Cinque llac anglès ok

el cinquè llac

El Cinquè Llac,

walk the Magical Pyrenees

Responsible and Sustainable Hiking

Hike The Fifth Lake trail and you will discover landscapes of great beauty, delve into local history and culture, enjoy sport, delight your palate with local cuisine and unwind in charming country houses.

Hike the Pyrenees and Engage in Rural Tourism Topographic profile

A Regional Project We, the inhabitants of Pallars that are dedicated to rural tourism, have discovered that: • We must work together and pool our efforts to move in one direction, in an endeavour to offer visitors suggestions for exploring the region: · Hosting visitors all year round · Working from Monday to Friday · Attracting visitors from other regions · Offering fair rates while upholding the quality of the services available.

• The opportunity to become specialised. From experience, we know that hiking is the best option for promoting our natural and cultural heritage in a sustainable manner, since it is the tourist activity that best blends in with the environment and bears the least adverse impact. We are aware of the potential held by our land, and we are eager to continue in this direction.

• Our livelihood is provided by the land we are part of and which we love. We are therefore aware of the need for its preservation and we wish to promote it in a responsible and sustainable manner.

• We owners wish to play a part in promoting and preserving our heritage and environment, by investing time and money therein.

• In this project, visitors also contribute towards preserving the environment, as part of their payment is directly invested in the maintenance of the network of paths.

• Also an objective is the desire to foster ecotourism, tourism linked to local values and identity that minimises the impact on the environment and that enables us to preserve traditions, towns and villages, paths, etc.

• The Fifth Lake complies with the standards of responsible tourism, a type of tourism that creates better places for people to live in, and better places to visit.

• We wish to give impetus to the local economy, involving as many businesses in the region as possible.

• To promote local products, both agri-foodstuffs (in the cuisine we offer) and crafts (shepherd’s crook, felt logo, etc.).

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• The design of The Fifth Lake trail was accomplished thanks to the community’s wholehearted support. Villagers and townspeople (elderly men and women, livestock farmers, hunters, to name but a few) are its true architects, since it is them who have explained, shown and escorted us to see how people got around in bygone times. They have also allowed us to retrieve place names, legends and stories that were falling into oblivion. The trail owes its content to the collaboration of writers, historians, biologists, botanists, geographers, veterinarians, etc., both locally and from the surrounding areas. Without them, The Fifth Lake would not be what it is and would have proven difficult to bring to fruition.

• Local authorities and public institutions have also lent us their support from the outset. Town and county councils, the IDAPA (Development Institute for the Alt Pirineu and Aran) and the ECA Pallars (Pallars School for Agricultural Training) have listened to us, placed their trust in us and have wholly invested in this undertaking.

We are committed to improving the region, it is our commitment to the future and we believe it should be the responsibility of one and all, because however small the improvement, it is of paramount importance for the future. Our children will undoubtedly thank us for it.

How can we improve our region?

• Maintaining trails • Improving the existing infrastructure • Promoting both tangible and intangible local heritage • Enhancing the quality of the tourism amenities on offer • Engaging in tourism without overcrowding and without bearing an environmental impact • Incorporating specific and effective measures to minimise the environmental impact • Respecting nature, culture and local traditions • Promoting tourism in the region • Raising the region’s profile in terms of food producers and craftspeople • Improving the local quality of life • Raising public awareness of the importance of tourism • Believing in tourism as an emerging sector in the region • Enhancing the region’s self-esteem • Generating economic activity through the associated services • Creating employment • Generating other synergies • Networking.

We are convinced that small-scale projects such as The Fifth Lake shall help to preserve and improve our surroundings. We hope to generate synergies in the region and that many more projects will emerge, projects that help promote a model of tourism development that is sustainable, of high quality and environmentally friendly.

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Who Are We? The Marques de Pastor Association We rural tourism accommodation establishments and the agency marketing the product, Pirineu Emoció, have joined forces to manage The Fifth Lake and have created the Marques de Pastor association.

Goals of the Marques de Pastor association: 1. To recover historical and ethnographic heritage related to pastoral life.

2. To transmit and communicate values related to shepherds.

3. To enhance the old paths used by shepherds, recovering and restoring them.

4. To foster local economies through food producers and craftspeople.

5. To create economic or tourist activity that fosters the knowledge of heritage and ethnographic values.

To achieve these goals, the association undertakes the following activities: 1. It promotes the study of pastoral life.

2. It establishes cooperation with other public and private organisations to disseminate the values of shepherd life in the region.

3. It recovers the old paths that were used to move from place to place.

4. It develops trails and itineraries for different means of transport (hiking, mountain biking, horse riding, etc.).

5. It organises courses, talks, seminars, popular events related to the region and pastoral life.

6. It promotes local products that boost the region’s economic sustainability.

Why Marques de Pastor?

Because the flocks that travelled the old paths that we will tread had to bear the shepherd’s mark to differentiate them from those belonging to other owners. The association’s overarching goal is to attribute value to these old paths and to create other products similar to The Fifth Lake, each of which will feature a different shepherd’s mark to set each product apart.

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Corporate Image of the Marques de Pastor Association Before ascending the mountain, the herd must be branded with the owner’s hallmark to differentiate it from that of other owners.

The sheep were marked with pitch, which was applied with a branding implement made of iron or of wood in former times.

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The pitch was obtained from the sap of the pine tree.

Paint is used nowadays.

The oldest marks were made with circles and crosses, and were endowed with a magical and protective power.

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PASTOR

Responsible and Sustainable Tourism Why The Fifth Lake? Towards responsible and sustainable tourism.

Tourism that creates better places for people to live in and better places to visit.

Criteria of responsibility for The Fifth Lake:

Criteria of responsibility for The Fifth Lake: Environmental criteria:

• Arrival by public transport, via the Lakes Train, is encouraged. The Fifth Lake’s name is derived from our endorsement of the train as a means of getting to the starting point. Once visitors pass the four lakes by train (Sant Llorenç de Montgai, Camarasa, Cellers and Sant Antoni), they arrive in La Pobla de Segur, where they begin the trek towards the Fifth Lake.

• Accommodation is available that is increasingly more involved in environmental resource management.

• Minimum waste is generated (lunch box and bundle).

• Hikers are encouraged not to leave any trace of their presence on the landscape: · Nothing should be removed from the place. · Wildlife must be respected. · Consideration towards their hosts and towards other visitors must be shown. · Respect must be shown to farmers and the tools of their trade, for instance fences.

• A contribution is made towards preserving the paths and landscapes.

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Economic criteria: • Local products, both foodstuffs and crafts, are promoted.

• The visitor is involved in the region, in such a way that part of their payment is reinvested in the maintenance and improvement of the network of paths they use.

• The local economy is boosted and diversified, involving as many businesses in the region as possible.

• Additional environmentally-friendly activities are proposed.

• An investment is made in the future, offering economic alternatives that did not exist previously.

• It is a product of high calibre that reflects, complements and enhances the region.

Social criteria: • It is the product of owners’ awareness, responsibility and participation in the preservation of their environment, both their natural and cultural heritage.

• Public support is enjoyed. It has come into being thanks to the collaboration of individuals, organisations, businesses, town councils, etc., thereby fostering local cohesion. · Villagers and townspeople (elderly men and women, livestock farmers, hunters, to name but a few) are the true architects of The Fifth Lake trail. It is them who have explained, shown and escorted us to see how people got around in bygone times. They have also allowed us to retrieve place names, legends and stories that were falling into oblivion. · Writers, biologists, botanists, historians, shepherds, etc., both locally and from the surrounding areas, have contributed their wisdom to creating The Fifth Lake trail. They have afforded the guide its content.

• It encourages “authenticity in tourism”: the preservation of paths, villages, traditions, etc., fostering cultural exchange between visitors and the region.

• It provides an insight into the wealth of the region’s natural and cultural heritage, thereby unlocking its value.

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The Route

The Fifth Lake is a circular hiking trail in the Pyrenees, just 200 km from Barcelona, which begins and ends in La Pobla de Segur.

It is a mid-mountain route, accessible to all kinds of hiking enthusiasts, which takes in the counties of Pallars and L’Alta Ribagorça, at the foot of the Aigüestortes i Sant Maurici Natural Park, by way of an itinerary divided into five stages.

