Thursday, July 26, 2007

Climbing Monte Perdido (3355m)

Next morning about 7:30 I left Martin at the hotel and got the bus to Valle de Ordesa. The journey took about 30 minutes after which I started hiking the valley. On my way I passed rocks, forest and many waterfalls.
At the end of the valley the most beautiful waterfall of them all- Cola de Caballo (Horse's tail) after which started the climb. I chose shorter and more exciting path to Refugio de Goriz (por Clavijas) which was a bit vertical, rocky and therefore secured by chains.
Earlier I saw the peak of Monte Perdido covered in clouds and didn't believe I would try to get to the top on the same day. In the Goriz hut I found out that near Lago Helado at about 3000m it doesn't rain but is quite cold and windy... and the hike takes about 4 hours both ways. I decided to give it a try as I had plenty of time before sunset. The weather near the lake was worse but still nothing too extreme to give up. I was in a cloud and visibility dropped to about 10 metres. I had to put my jacket on. The ascent to the top went along a snow field (there is a glacier on northern slopes). Then the path got very steep and with every step I slided down on tiny loose stones. I was too heavy with my backpack so at height 3200m I just put on my anti-fog googles, took a snack to my packet and left the bag to be collected on my way down. After about 20 minutes and crossing two snow fields I was at the summit. I took pictures of myself, stones and fog and started a return trip. In general I felt ok and I would have got back to Torla on one day but about 30 minutes from Refugio de Goriz my body had had ENOUGH. I had been hiking for about 8 hours and didn't eat anything proper that day. My stomach was turning and I felt very sleepy so after getting to Goriz I just laid on the slope and enjoyed the sun. I got up again after 4 hours at 21:00 to buy a hot meal inside the hut and find a place to camp overnight. After eating a soup I found a flat spot on the grass, got my sleeping bag and went to sleep. The night was warm and plenty of stars in the sky (but sometimes they covered by thick clouds). Early in the morning I started descending again and after about 3,5 hours I was at the parking. The whole hike took me 12,5 hours (excluding sleeping time). After 27 hors I got back to Torla, took a quick shower and together with Martin we left the hotel.

No comments: