Tuesday August 8, 19.6km/12.2mi

Refugi de Baborte (533.5km/2392m) (España) to Estany Primer (553.1km/2250m) (Andorra)

I woke up to the feel of footsteps near my tent, which was strange because I wasn’t camped near the path. I could hear the voices of the Spanish kids, they were looking for a shortcut to the lake. I packed up and headed down to the lake myself, which was still shrouded in darkness.

The waters were almost perfectly calm.

Once I was past the lake, I could see the valley where I would be descending.

There was a tiny little cabin along the way. I looked inside, and it had a giant tarp spread across a stone floor, and big enough to sleep four people.

It was already starting to get warm in the Sun, so I was glad to have a forested walk for much of the morning.

Pretty soon I took a left turn, and started a gradual climb uphill following a creek.

After I climbed high enough, the forest faded away and I was in a wide open meadow. I could hear the cows far down below.

This area is called the Pla de Boet.

By now the day was getting pretty hot, and I was coming steeply up toward the pass, Port de Boet.

It was a pretty sweaty climb.

I got to the pass at about noon, and had a nice long lunch break next to the cairn.

After spending almost an hour enjoying the breeze up there, I decided it was time to continue. I passed by another strange little stone cabin, this one appeared to have people living in it. I filled my water bottle from the nearby spigot and didn’t linger.

A little further down the hill, I was surprised by another alpine lake, the beautiful Étang de la Soucarrane.

At the pass I had crossed over into France from Spain, but didn’t realize it. So when a little girl at the lake asked me what time it was (in French of course) I responded in Spanish. She understood me just fine, and responded with a “thank you very much”. Impressive…. She was like 7 years old and knew 3 languages. I continued my descent into the next valley, where I could see a river and road coming up to meet me.

I love seeing switchbacked trails and roads from above, they look so fun. I would be joining that road at the farthest right switchback.

After hiking along that nice road for a couple kilometers, I turned off and climbed steeply up toward the next pass.

Just like the previous pass, there was no shade and it was quite hot and steep. Another sweaty climb.

When I arrived at the pass Port De Rat, I had crossed over into a new country, Andorra!

And I could see their ski resort on the other side of the pass.

I hiked down some steep switchbacks for a little while and then I arrived at the ski resort. For some reason the lift was running.

I was surprised to see they actually had a pretty extensive ski trail network, given the limited terrain around here.

I passed by a restaurant and also a takeout food place, and it was too tempting to not stop and buy something.

Yup, ice cream, kettle chips, and a cold drink always hit the spot.

I lingered at the takeout food place for almost an hour, enjoying the shade and using their Wi-Fi. Since Andorra isn’t part of the EU, my phone does not work here, and will only work on Wi-Fi. As I passed thru the carpark, I was reminded that I was definitely in Andorra.

As I was leaving the ski resort, I noticed this funny sign.

I left the busy area and hiked up to a lake, which to my disappointment was also very busy and crowded.

Estany del Mig de Tristaina was a beautiful lake though.

It was 6pm and I was looking for a spot to camp, but there were way too many people milling around. So I hiked a few more minutes onto the next lake, Estany Primer.

There were only a couple groups at this lake, and also a French guy who was also hiking the HRP. His name is Johan, and he is hiking in the opposite direction as me. We talked for awhile in an odd mixture of English and French, and then I went to setup my tent.

I made dinner and sat next to the lake, watching the fish jump for the bugs. It was a pretty peaceful spot once the other groups of dayhikers left. It was a little early, so I had plenty of time to listen to my audiobook, and make a plan for my day in town tomorrow.