For over 100 kilometres, hikers will conquer the changing terrain nature offers us, while enjoying one of the most unknown and most astounding areas of the Pyrenees: the Pla de Corts plain, the valleys of Vall Fosca and Vall de Manyanet, and discovering Montcortès lake, the Fifth Lake.

Glimpses of the Fifth Lake are caught from various peaks on the trail, as if it were a drop of water, until the final stage when hikers see it in its full glory.

One of the trail’s key values is that most of the itinerary follows bridle paths and mountain trails (62%), some especially retrieved for the occasion and others already marked out by the respective town councils.

However, each stage has sections by track (26%) and road (12%).

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Culture and Traditions On the hike, we will discover that the area has been inhabited since prehistoric times until the present day.

We will come upon dolmens, shrines, churches, fortified towns, monasteries, bridges and Romanesque ruins, huts, farmhouses and shepherd’s huts.

The latter are examples of dry stone architecture, a rich treasure in our history, as are the paths travelled, the shepherds’ paths.

The Magic of The Fifth Lake The Fifth Lake allows hikers to walk through a truly rural area, hitherto unheard-of but made fit for human use, where the villages hold on to their original character as well as their feasts and festivals, customs, legends and traditions.

Legends shall accompany us and shall lend a name to every day, legends that imbue our journey through the mountains with magic on the quest to discover the Fifth Lake.

Stage 1 · The Sleeping Giant Stage 2 · The Witches’ Sabbath of Serraspina Stage 3 · The Devil’s Bridge

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Stage 4 · The Haunted House Stage 5 · Montcortès Lake

Explore the Environment Too Flora, Fauna and Geology The Fifth Lake shall allow us to discover a great diversity of landscapes, with their distinctive flora and fauna, strolling through the surrounding area of the Aigüestortes i Sant Maurici Natural Park and the PEIN (Plan for Areas of National Interest) for Montcortès lake, a unique ecosystem.

Throughout the trek, we will see how livestock farming has shaped the landscape we enjoy and we will gain an insight into its autochthonous breeds.

Gazing at the sky, we will spot large birds of prey such as the griffon vulture, the bearded vulture, the red kite and short-toed eagles, especially when we draw closer to large crags such as the Sleeping Giant. We will also set eyes on goldfinches, nightingales, tits, etc., flying overhead.

On the ground we will be able to see the traces of mammals such as wild boar, roe deer, red deer, beech marten, foxes, wild cats, squirrels and other rodents. And in autumn we will be able to find wild mushrooms.

Water will be a recurring feature throughout the trek as we will pass by springs, and at the bottom of valleys, we will cross rivers and an abundance of rich tributaries.

In the higher areas, at an altitude of some two thousand metres, we will behold vast and endless high-mountain spots, where you can contemplate the protected areas of the Aigüestortes i Sant Maurici Natural Park with its high peaks, as well as the peaks of Aneto, Monteixo, Montsent de Pallars, Cerví, Turbón, etc., as if we were on the balcony of the Pyrenees.

Adventure If hikers are in search of adventure, the setting offers the perfect terrain for following The Fifth Lake trail by mountain bike, on horseback and even astride a Catalan donkey.

There are a broad spectrum of outdoor pursuits supervised by qualified instructors that will get you started you and escort you to enjoy the activities in the utmost safety.

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Cuisine Cuisine is another highlight on the itinerary; it is a veritable pleasure for those with a predilection for good food.

Noteworthy regional dishes include girella (a type of haggis from Pallars stuffed with rice), palpís (grilled and stuffed leg of lamb), river trout, allioli de codony (quince aioli), organic beef from the Pyrenean brown cow and xisqueta lamb (a small but strong autochthonous breed), mostillo (made with must, flour and walnuts) and caramelised almonds.

You will savour high-quality food products such as charcuterie, especially the dry-cured sausages xolís and secallona, and exquisite cheeses such as tupí (fermented cheese aged in a clay pot) and brossat (a type of fresh cheese).

Cuisine that brings together the best products of our region, with local products and thousand-year-old recipes, capable of satisfying the most demanding palates.

All washed down with the regional wine, which bears the Costers del Segre designation of origin.

The Shepherd’s Crook The paths travelled are shepherds’ paths.

To navigate the changing terrain, the shepherds use a staff carved from hazel wood, as they are very straight, lightweight and allow them to control the sheep.

Hikers will be given a staff made of hazel wood which is to be marked upon the completion of each of the five stages: the five shepherd’s marks of each house.

Those that obtain the five marks will be given the trophy, the Shepherd’s Crook: the shepherd’s third arm, which acts as a long arm to catch the sheep by the hind legs.

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Passage of the book The shepherds and the stars “Per fer un tirapeu, se talla un lluc d’avellaner de deu pams, si hi ha de ser pra un pastor o un majoral. I de set, si ha de ser pra un rabadà. Una vegada tallat lo lluc, que ham de procurar que sigue ben recte, se colga quinze dies sota del femer, perquè “quede cuit”, i que la pell no es pugue desprendre mai més del tronc. Això se vol així perquè el pastor pugue fer-hi senyals amb lo ganivet, les quals, altrament, no se hi coneixerín.

Mentres lo lluc soterrat “ es cou”, lo ferrer fa el ganxo que el pastor li ha ancarregat i que hi sirà col·locat al cap prim, sense clava-hi cap clau, però que quedarà tan fort que mai més no se’n mourà per res. Pra aconseguir que hi quede assegurat del tot, hu fem d’una manera antiquíssima i que done uns resultats ben bons. Després, mastegaràs molla de pa, fins que quedarà com una pasta, i, seguidament ompliràs lo con del ganxo atapint-lo bé amb la mà. Fet això, i un cop lo bastó a dins del con, se tomba l’estri picant amb el ferro a terra, fins que l’asmentat ganxo no es belluga gens. Allavòrens lo fas beneir i ja tens un tirapeu. Ancabat hauràs de tenir traça per a agafa’l i anganxar la pota del darrera de l’animal, i astirar cap a tu, i aixís la bèstia quede travada sense fe’s mal ni poder fugir. Quan lo pastor encarregue lo ganxo al ferrer, aguest li sol preguntar de quina mida el vol. Lo pastor que és bon pastor li dirà que hi passe bé lo dit gros, sense fregar anlloc. I, naturalment, si el dit no hi fregue, la pota de l’ovella tampoc no se’n doldrà. Jo sempre hi solc senyalar una creueta al bell mig de la bola. Aguesta preserva de “perperir” de cap llamp. Amb lo ganivet marcaràs al tirapeu totes les coses que guarden relació amb la pasturada, i així, al tornar a la tardor a casa, pugues donar a l’amo el compte del ramat. Amb les senyals que solament naltris coneixem, sabràs donar raó de les tronades que et trobaràs durant la pletiuada, les cap que es perden i la causa de la pèrdua, ja que es poden astimbar, les pot robar l’àguila o bé dels cops que els dóne el pastor perquè el ramat no li fugue.

Per a la pèrdua de caps, les pastors tenim de presentar a l’amo les pells dels que ha degollat, que nostramo examina i veu si cada animal ha astat degollat justament.”

Joan Lluís i Pallarès. Els pastors i les estrelles, Ed.Barcino, Barcelona, 1965.

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Practical Information 1. Technical Difficulty It is a “mid-mountain” hiking trail characterised by low technical difficulty. However, the route has significant elevation gains and a minimum level of fitness is required to complete the route in five stages.

It must be borne in mind that the stages are completed within an estimated timeframe of 4 to 8 hours per day on average.

Total distance: 105.30 km Cumulative elevation gain: 6.084 m Cumulative elevation loss: -6.010 m Total estimated time: 30 h Maximum altitude: 1,557 m Minimum altitude: 529 m

2. Climate In this region, a temperate Mediterranean climate prevails, without a harsh winter marked by low temperatures. There is highly variable rainfall according to the season, which is most pronounced in spring and autumn.

The average temperature is 15ºC: 6ºC in winter and 23ºC in summer.

Recommended season: we recommend spring and autumn as the most suitable seasons for hiking The Fifth Lake trail, both on account of the temperature and the landscape, though the mild Mediterranean climate allows for trekking all year round in moderate winters and summers.

