Friday August 11, 26.1km/16.2mi

Refugi de Cabana Sorda (573.9km/2295m) (Andorra) to Refuge des Bésines (600.0km/2105m) (France)

I was awake at 7:30 and noticed my tent was dry, even though I was camped next to the lake. I’m liking this dryer climate as I get closer to the Mediterranean. I got water from the lake, which was very still.

I had a nice downhill hike for an hour, and it was another sunny day.

After another hour of uphill hiking, I was at the lake Estany Primer de Juclar.

It was a hot day so I stopped into the Refugi de Juclar for a cold drink.

It was empty inside, and the place had a nice relaxed vibe, so I hung out for awhile, and browsed their small library.

I always love seeing these signs.

Apparently there is a bunch of rock climbing in the area, and I found a pile of hand drawn maps.

I lost track of the time, and I left almost an hour later. I passed by the rest of the lake.

It was a long lake.

After the lake I climbed up to the pass Col de l’Albe, where I left Andorra and re-entered France.

I could see a whole new set of lakes! Étang Haut de l’Albe:

I descended the pass through a ridiculous talus field that seemed to go on forever.

Once I had passed that lake, I came to the second lake with more talus.

I had a late lunch at the second lake, and it was so quiet and peaceful with no people and no wind. After lunch I departed the valley of lakes & talus, and climbed up a very short pass on some nice smooth rock.

The top of the pass was wide and grassy.

Another valley, another lake. The Étang de Pédourès appears to be a man-made lake with its dam at the far end.

I tried to take a swim in that lake, but the mud at the shore was so deep it didn’t seem worth it. At least I got to wash off my legs and cool off a little. I descended all the way down the valley to a little village, l’Hospitalet-près-l’Andorre.

Along the way I passed under a massive water pipeline, and then hiked down through a nice forest.

The village was tiny, and only had a couple of small hotel/restaurants and a small general store.

I bought a cold lemonade at one of the cafes, and used their Wi-Fi for a little while. After the hot sun had sunk a little lower behind the hill, I returned to the trail. It was a nice gradual climb on a wide path.

About an hour after I left the village, the trail had a short section that was paved concrete, which seemed very odd.

From there it was a nice flat walk all the way to the lake Étang des Bésines.

The light of the setting sun made the lake look really yellow.

I arrived at the Refuge des Bésines at 8pm, which was a nice modern hut with probably 40 people staying there.

I chose to camp nearby, in the trees and away from the chaos of the building.

They had a cool little sign that showed how far it was to either end of the GR10 trail, which parallels the route I am taking. Only 170km to Banyuls!

I made dinner at one of the many picnic tables scattered around the place, and was in bed and reading my book by 9:30.