Monday 2 July 2012
Portarro d' Espot - El Pic del Portarro
It was around midday when we reached Portarro d' Espot, plateau located at 2,435metres in the Aiguestortes i Estany de Sant Maurici National Park, in Catalonian Pyrenees. I would describe the difficulty level of this route, which takes you from Espot to Portarro as moderate, however it should be attempted by hikers with good physical fitness. If you decide to take your dog with you, make sure he also has the right fitness and stamina for it. Don't forget to equip him with walking boots, (I used Ruffwear, so far the best hiking boots for dogs on the market), the climbs over sharp rocks at some sections could seriously hurt his paws, and your best friend might have to spend the rest of his holiday resting in the crate. There are plenty of fresh water streams for your dog to rehydrate, but I recommend to bring some extra water supply mixed with electrolytes. Even the toughest dog will struggle out here, especially on a hot summer's day ascent.
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| Tiredness starting to get to Nero |
Once we reached Portarro, the going became easy. Rocky path faded into more of a dirt road, and the entire area was covered in short alpine grass (sharp as needles, so avoid sitting on it), with few different types of alpine flowers growing in places. In the centre of the plateau was a small alpine lake. Perfect spot for Nero to cool off on a hot summer day, and have some high altitude fun! Once I removed his boots, he ran as fast as he could and just throw himself in it, splashing water all around. I've never seen him happier. He was jumping in and out of the lake, swimming and diving, which attracted group of hikers to come over and take pictures of him. He looked like a small grizzly, learning to catch salmon in the stream. After half hour of pure fun, I towel dried him, geared him up and we walked across the plateau to the other side, to enjoy the view of lakes Llong and Redo. Still having a plenty of spare energy, I decided to climb the El Pic del Portarro peak, raising above the plateau at the altitude of 2,736 metres. It is a steep grassy and rocky ramp, and from the plateau to its top takes another 45 minutes. Knowing, that this going was gonna be hard for Nero, I have decide to leave his backpack behind, at the plateau.
A small path will lead you all the way up onto the peak, however it's not clearly marked, so don't be surprised if you step off from the trail couple of times. When you climb, avoid putting your hands onto the grass, its razor sharp like needles edges will cut your palms. As you climb higher towards the peak, the rocks will start to expand their size and most of them could be lose, so again, avoid holding onto them trying to pull yourself up. Instead use your trekking poles for support, and if you do need to support yourself leaning, sitting or pulling up on the rocks, double check their stability, before doing so.
As we climbed higher, the sun got hotter and hotter, and I could feel it burning all my exposed skin, slowly. Nero was going well, at times losing his balance whilst trying to pull himself up, but the extreme heat was getting to him, too. During the whole climb, Nero was going very closely ahead of me, waiting for each and every command given by me, asking him to stop or to progress. He was extremely responsive to everything, and very careful the whole time. We made it up in 35 minutes, with only one short stop to refresh ourselves. At the very top we sat down, enjoyed the magnificent views and took few pictures. Nero found a large rock, slid slighly under it to escape the heat of the day, and had a short nap. Once other hikers reached the top, each and every of them came over to greet Nero and to take a photo of him. Half an hour later, we made our descent. Going down is always more difficult and more dangerous, and it wasn't any different in our case, so I had to pay extra attention to Nero. Until half way down the mountain during the down climb, he walked closely behind me, so that I could support him whenever he needed. Once we hit the easier section of the path, he went ahead leading me and the group behind me, safely back down to the plateau. As a reward for being such a good boy all the way up and down, I allowed him to have an hour of fun in the alpine lake, once more. He just loved it!!!!!!!
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| On the top of Portarro (2,736m) |
To be continued.....
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