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3. Infrastructure: Signposting The route is marked throughout the 100-kilometre stretch with official Catalan Tourist Board signage, which includes a sticker for The Fifth Lake and the continuous yellow line.

Additional material to the signposts: • The Fifth Lake Guide, by the Editorial Alpina publishing house, which includes a map to the scale of 1:30,000.

The guide has added value as the content has been written by individuals involved in the region that possess extensive knowledge of the different topics we will experience and discover while hiking The Fifth Lake trail. They wished to pass on their wisdom so that we can interpret and comprehend our landscape and our culture as we hike. An enlightening guide that is sure to help us gain a better understanding of our past, present and future.

• Download the tracks and roadbook free of charge from http://www.elcinquellac.com

4. Corporate Image of The Fifth Lake The paths followed are shepherds’ paths and, for this reason, the route’s corporate image is a pitch mark, a shepherd’s mark:

el cinquè llac • The circle stands for the magical nature of Montcortès lake, the Fifth Lake.

• The cross symbolises the protection of its hikers.

5. Practical Advice If you do not have much experience in high-mountain trekking and you have queries, this information may prove useful to you: The material carried on the trek must feature the bare essentials (nothing more or nothing less): Flexible trekking boots Socks Shorts Long trousers Underwear, Short-sleeved t-shirt Longsleeved t-shirt Light fleece Windproof and waterproof jacket Gloves Sunglasses

Head torch Mini first-aid kit Water bottle CamelBak Cap Wool hat Knife Sunscreen Mosquito repellent Compeed blister plasters Map and compass

GPS Mobile phone Camera Picnic The Fifth Lake Guide and its maps.

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To follow The Fifth Lake trail, it is important: • To have good physical fitness.

• Not to carry a heavy rucksack during the trek.

• To have knowledge of progression, mountain safety and orienteering.

• To set out early and not to underestimate the terrain.

• To drink plenty of water, especially at the hottest times of the day.

• To follow the itinerary with the guidebook.

• To check the weather forecast.

• To have emergency telephone numbers at hand: 112.

Our conduct determines whether hiking can be continued in the future: • Take waste with you to dispose of it in the designated areas.

• Respect fenced-in animals and close wire-mesh gates once you have passed through them.

• If you bring dog(s) with you, tie it(them) up on the stretches where you come across animals.

• If a dog from a village starts following you, stop them from doing so.

• Do not go near or disturb livestock.

• If animals approach you, do not be afraid and remain calm; they will probably think you are bringing salt to them. Do not take out plastic bags close to the animals for the same reason.

• Respect the silence of nature. It will allow you to hear and listen to the special and characteristic sounds of the area. The animals like to graze quietly.

Respect the environment, remember we are in a place of great natural value: respect the flora and fauna, the crops and private property.

Our enjoyment of this landscape in the future depends on our sense of responsibility.

6. Promotion and Event Organisation 1. Print edition: The Fifth Lake Guide by the Editorial Alpina publishing house, which includes a map at the scale of 1:30,000.

Promotional leaflets in Catalan, Spanish, English, German and French.

2. Online www.elcinquellac.com Description of the stages and technical specifications Elevation profiles Roadbook Tracks News updates on organised events Updated press summary Social network.

3. Esdeveniments Organisation of The Fifth Lake hike in spring Product presentation in Spanish and European capitals.

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7. Guides The Fifth Lake offers you a service with mountain guides that are officially qualified and are highly knowledgeable about the area, so you do not have to worry about following and interpreting the trail.

We have specialised guides in ornithology, geology, history, etc. Let us know your preferences and we will find you the most suitable guide in order to gain a more in-depth insight into the region you will be hiking.

Guide hire includes accident and civil liability insurance.

If you wish to share a guide, you can sign up for the scheduled dates to form a group.

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Introduction

by Pep Coll, writer Pilgrimages and hikes designed to achieve a healthy body or mind, or both, cannot be undertaken with a motor vehicle. And so, like a proper pilgrim, I left my wheels in La Pobla de Segur and ascended the old Montsor path, heading towards the village where the relics of the Holy Innocents are kept, the skulls of a number of children massacred by Herod two thousand years ago. From this Holy Innocence, I set off on my new pilgrimage. A five-day hike through mountains hitherto unheard-of, forgotten in the conventional tourist brochure, godforsaken, and deserted some fifty years ago by most of their former inhabitants.

If “el Pirineu és un cedre de portentosa alçada” [the Pyrenees are a cedar flung high], in the words of the poet Verdaguer, these valleys of Flamisell and Bòssia are its lowest branches. Many travellers pass by, swiftly climb the trunk, eager to reach the valleys and highest peaks of the Pyrenees. They fail to notice that the tastiest fruit ripens on the tree’s lowest branches. The monotony of the green hues of the highest branches unfurls down here in a blaze of colour, which spans from the red and ashen geology of the crags to the diversity of the plant life. In four strides, the traveller can go from Mediterranean vegetation to the flora characteristic of high-mountain landscapes. And the trace of former inhabitants that survived in this land, who literally got bread out of the stones, lends this route a special flavour.

The bitter yet sweet taste imagining that someone sweats for the sheer pleasure of it, trekking along the very paths where, for centuries, the sweat of one’s brow was necessary for survival.

A 21st-century privileged pilgrim, on the last day I finally arrived at Montcortès lake, “the fifth lake”, whose setting I had wandered around those days. I sat down to rest on a pile of earth by the water’s edge, right in the spot where, centuries before, the residents of Peracalç gave the folk of Peramea the magical relics of the Holy Innocents in exchange for a jug of vinegar to dress the lettuce. Suddenly I could see the legendary city of Pallars at the bottom of the lake. It was accessed via the Devil’s Bridge and there lived the former residents of Gramenet, Ancs, Manyanet, La Bastida de Bellera and other villages and farmhouses deserted due to poverty or the curse of witches. The residents lived in haunted houses, built with huge stones transported by giants. There were coal merchants, raftsmen that brought logs downriver, shepherds tending sheep of the xisqueta breed and brown cows, workers that worked in wool, cement and electricity factories… The tickles of a dragonfly on my cheek brought me back to the edge of the lake. I was lazy about getting to La Pobla where my faithful vehicle awaited me. After having journeyed for five long days over those old paths of fantasy, I pictured the car like a wheelchair.

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Day 1: Hike from La Pobla de Segur to Peramea “The Sleeping Giant”

Accommodation in Casa Parramon www.casaparramon.net el cinquè llac

Topographic profile

Distance: 19.5 km Cumulative elevation gain: +1,127 m Cumulative elevation loss: -759 m Maximum altitude: 1,240 m Minimum altitude: 530 m Estimated time: 6 h 15 min Difficulty: This stage does not present any technical difficulty.

Collegats, a Blend of Biodiversity

by Jordi Castilló Carretero. Pallars Jussà Biological Field Station (http://blocs.xarxanet.org/ebpallarsjussa) The massif of Eocene conglomerates comprising Montsor, Rocs de Queralt, Collegats and its environs is the foremost exponent of biodiversity in the Pallars Jussà area and one of the finest hotspots in Catalonia.

Strategically located at the confluence of two major Pyrenean valleys, the Noguera Pallaresa and the Flamisell, Montsor is a fundamental junction in the network of ecological connectors that link the natural areas of the Pallars Jussà: Boumort, Carreu and Serra Mitjana to the east; Sant Gervàs, Lleràs and the Serradell valley to the west; Vall Fosca and the Pla de Corts plain to the north; and the Tremp and El Montsec basin to the south.

Its location at the heart of the inland Pre-Pyrenees, halfway between the Pyrenees and the Lleida plain, has made species of flora and fauna characteristic of contrasting landscapes exist side by side: high mountains and Mediterranean lowlands, rock formations and crops, mountain coniferous forests and sclerophyllous woodland, and narrow and deep gorges and wide riverbeds. The proximity of two wetlands, the Sant Antoni reservoir and Montcortès lake, complete the range of ecosystems in the area.

Hikers that explore this area will enjoy the vastness of a spectacular mid-mountain landscape and will set eyes upon a great wealth and diversity of species of flora and fauna.

