St. Llorenc  –  Coll de Port.

Spent the day walking uphill!  When I looked at the map my heart sank because the GR7 seemed to be so close to the road all the way and that often makes for poor walking but it turned out to be excellent for the most part with stunning views.

An early coffee in a bar set me off for the day, a pleasant stroll out of town along the road past a Roman bridge. The sidewalks [I know an American term but precise here] were installed with spaces presumably for trees which had never been planted. Maybe the European money went elsewhere.

After a mile I left the road round a campsite onto a surprisingly fine track beside a river. This took me further up the valley to a fuente with hills all around. Continuing in the same manner I arrived in the village of La Coma, restoration work was going on at the local church but the bar was closed. Walked on to the next place Fonts del Cardener where there was an excellent hotel, had coffee and bocadillo on their terrace, relaxed and enjoyed the ambiance.

Followed the river up the valley amidst Autumn colours and then things got steeper. The road zigzags upwards in a series of Tour de France hairpins. My path went more or less straight up cutting off the corners – hot work today. At one point near a farm from the past I was at a loss as to my continuation until a toothless old lady [from the farm] appeared from the woods and pointed me on a minute track onwards. From here on I followed waymarks steeply up a dry stream-bed as views back down the valley disappeared.

Came out onto the road within 100m of the Coll de Port where my Refuge for the night was situated. The friendly chap in residence was Argentinian, had come to Barcelona and learned Catalan and then had worked in Manchester! Later that night the rest of the family appeared and I enjoyed a typical Catalan meal with them. I’m about a 1000m higher than this morning and it feels a lot colder up here.