Day 3: Taking the GR11 from Bujareulo to Torla
It took no time at all to get to Bujareulo,a nice stroll along a gentle pista that ran through a beech wood. Blue skies hinted that the day would be hot.
Many people are disappointed by Bujareulo. It's more of a destination than a place, the only things here being the Refuge, its camp site and the old medieval bridge. That being said, the Refuge is modern and comfortable and the campsite facilities are very good. Oh, and on the other side of the bridge — alongside the pista —are a few old looking caves. It would be nice to think that these were the home of hermits in days gone by, maybe even that of St Nicholas de Bujareulo himself? But I suspect they were more to do with the last war. This whole area of mountains has been involved in wars and border skirmishes for centuries. Perhaps, they were there to just keep the pesky French out?
We took coffee on the terrace of the Refugio, which was already heating up to an uncomfortable level. We were soon joined by the English father and son that we had met the day before. They were walking the GR11 in chunks, as much time as they could find each year. On this trip they had started in Somport and had evidently had a bad day when we met up with them. The snow on their high level variante had been heavy and they were very unsure which direction to go. Eventually they had met up with some Spanish mountaineers who guided them through the snow and back onto the lower reaches of the GR11. They seemed to have been discouraged by all of this, the father questioning whether it was right to continue with the GR11 or to simply base themselves in an area and explore that more thoroughly. Their plans were to walk, gently, into Torla — the next town from which they would be able to catch a bus and train to Madrid airport and home.
From Bujareulo the GR11 follows the Ara down
through increasingly dramatic scenary
A little unsure of our own plans we also decided to go to Torla and re-group. From Bujareulo the walk is quite lovely, the pista continuing through pine woods, running close to the river that was roaring along fuelled by snow-melt. These wooded sections always seem to be to be typical of the GR10 and 11; they provide a lot of welcome shade on very hot days. At lunchtime we found a small clearing near the river and sat down for a picnic. It was time for the Bushbuddy to make its first appearance of the trip. The Bushbuddy is a small, and light, wood burning stove. Whenever there is wood — and reasonable weather — the Bushbuddy is the perfect backpacking stove. Not only is it more versatile than a meths or canister stove but the smoke keeps the flies away! And there seemed to be a lot of flies this year. As we sat by the roaring river, with the Bushbuddy alight, all of the strains and stresses of the day before just seemed to melt away.
The Bushbuddy sees its first action of the trip
After a while the pista rejoined a rough, vehicle track, that would take us all of the way to Torla. Although this meant walking without cover, along a pretty unattractive track, there was plenty of entertainment. The track is high above the river at places with precipitous drops down to the water, This didn't seem to put off a number of young men and women — adorned with helmets — seemed to be quite happy to throw both their lightweight kayaks, and themselves, over the edge.
At the entrance to the roadhead at Ordessa we stopped and asked a man in a toll booth about the campsites in Torla. I knew there were a number of campsites nearby but the Spanish maps left you unclear as to where they actually were. He reeled off a number of names; there would be no trouble finding a spot.
Torla from the GR11
Eventually we arrived at an old stone bridge that pointed the way to Torla, a fine, medieval town that stood high and proud above the river. A track took off uphill on our side of the river and was sign-posted to 'Camping Santa Ana'. I could see Santa Ana on the map. It looked a bit of a way. We decided to cross the bridge to Torla.
The cobbled track must have been in place for centuries. It winds sharply uphill under the shade of some fine old mature trees — sometimes too sharply for weary walkers. Eventually we arrived at the main road that by-passes the village. There was a bar, a gear shop and a couple of nice, expensive, looking hotels. We found an information board and map. If you're ever in these parts be warned. This was the most peculiar town map that we had ever come across. It looked as if it was orientated north to south, but it wasn't. We strolled around the surrounding streets to get our bearings and orientate ourselves. All of the campsites seemed a long way out of town. It was hot. All I wanted to do was to find a beer. Somewhat frustrated with the map I happened to turn around and look down, back to the river. There - only a couple of hundred yards above the path we'd walked along was a campsite, hidden from below.
Off we went expecting to find Camping Santa Ana. The campsite was only a few minutes from the bridge but when we arrived we found it was Camping Rio Ara. The sign must have been pointing to both Santa Ana and camping. I was quite pleased to have found the campsite but a bit bemused. The map in town did show Camping Rio Ara but the location it indicated seemed to be anywhere but here.
Still, the Camping Rio Ara is a superb campsite with great facilities and a pretty decent little supermercado (shop). The owner was a lovely man in his late 60's who was great fun. His English was about as good as my Spanish but that didn't seem to matter a jot. These sites apparently get very busy in August and they were pretty busy in mid-July. As ever there was a nice international feel to the site with the Dutch well in evidence — anywhere there are mountains!
We settled in, washed out some of our clothes and set the Bushbuddy up for an evening meal. The stove caused a great deal of excitement amongst the men on the site. All evening there was a regular parade of people trotting past our tent and gazing at the stove in wonderment. If Mr. Bushbuddy can ever get his act together he'll find a good market in Europe!