The rocky areas and crags see an abundance of birds of prey and scavengers, boasting one of the largest populations in Catalonia. Vultures, bearded vultures, Egyptian vultures, eagles, hawks, corvids, crag martins and Alpine swifts nest in the walls of conglomerate, and wallcreepers are a regular hibernating bird. Bats abound throughout the area, taking refuge in caves, tunnels and fissures in the crags. At sunset it is common to see them feeding on insects at the bottom of the valley.

The foot of the south-facing crags enjoys a very thermal microclimate that allows fragments of coastal holm oak to survive, testament to warmer and wetter eras, with species characteristic of sea level such as holm oak, laurestine, sarsaparille, strawberry trees, etc. Noteworthy among the Mediterranean fauna is the black wheatear, the black-eared wheatear, the bee-eater, warblers, the rabbit and many reptiles.

In the Noguera Pallaresa River, visitors can set eyes on the dipper, the grey heron and the cormorant, and with a stroke of luck the odd otter that slips through the current. Montcortès lake is home to species of reeds and rushes, and the tail of the Sant Antoni reservoir sees an abundance of aquatic species during the hibernation period and migratory movements in spring and autumn.

The pinewoods and oak groves are brimming with forest wildlife including deer, wild boar, small carnivores and a variety of birds that are difficult to spot amidst the foliage, but that will delight visitors with their song. A small yet striking world awaits discovery that will not fail to impress.

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Stage 1 · La Pobla de Segur · Peramea · The Sleeping Giant (1) La Pobla de Segur (530 m).

From outside the town hall and the tourist information office, we take the N-260 road northbound, in the direction of Sort, for 1 kilometre.

On exiting the town, we have to continue along the road until we come to a rest area on the left-hand side.

(2) 1 km · 15 min · Rest area next to Vallcarga stream (530 m). After the rest area, at less than 100 metres, we have to take a track that begins on the left.

(3) 1.2 km · 16 min · Track (545 m).

At the very beginning of the track is a signpost with directions and a small map. We continue for approximately 50 metres along the track and come to a fork in an old excavation area.

We leave the main track behind, which continues to the left, to take a secondary track that runs on level ground to the right. After just 50 metres, before entering a terrace of olive trees, we have to take the old Montsor path on the left.

(4) 1.3 km · 20 min · Beginning of the old Montsor path (545 m).

The path ascends towards the forest with twists and turns from the very outset. After 150 metres, we have to cross an old track to rejoin the path

on the other side, slightly more to the left. Then the path climbs the slope that overlooks the Vallcarga ravine, on the left-hand side. We ascend winding around a pine forest, catching a glimpse of the old paved path on some stretches.

ascend through the forest again until we get to the foot of a crag where the path climbs uphill. The final bends on the ascent are known as the Marrades de Montsor and the path’s distinctive feature is that it is carved into the bare rock.

(5) 2.5 km · 50 min · L’Arreposador (750 m).

When the path climbs upward to the low ridge, we get to some open plains in some natural rock terraces.

The place goes by the name of L’Arreposador and there you will find a signpost with directions. From the signpost, we have to make a big detour to the right to avoid the rocky outcrops and return immediately to the side of the Vallcarga ravine. We

(6) 3.8 km · 1 h 20 min · Marrades de Montsor (930 m).

The hill commands fine views of the crags of the Queralt rocks to the east and the Montsor ravine and Sant Aventí rocks to the west. These crags are the nesting place of vultures, the bearded vulture and the eagle owl.

The path leaves the crest immediately and again heads for the Vallcarga ravine and continues upward, though more gently. Once we pass beneath Llosa hill, only the final bends remain before exiting at Montsor hill.

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A Few Notes on the Formation of the Pyrenees and the Pla de Corts Plain

by Lluís Ardèvol, geologist The Pyrenees are a fold mountain range that formed between the late Secondary Period, some 85 million years ago, and the end of the Tertiary Period, 16 million years ago, as a result of the collision between the Iberian microplate and the European plate.

The great relief of the Axial Pyrenees (Aneto, Monteixo, Montsent, L’Orri peak, etc.) is due to the piling up of mountains displaced southward, formed by rocks from the Primary Era, slate, limestone and granite (Estany Gento lake, La Maladeta massif).

The Nogueres unit, where the Pla de Corts plain is located, connects the Axial area with the CentralSouth Pyrenean Basin (Pre-Pyrenees), a thick mantle of landslide deposits also displaced southward by an alternating series of anticlines and synclines. This unit begins with the Peracalç (meaning limestone) mountain range and the Sleeping Giant mountain, composed of limestone and marlstone from the Cretaceous Period. The layers dip southward because they belong to the northern flank of the Tremp syncline. These stones indicate the presence of a shallow tropical sea, often with a bed of reefs, which opened up towards the Atlantic Ocean.

The Collegats rocks and the Queralt mountains (Montsor) are made of Tertiary conglomerates that are arranged almost horizontally over the Cretaceous rocks. These alluvial deposits document, millions of years later, the action of earthquakes and faults associated with intense storms, when the Pyrenees were in the midst of forming.

The Pla de Corts plain is composed of coloured clay and chalk from the Triassic Period, noteworthy among which are sharp-pointed limestone reliefs where villages are established (Montcortès, Bretui, Peramea, etc.).

Montcortès lake is of karstic origin; it fills a cavity in the dissolution of the rock which is funnel-shaped (doline), 30 metres deep, and is constantly fed by underground water pipes.

23

E

Stage 1 · La Pobla de Segur · Peramea · The Sleeping Giant

(7) 5.5 km · 1 h 55 min · Montsor hill (1,070 m).

The path leads to a forest track on getting to Montsor hill, where there is a signpost with directions. There are two ways to reach the Peracalç farmhouse from here: via the track or via the bridle path.

To get there via the track, we just have to follow the track found at Montsor hill upward until we reach the village of Montsor, beneath which another track emerges on the right that descends directly to the farmhouse.

This first option offers hikers the chance to go through the village of Montsor, now uninhabited but which boasts excellent panoramic views of the Tremp basin, with the Sant Antoni reservoir and the elongated Montsec mountain range split in two, which mark the two gateways to the Pallars region: the Terradets and Mont-rebei gorges.

The second option, which is shorter and on the path, is the one described below. On Montsor hill, in the centre of the track as you look at the signpost, we can see a small path on the right that leaves the hill on the opposite side to which we arrived.

We take the path, which after a few metres changes direction to the left, heading northeast, and begins a gentle descent, diagonal to the slope, passing through a forest of holm oaks and young pine trees.

(8) 6 km · 2 h 5 min · Tossal Rodó ridge (1,065 m) After passing over a small crag, the path exits the forest and reaches some fields located on the ridge of Tossal Rodó. The Peracalç farmhouse can be seen from here. We cross a track perpendicularly and continue downward amidst meadows and box scrub, tending to veer to the left of the path.

(9) 6.3 km · 2 h 8 min · Coberterada ravine (1,030 m).

We soon re-enter the forest, in a clearing of holm oak and box trees clustered together on the shaded side of Coberterada ravine, which we reach immediately. Back on the sunfacing side, the forest clears again;

we skip another ridge and enter the next ravine.

(10) 6.7 km · 2 h 15 min · Forest ravine (975 m).

Past the gorge, we pass over rocky crags on the sun-facing side where there is an abundance of rosemary bushes and a few scattered holm oak trees. Further on, we go around another ridge and continue descending the shaded side covered with a pine grove with box trees. Here the path widens.

(11) 7.3 km · 2 h 25 min · Ravine (955 m).

We cross a small ravine where there is a wire-mesh fence with a gate.

(12) 7.4 km · 2 h 28 min · La Llau de les Esplugues (950 m).

Just after crossing the ravine, we have to climb a path on the left to ascend a slope and reach a track that affords access to a number of fields in the Peracalç estate. The itinerary continues along the track until we get to a crossing.

24

The First Settlers in the Pla de Corts Plain

by Maite Arilla, historian, expert in prehistory The Pla de Corts plain is located to the north of the Peracalç mountains, with Montcortès lake at its heart. This, together with the Boumort and Sant Gervàs mountain ranges, comprises the Inland PrePyrenees Mountain Ranges, a set of limestone massifs from the Mesozoic Era. The Pla de Corts is the only east-west corridor in the county, which connects the Noguera Pallaresa and Flamisell valleys.

