sun with the Scottish Highlands, so the fantastic weather I experienced during my first three days was bound to end. As I type this blog the rains are pelting down and the fine weather is just a fading memory. . .

With Maggie on three days and by myself for another week, I explored some of the best of what the Glencoe area has to offer the walker as I hope the following photos will attest.

Glencoe Lochan, a short walk from the Village of Glencoe. There are many easy paths to explore around the village.
A pleasant broken scramble on A’ Chailleach. It was a great afternoon warm up with Maggie, featuring plenty of escape routes and unlimited easy to moderate scrambling options to choose from. The long, steep descent on the “grassy” slopes was less enjoyable.
Hidden (aka Lost) Valley from the trailhead on the A82. The eastern and central of the Three Sisters that overlook the Pass of Glencoe from the south are seen here.
Waterfalls along the stream as I headed up into Hidden Valley, a pleasant morning excursion even with clouds and light rain.
After an hour I reached the “hanging” Hidden Valley, seen here. The view towards the headwall and Bidean nam Bian – at 1150m the highest point around Glencoe – was completely obscured by clouds.
On returning to the trailhead, I took this atmospheric shot looking west along A82 and the Pass of Glencoe
Buachaille Etive Mor, the Queen of Scottish Mountains, from the A82 trailhead a few miles out of Glencoe. Its highest peak, Stob Dearg, is seen on the left. I did a hike with Maggie and a solo scramble from this trailhead. The hike was a traverse of several peaks on Bucky. The normal ascent route up the Coire na Tulaich towards the obvious col is clearly seen here.
View north from Stob na Doire toward Ben Nevis, the large round dome. All the exciting scrambling and climbing on the Ben is from the north while the Pony Track is along this southern side.
Aonach Eagach, the most famous knife edge ridge scramble on the Scottish mainland, as seen from Stob Coire Altruim (zoom). The 3 1/2 km notched ridge is just begging to be traversed. Sadly, the weather never did cooperate enough for me to attempt it.
Looking back east along our Buachaille Etive Mor traverse route from Stobna na Broige. A very pleasant hike with fantastic views on a sunny day.
After a descent from the ridge, the River Coupall provided a great place to cool our feet.
A slightly different angle on Buachaille Etive Mor’s Stob Dearg from the A82 trailhead. Here I did a scramble called the Curved Ridge, which began with an approach around the base of the cliffs to the left here.
My first attempt on the route missed the Curved Ridge altogether! It ended near here with some sketchy scrambling on steep, loose rock. Rather than continue, I retraced my route and eventually made the summit by the Curved Ridge proper. I descended by the normal hiking path.
Stob Dearg summit view east toward Rannoch Moor
Stob Dearg summit view north with the dome of Ben Nevis in the distance
A final tough hike I did went up the Coire nan Lochan to the eponymous peak at its head. Here the central and western of the Three Sisters are seen from the trailhead along the A82.
View up the Coire nan Lochan with some of the many waterfalls.
Pool and waterfall along the Coire nan Lochan
View toward the A82 with the east end of Aonach Eagach. I saw six red deer (what we call elk), but they were feeding too far away for a good photo.
View of the Three Lakes from the beginning of the eastern ridge of Stob Coire nan Lochan. Many walkers chose these picturesque lakes as a worthy objective for the day.
Higher up all was in the mist. Here I am looking up the eastern ridge approach on Stob Coire nan Lochan, my objective for the day. The summit is far away in the mist. . .
Some misty scrambling along Stob Coire nan Lochan. Nothing difficult, but route finding can be tricky descending in the fog.
Exciting view south from the summit of Stob Coire nan Lochan towards Bidean nam Bian
The Vagabond Hiker on the summit of Stob Coire nan Lochan (1115m). I relaxed on the summit for nearly an hour, but it never did clear.

Some great hikes and scrambles, but in almost two weeks I feel that I have barely scratched the surface of what the Glencoe area, let alone the Western Highlands, has to offer. I never did climb Ben Nevis (less than an hour drive from my cottage to the trailhead), largely because I wanted to do it by The Ledges, a moderate scrambling route, rather than join the conga line along the Pony Track, and the weather just didn’t cooperate. Well, there’s always the next time. . .

Now its back to the sunny south of England for 10 days until my next adventure, with Maggie in the Spanish Pyrenees. Until then, keep hiking.

The Vagabond Hiker

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