Situated amidst a major karst system, it has a notable agroforestry system, with suitable areas for agriculture and livestock farming. To this day it constitutes a rich tapestry of fields for dry farming, fodder, winter and summer pastures, and small forested patches with oak and shrubland. In short, it is a particularly apt environment for prehistoric settlement.

These Pre-Pyrenean regions had, from the late Neolithic Age, a high density of prehistoric settlement, the most evident testimony to which are megaliths (dolmens) scattered throughout this relatively small area: the Perauba, Cabana de Castellars d’en Pey, Cabana de la Mosquera dolmens, etc., which are, with the rest of the tombs in the Pallars region, a representative collection of Catalan megalithic architecture.

In the archaeological studies conducted in the karst area of the Pla de Corts plain, many pieces of large vessels were found, which seem to point to the spaces’ specialised function as storehouses. This corresponds to the Early Bronze Age, roughly at the time when the Cabana de Perauba dolmen was built, though other cavities show evidence of materials from the Late Neolithic Period, that is to say, older material (approximately 5,000 years old), such as flint tools and bone chisels.

Therefore, the wealth of a place such as this in terms of landscapes and resources is tangible, an ecological niche, upheld since prehistoric times to the present day, which is worthy of admiration and enjoyment.

25

Stage 1 · La Pobla de Segur · Peramea · The Sleeping Giant (13) 7.6 km · 2 h 32 min · Crossing (970 m).

We reach the main track that accesses the Peracalç farmhouse, which we take to the right. After 100 metres, we come to a fork: the path on the right leads to the Peracalç farmhouse; however, to continue the route, we take the path on the left to go around the farmhouse from above.

Once the farmhouse is left behind, there is an enclosure for goats on the right and, afterwards, when the track makes a sharp turn to the right, we get to the beginning of the Peracalç bridle path, marked with a signpost with directions.

(14) 8.1 km · 2 h 40 min · Peracalç path (1,000 m).

When we take the path, we begin a slight descent to go round the head of the Sant Pere ravine. The path crosses a slope with sparse holm oak trees and some scattered oak trees.

(15) 8.9 km · 2 h 55 min · La Llau de Riagràs (950 m).

We cross the ravine and begin an ascent on a track with some remnants of paving to reach the Parum crags.

At the top of the rock, the path goes around the ridge maintaining the same altitude to cross the next ravine.

(16) 9.8 km · 3 h 10 min · River stream (1,035 m).

We cross the ravine and, on the right,

we can see the beginning of a stretch on the path flanked by dry stone walls built with large blocks of stone. From here the path begins its meandering ascent to the village of Peracalç.

(17) 9.9 km · 3 h 12 min · Track (1,050 m).

We cross a track perpendicularly and continue the path upward.

(18) 10.1 km · 3 h 20 min · Cistern (1,095 m).

On the left we leave behind an old cistern and then make a long detour to the right, crossing the track again, to continue towards the village.

(19) 10.5 km · 3 h 35 min · Peracalç (1,175 m).

On getting to the village, we take the downhill path, to the right as we get there, and turn left on the first corner. We pass by the main street, where there is a signpost with directions, and exit the village on a downhill path. The path turns at a small depression, where we can see

old terraces, and begins ascending towards the Peracalç mountain range.

(20) 11.1 km · 3 h 45 min · Peracalç mountain range (1,245 m).

In passing over the Peracalç mountain range, we will enjoy one of the most spectacular views of the entire route: the Pyrenean geological formations and the Pla de Corts plain. This is a good spot to stop off for lunch.

Alternative route: When we get to the pass where the path crosses the Peracalç mountain range, those who wish to do so can lengthen the route slightly. You have to walk across the crest of the Peracalç mountains to Tossal de l’Àliga hill via a path that runs across the top of the mountain range. The views to the north and south are exceptional, both of the far-off horizon and the ravines and crags surrounding the mountains.

As you reach the pass, you have to walk to the right from the highest point on the path, following an indistinct path at all times but that cannot be missed because it does not stray from the crest at any point. Be careful because it is a stony path that is marked out in places on top of the rock seeking the best passage across the terrain. The distance between the pass and Tossal de l’Àliga hill is a 1.5 kilometre stretch; however, those that do not wish to proceed can always turn back and return to the point from which they started out.

From the Peracalç mountain range, we continue along the path beginning a rapid descent on a first stretch that has remnants of paving.

26

The Xisqueta Sheep

by Joan Jordana Margalida, veterinarian and member of Frare d’Aguiró, a family with a sheep-farming tradition Since time immemorial, sheep have been closely linked to humans, as they were domesticated around the year 8,500 BC. Sheep had many advantages: great mobility, which in our region led to transhumance; no competition with humans for natural resources; the provision of almost every need for survival – meat, cover (wool and leather), milk, fertiliser, etc. – and great adaptability to the environment.

The Iberian Peninsula is home to a great variety of breeds, the most famous of which is the merino sheep. In our region, comprising Pallars and L’Alta Ribagorça, the autochthonous breed is the xisqueta sheep.

It is a small animal – which helps it survive in the extreme climatic conditions of high-mountain landscapes – and which is characterised by its white face with black patches around the eyes, nose and tip of the ears. Advantage was taken of every part of the xisqueta sheep; let it be remembered that the mountains were based on agriculture and subsistence farming was practised.

A basic element for this subsistence farming was sheep manure. Therefore, the more sheep they had, the more land they could cultivate. This manure was so prized that even the flock slept in the field that had to be fertilised, thereby saving on the transportation of manure. The owner of the land that was fertilised kept the flock overnight and gave lodging to the shepherd. The concept of “fertilising nights” derived therefrom, which were often used as a means of exchange, to return favours, to pay wages, etc.

Farms that did not have sheep used to build sheep pens nearby, so that the shepherds fenced the flock in and the manure was collected; even the paths most transited by flocks were cleared.

To enclose sheep when outside, on the property, on the swidden or in the fields, the pleta (pen) was used. It was a fence made of pieces of wood called andars, which were lightweight and easy to transport. Expressions such as mudar la pleta (move the pen), tatxar la pleta (tack the pen) or rebentar la pleta (burst open the pen) were very common.

Also of great importance was milk production to make cheese, which was a highly-prized product.

An average flock, milking approximately fifty sheep for a month, provided cheese for home use for a year. A by-product of cheese production is brossat (milk curd), which is scrumptious. Even today, all the farms with a sheep-farming tradition still have the typical wooden cheese moulds and other utensils, such as wooden pails, milking stools, etc. The sheep were milked in the month of June, when the lambs were weaned and, as they were satiated on soft, fresh and delicious grass, the milk flowed out of them.

There was fierce competition among farmers to see who could set the ewes free first so they could seek out the freshest and cleanest grass to graze.

Usually the sheep were not milked in the pens, it was done on the property; therefore they did not have to walk far, which favoured milk production, and their udders did not get dirty. They were milked in specific places on the farm called orris, or milking sheds. It is a dry stone building with two parallel walls, approximately 1.5 metres in height, which formed a corridor two metres wide. Though it was very long, it was not straight but curved to prevent overcrowding. In many places in our mountains, there are ruins of these milking sheds, which have also lent their name to many spots, such as Pic de l’Orri, Orri d’Amunt, Clot de l’Orri, etc.

Wool, obviously cut with scissors, was sheared animal by animal, forming the fleeces that were later put in bags. The wool had high commercial value, and large quantities were transported to Andorra and France to be sold on the black market. In the 1940s, black marketers paid 100 pesetas per kilo and carried bundles weighing 40 kilos on their backs. There were also major local industries that 27

Stage 1 · La Pobla de Segur · Peramea · The Sleeping Giant

transformed the wool into yarn, blankets and other fabrics, for instance, the factories in Senterada or in El Pont de Suert. It was said that a good fleece was worth more than a shearer’s daily wage.

Meat was always eaten by the household. It was not until the 19th century that its commercialisation began. Entire herds of sheep were bred in order to sell their meat.

Catalonia witnessed a sheep-farming boom in the 19th century: wool production was a major economic activity, as was meat production to an increasing degree. Very large flocks of sheep were formed and this was possible thanks to transhumance. The flocks spent the summer months in the Pyrenees, and in autumn moved towards the south of the province of Lleida, towards Baix Cinca, etc.

It was much easier and cheaper to bring the sheep to the food than to bring food to the sheep. To a certain extent, nomadism was being practised once again. There was always a small flock that did not engage in transhumance, which spent the entire year in the mountains. These flocks were called ramats botiers. In the Iberian Peninsula, transhumance held great importance. In the Middle Ages, the Concejo de la Mesta (Council of the Mesta, an association of sheep ranchers) was established, which regulated the issue at national level, as well as the paths travelled by the transhumant animals, known as drovers’ roads. Preparing the transhumance journey was a veritable ritual, especially the jingling of the bellwethers.

Transhumance also had a very important social impact, since the shepherds also travelled with the sheep. Some marriages had taken place between boys from the Pyrenees and girls from Tarragona. In some cases, the entire family moved.

In summer, the flocks came together in large groups, some with up to 5,000 sheep, to graze in the mountains. They used to form in early July when the livestock was mixed, and they disbanded in autumn, usually for Sant Miquel, when they were sorted again according to their mark; then they were counted and accounts were settled.

Each flock had a pitch mark on their back or ribs, as well as one on their ears, to identify them. Today, each animal has only one mark, a number with a chip, as well as numbered ear tags.

These flocks were so large that two shepherds led them: the maioral (head shepherd) and the regatxo (herd boy), the assistant or the apprentice, who was generally younger.

There was a sort of competition around this shepherd life between flocks and shepherds, particularly with things or tools that were handcrafted: bell collars, backpacks, shepherd’s crooks, Catalan sheepdogs, etc.

Today, the number of sheep in Europe has fallen sharply and, evidently, in our region also. The primary production nowadays in the Pyrenees is meat, though sheep are highly valued both in terms of the scenery and the environment, as their grazing helps to preserve the Alpine meadows, to cut back the undergrowth and to clean up forests.

28

Peramea

by Peramea’s cultural association Lo Vent de Port On arrival in Peramea, we come upon the Torre dels Colomers tower, located on the opposite side of the castle. It is thought it acted as a watchtower and therefore could be dated to around the 12th or 13th centuries. It is a building with a circular ground plan, only the ruins of walls remain today, and their width leads us to believe that it was considerably high. This point affords magnificent views over the village of Peramea, the entire flatland of the Pla de Corts, the Peracalç mountain range and the surrounding mountains.

Once inside the walled town of Peramea, the first record of which dates from the 11th century, we can move to the highest part of the village where the church and the Roca del Castell (Castle Rock) stand, the site of the castle’s ruins, which can be accessed via a narrow path.

The castle dates from the 11th century and is associated with the spreading of the small local nobility after the year 1000. Today, only a few stretches of wall next to the small platform that extends above the rock remain.

After contemplating the castle ruins and the breathtaking views seen from there, we move towards the Church of Sant Cristòfol, which is found at the foot of the rock. This church has a 12th-century Romanesque sculpture, Mare de Déu del Remei (Our Lady of Remedy), in polychrome wood, 64 centimetres in height. The Virgin Mary is seated with the Child on her lap. It is also the place where the relics of the Màrtirsants (Holy Martyrs) or Holy Innocents are kept. Legend has it that they are the remains of the children killed by King Herod, tribute to whom is paid at mass on the Feast of the Holy Innocents on 28 December.

The restored Carrer Major, and the Carrer de Sant Cristòfol or Carrer del Mig still have the colonnades that frame the stone buildings with wooden finishings. The Arabic tiles of the houses are reddish, as they were built with local clay of this colour.

The drinking trough, the washing area and a fountain can be seen in the square. Next to them is a large elm tree declared a Monumental Tree. Peramea was declared a Cultural Good of National Interest in 1985 for its historic value. Today it is a must on the tourist trail on account of its walled town structure. The Era d’Ortega is the seat of the cultural association Lo Vent de Port, an information point and agroshop. It is an example of traditional architecture and a single-family farming production unit.

Around the threshing floor (unroofed central area) where the threshing was carried out, were the straw loft, the estisora1 and the pens.

Guided tours are organised from here, a minimum of one hour in duration, which include a visit of the threshing shed and the village. A visit is paid to the public places, including the porticoed streets, the prison, the entrance gates, stately homes, the church and the Roca del Castell, etc., which bear testimony to its medieval past. Some private spaces are also visited: an exhibition of old domestic trades and crafts, pillars of a subsistence economy, with entry into one of the villager’s houses, reflecting and consolidating the concept of a farming family production unit, which features the bread oven, the press, the wine cellar and calassos (granaries), and a visit to a forge, scenes of the everyday reality of our grandparents and great-grandparents.

In addition to seeing traditional architecture in the Era d’Ortega, visitors can generally enjoy a permanent or temporary exhibition related to ethnographic or popular themes.

1 Joist framing, typical in the Pallars region, to remove the need for a pillar in the threshing area and to act as a storage area.

29

Stage 1 · La Pobla de Segur · Peramea · The Sleeping Giant (21) 11.3 km · 3 h 50 min · Track (1,200 m).

We cross a track perpendicularly and continue the descent on the path, now within a Scots pine and boxwood forest. The path presents a smooth descent, which has a good surface and a gentle slope.

(22) 12.5 km · 4 h 15 min · Track (1,035 m).

We take the trail to the right, downhill, heading towards Cortscastell.

(23) 13.9 km · 4 h 40 min · Crossing (925 m).

When we get to the signposted crossing, we continue to the left.

(24) 14.2 km · 4 h 45 min · Path (920 m).

To the right of the path is a signpost that marks the entry to the path we have to take. Pay attention to the paint markings because the path has some points where you could get lost.

(25) 14.8 km · 4 h 55 min · Track (830 m).

As we get to the path, we continue downward, in the same direction.

(26) 15.6 km · 5 h 10 min · Cortscastell (820 m).

We pass by Cortscastell and continue on the paved road.

(27) 15.9 km · 5 h 15 min · Path (815 m).

When we get to a large cultivated field, we leave the road and take the bridle path to the right, beneath some power lines. The bridle path built on dry stone walls runs through a forest of holm oak and oak trees and gradually gains altitude, guided and watched over by the Sleeping Giant at all times.

(28) 16.1 km · 5 h 20 min · Track (820 m).

The path leads to a track we must take on the right. After less than 100 metres, we will leave the track to continue along the path we find once again on the right. Shortly afterwards, we cross the track perpendicularly to continue along the path.

More daring hikers can venture as far as the peak known as L’Àliga or the Sleeping Giant, leaving the paved path behind. Here ceramic materials from the Iberian period abound which are not associated with any structure. Nevertheless, the largest concentration of pottery is found under the cover of the triangular section and rectangular ground plan at the foot of the Sleeping Giant, which not only has vestiges of Iberian pottery, but also medieval stoneware and some pieces of handmade pottery. These settlements could be explained by the fact that it was a good waypoint, and therefore the Iberian site might have acted as a place to control the flow of movement.

Although the construction of the paved path is medieval, the route is much older. It should be borne in mind that it was traditionally used as a waypoint between Pallars Jussà and Pallars Sobirà, to bypass Collegats, until the 17th century when a stable path was opened for animals and people through Collegats.

(29) 17.1 km · 5 h 30 min · Pujol road (860 m).

As we exit the road, we cross it perpendicularly and continue along a path that begins on the other verge, a little to the left. We gradually gain altitude on a stretch of stony path until we get to a track.

(30) 17.8 km · 5 h 45 min · Track (910).

We continue ascending the track.

From this point, and as far as Peramea, the route runs across country tracks.

The stone cross dates from the year 1622. It bears the image of Christ on the front and the Virgin Mary on the back. Its rustic appearance suggests that it was a Romanesque cross that was subsequently modified.

(31) 17.9 km · 5 h 48 min · Crossing (915 m).

On the left is the Peramea crossing just before the track forks. We continue uphill along the same track we were on. In the next 200 metres, we come to two additional forks at which we have to veer left both times.

30

The Holy Martyrs of Peramea

by Pep Coll, writer In times of drought, the villages of the Pla de Corts plain led processions with the relics of the Holy Martyrs (relics of the Holy Innocents that were kept, under lock and key, in a side altar of the parish church of Peramea) and sprinkled them with water from the lake so that it would rain.

The legend has it that the urn holds the relics of the innocent children murdered by Herod, when the despot persecuted the Child Jesus. They are revered once a year on 28 December, the Feast of the Holy Innocents.

In Peramea, it is said that the relics were discovered in the Holy Land by the Count of Pallars, who had travelled there on the Crusades and gave them to the village upon his return from the war. In Peracalç, however, it is claimed the bones were unearthed in the mountain of Sant Aventí by a bull from the Baro farm that went to scrape the ground at the top of a hill every day.

Another satirical legend, very popular in the region, confirms the Pallars origin of the relics. It is said that in a year of drought both villages came together to ask for rain. After praying and soaking the relics, the people stayed to have lunch by the lake. The Salta-roques2 of Peracalç, realised that they had forgotten the vinegar to dress the lettuce. One of them bemoaned: “Who knows what I would give for a jug of vinegar”. The jealous folk from Peramea overheard them and offered them a jug of vinegar in exchange for the relics. And that is what they did without giving it much thought.

This legend was compiled by Pep Coll (2010). Free translation of an excerpt from Guia dels indrets mítics i llegendaris del Pallars Sobirà. deParís Edicions.

According to oral sources in Peracalç, what seemed like a good deal to the people of Peramea, was not such a great deal. It was as if a huge weight was lifted off the Peracalç villagers’ shoulders as they had to illuminate the relics with an oil lamp, and it was really expensive to maintain at the time.

2 Derogatory name, meaning “rock jumpers”, given to the inhabitants due to the village’s abundance of rocks, which had to be negotiated to get from one place to another.

31

Stage 1 · La Pobla de Segur · Peramea · The Sleeping Giant

The Sleeping Giant is neither gigantesque nor dormant, but the nickname suits it down to the ground. It is clear it is a woman on account of the large breasts and the height, and the almost two and a half kilometres from head to food merit the epithet of giant. We do not know whether she is sleeping or not, but as she is outstretched and not moving, it is easy to imagine so. At least, this is what has been done by generations of Pallars residents since time immemorial until today; the nickname given to the mountain’s profile is still part of the imaginary of much of the Pallars population. The Sleeping Giant is the silhouette of the Peracalç mountain range, seen from the north, which nature’s whims has moulded into creating the profile of a woman lying face up. To see her, you have to imagine her head corresponds to the rocks to the east, while the highest peaks, Tossal de l’Àliga, corresponds to the breasts. At the western end are her feet, just above Peracalç hill. Popular legend surrounding the Sleeping Giant has it that, in the event of jeopardy, this outstretched woman would awaken to defend the region, as she did against the Saracens.

(32) 18.7 km · 6 h · Lleràs track (890 m).

The track we were on leads to another in better condition that goes to Lleràs. If we make a detour towards Lleràs, to the right, we can visit the Mosquera dolmen. But the route continues to the left until it comes to a farm after less than 200 metres. On the farm, we will be able to see the xisqueta autochthonous breed of sheep.

The Sant Cristòfol fountain is located on the side of the path, on a wall 2.4 metres high that encloses some pastures.

Locals say this marks the place where the old Church of Sant Cristòfol stood; in fact, the walls where the fountain is found are reused building materials. Of the four basins, one is a stone sarcophagus free of a trapezoidal ground plan, 2.03 metres in length.

The other vessels are smaller and may be ossuaries or oil receptacles for lighting up the temple. This sarcophagus could date to between the 12th and 15th centuries.

The Mosquera dolmen, also known as “Cabana de la Mosquera”, is a megalithic monument of a funerary nature dating from the Bronze Age. Hikers can pay it a visit and return to the junction to reach Peramea.

Why cabana (meaning “hut”)?

Because many megaliths have been reused as shepherd’s huts, as is the case of the Cabana de la Mosquera. On account of its use, it has undergone several renovations, which makes it so special. As a result, only the W stone and the stone lid remain in their original position. The fact that it is in the middle of a crop field was the reason for which no other remains of tumulus were preserved.

(33) 18.8 km · 6 h 5 min · Farm (890 m).

Opposite the farm and to the right another track begins that leads directly to Peramea. However, if we wish, we can take the track on the left, which also leads to Peramea, and thereby visit the Sant Cristòfol fountain.

(34) 19.5 km · 6 h 15 min · Peramea (900 m).

The track leads to the point directly beneath the watchtower of the old Peramea castle. We enter the village via the downhill street that leads directly to the square, where there is a monumental elm tree and a fountain.

Are you familiar with the legend of the Holy Martyrs of Peramea?

Casa Parramon is just in front of the fountain, entering the walled village through an arched gateway.

32

OUR BIRDS

by Víctor Sanz Sánchez, text and drawings.

Griffon vulture (Gyps fulvus) Very large scavenger whose wingspan can reach 280 cm. The plumage is yellowish brown in colour with a dark tail and wings. Its bill is strong and hooked.

It is a very gregarious bird and often forms large colonies. The bird has a circular gliding flight within currents of hot air. It feeds on dead animals spied on the ground thanks its acute vision, thereby helping to clear the ground of large decomposing carcasses that can cause diseases. The griffon vulture nests on cliffs, forming colonies.

Bearded vulture (Gypaetus barbatus) A carrion-eater the size of a griffon vulture and with more solitary habits. Its adult plumage is ochre in colour, which takes on rust hues underneath and is darker on top. It has a white head with a black mask with feather tufts that droop on either side of its beak like a beard. In flight, it has long and narrow pointed wings and a long wedge-shaped tail.

The young are completely dark.

The bearded vulture’s breast and underparts are originally white in colour, but acquire the characteristic deep orange shade from bathing in springs of ferruginous water, behaviour which is unique among birds.

It feeds on the cartilage and bones of dead animals, and can manage to swallow whole pieces of fairly large bone. When the bones are too large to swallow, the bearded vulture will drop them from a height on rocks to break them up.

Egyptian vulture (Neophron percnopterus) It is the smallest European vulture. The adult’s plumage is white, with black flight feathers in the wings. It has a wedge-shaped tail. Young birds are dark brown in colour. The facial skin is yellow and unfeathered down to the throat in both young and adult birds.

Spending the winter in Sub-Saharan Africa, it returns to Europe from March to October. It feeds on dead animals, faeces, insects, small mammals such as rodents, and eggs, breaking them by picking them up with its peak and throwing them against a rock. In Africa, it also feeds on giant ostrich eggs, which it breaks by picking up pebbles with its peak and tossing them against the egg.

Peregrine falcon (Falco peregrinus) Falcon with white plumage, barred black underparts and dark grey back. It has a dark “moustache” on its face. The males are smaller than the females. Its name refers to some northern populations that are migratory, though this is not the case as regards our falcons, which are sedentary. The peregrine falcon is the fastest creature on the planet. It captures medium-sized to a birds in mid-air after a steep swift dive at more than 300 km/h and snatching them with its claws. If it tried to capture a stationary animal, it would crash into the ground. It builds its nest on inaccessible rock faces.

For many centuries up to the present day, humans have used the peregrine falcon for hunting using the art of falconry. Today, the falcons used for this hunting technique are bred in captivity.

Blue rock thrush (Monticola solitarius) Medium-sized bird found in Mediterranean areas with sunny cliffs. The male has blue-grey plumage, which is a deeper blue in breeding season. The female is a duller dark grey colour with black tail feathers.

It can be seen on cliff edges, from where the male sings his melodic call. The male also performs an impressive mating flight, soaring upward to then dive with its wings folded while singing. Some individual birds live in urban areas. It captures insects and other small invertebrates found between stones or captured in flight.

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E

Pallars Jussà Biological Field Station (http://blocs.xarxanet.org/ebpallarsjussa)

Golden eagle (Aquila chrysaetos) Commonly known as the “queen of birds” as it is the largest and strongest European eagle. Its plumage is dark brown underneath with lighter golden-brown plumage on the back of the crown and nape. It has a strong hooked bill and yellow legs with robust feet that have powerful talons.

It is a bird of prey that feeds on a wide range of prey, from rabbits and partridges to foxes and young ungulates. It can also feed on carrion. In Asia and Northern Europe it even hunts adult wolves and wolverines. The golden eagle builds its nest on crags, and more seldomly in the canopies of large trees.

Common raven (Corvus corax) It is the largest passerine bird species. Its plumage, beak and legs are all black.

Its flight differs from other species of corvids on account of its wedge-shaped tail. The common raven is omnivorous and feeds on fruit, rodents, lizards, carrion, etc. Its collaboration proves valuable to vultures and other large scavengers since it is the first to discover dead animals.

A powerful subject of mythology, the bird was worshipped by Vikings as a pair of ravens served as messengers for the god Odin. In other cultures, the bird is considered a symbol of death (in the Koran, it teaches Cain how to bury his dead brother) and sin (it is the only creature that attempts to reproduce in Noah’s Ark). It is also said that it acts as a messenger between the world of the living and the dead. The raven is one of the most intelligent birds.

Red-billed chough (Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax) It is a corvid with black plumage, a long downcurved red bill, which is yellow in juvenile birds, and sturdy red legs.

A very gregarious bird, it can form dense and striking flocks that sweep gracefully over crop fields and mountain pastures. It largely nests in cliffs and rocky habitats.

It makes a characteristic loud chee-ow call that can be heard at great distances.

This bird captures insects and worms found in the soil with its long narrow bill.

Eurasian crag martin (Ptyonoprogne rupestris) It is the only species in the swallow family that is found all year round in our region; a bird with a rounded body, with a wide neck and broad, pointed wings. Unlike other species of swallows with a forked tail, the crag martin has a square tail. Its plumage is greyish brown, darker on the upperparts and paler underneath.

Characterised by powerful and agile flight, gliding with its wings extended and flat, it can turn and move at great speed. It is usually seen flying at high altitudes, or patrolling alongside cliffs.

It builds a bowl-shaped nest of hardened mud, located in large cracks and crevices in cliffs. This bird nests in colonies.

Wallcreeper (Tichodroma muraria) The wallcreeper is a climbing bird with grey plumage, dark tail feathers and crimson, white and black wings. In the breeding season, striking in the male are its black throat, neck and cheeks. With its long, very thin bill curved slightly downwards, it gleans insects and spiders by inserting its bill into rock crevices. In flight, it is reminiscent of a butterfly on account of the rounded and broad shape of its wings; it opens and closes its wings spasmodically when climbing rocky cliff faces.

It migrates to slightly higher altitudes, spending the summer in the highest peaks of the Pyrenees and the winter in other rocky habitats, including buildings such as castles and some towns or villages with stone houses.

For further environmental information on the area, please see the website http://blocs.xarxanet.org/ebpallarsjussa

Day 2. Hike from Peramea to Beranui “The Witches’ Sabbath of Serraspina” Accommodation in Casa Macianet www.casamacianet.com el cinquè llac

Distance: 14.6 km Cumulative elevation gain: +1,191 m Cumulative elevation loss: -1,078 m Maximum altitude: 1,542 m Minimum altitude: 843 m Estimated time: 4 h 45 min Difficulty: This stage does not present any technical difficulty.

Topographic profile

37

The Herd of Cows Escorting Us!

by Assumpta Codinachs and Ramon Font, farmers

Around this area, and depending on the time of year, herds of cows, the Pyrenean brown cattle breed, are found grazing.

An autochthonous breed of the Catalan Pyrenees, which, like everything, has its origin.

This breed comes from crossbreeding cattle from Catalonia, Pallars and the Pyrenees, native to the Pyrenean and Catalan Pre-Pyrenees region, with the Brown Swiss breed from Switzerland some 150 years ago.

The Pyrenean brown cow’s name is derived from its brown coat and the geographical area from which it originates: Val d’Aran, L’Alta Ribagorça, Pallars Sobirà and Pallars Jussà, and which later spread to the rest of the Pyrenean belt and also towards Central Catalonia.

The breed is rustic, well adapted to the terrain and the climate. Of balanced proportions, it exhibits great endurance and is easily managed. It is also characterised by high fertility and productive longevity, calving ease and good maternal aptitude.

It is an animal that follows an extensive or semi-extensive grazing system, availing of the highmountain pastures in summer, and valley areas in spring and autumn. Some spend the winter outdoors and others in semi-housing, fed with grass and fodder reaped in the meadows in summer.

Calves, once born, stay with their mothers for between six and nine months.

Brunec veal is derived from animals of this breed, with an extensive grazing system all year round and managed according to organic farming criteria.

The product of raising calves with the milk of their mothers, fresh or dry grass from the pastures, complemented by cereal and pulse flour, afford us a red, tasty, substantial and healthy meat.

Brunec came into being at the end of the 1980s thanks to farmers in the Vall Fosca that turned our traditional system of cattle breeding into an organic system.

Today we still seek to create a product of the utmost nutritional quality and at a fair price for everyone.

This is how we dignify the work of farmers, we maintain and take care of the land, and we make life possible in villages in remote high-mountain areas.

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Stage 2 · Peramea · Beranui · Witches’ Sabbath of Serraspina (1) Peramea (900 m).

From the monumental elm tree in Peramea, we will take the road for some fifty metres westward, in the direction of Montcortès. We have to take the bridle path, signposted with a pole, which begins between the stable on the right and a drinking trough. The first stretch of the path descends between walls and still has some paved sections.

(2) 0,2 km · 5 min · Track (870 m).

We cross a track perpendicularly and continue along the path, towards Balestui.

(3) 0,6 km · 11 min · Track (835 m).

We get to a track that must be followed straight, in the direction of a signpost that can be seen at the end.

(4) 0,7 km · 12 min · Crossing (840 m).

At the crossing, we will veer right, following the direction marked by the signpost heading for Balestui. Near this first fork is another one on the right, which we will also take. It is an entryway to a field of crops, next to which is the point of access to the old Balestui path, where the route continues. The path begins a mild ascent here through a holm oak wood until we reach La Serra hill.

(7) 2,8 km · 45 min · Ancs River (830 m).

If little water is flowing, the ravine can be crossed mid-stream; if not, a few metres further upstream is a wooden walkway. Past the ravine, the path begins its ascent towards Balestui, but before getting there you have to turn left.

(8) 3 km · 50 min · Crossing (840 m).

On the left is the Sellui path, which has a signpost at the beginning. We leave the Balestui path behind and take the Sellui path, also uphill and passing through grass meadows. After 500 metres, we cross a track accessing fields perpendicularly where we have to cross two cattle gates. There we can see the autochthonous breed of brown cow . The path continues upward until it comes out at the road.

(5) 1,2 km · 20 min· La Serra hill (890 m).

We cross the hill and the path begins its descent as far as the Ancs River.

First it passes through a holm oak wood on the shaded side of the ravine, in which the moss and lichen growing on the trunks afford a magical air to the forest. The holm oak wood gradually turns into a pine wood, and further on, into a deciduous forest.

(6) 2 km · 35 min · Crossing (875 m).

We continue downward towards Balestui.

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The Witches’ Sabbath of Serraspina

by Pau Castell Granados, historian The Pla de Serraspina is one of the landmark areas of Pallars witchcraft. It is in this place, a crossroads between the Flamisell and Ancs valleys, where the witches’ gatherings or Sabbaths, presided by the buck known as the Boc de Biterna, took place. In the confessions at witchcraft trials, obtained under torture, men and women confessed to having gone to Serraspina mountain to worship the devil in the form of man, swearing loyalty to him on a black book and renouncing Christian sacraments. Most of these people had little to do with a supposed Satanic conspiracy against society. Some, such as Margarida Rugall from Paüls, were women that worked as midwives that lent a hand to sick neighbours using herbs, ointments, prayers and healing rituals. The climate of suspicion and fear that prevailed at the time ended up condemning this woman to the gallows in 1548, together with a handful of alleged accomplices, accused of having met with the devil in Serraspina and of having poisoned and killed several newborns, animals and people. Today, older people in the area still have childhood memories of their mothers threatening them with the saying: “If you do not eat up, the Serraspina witches will come down!”

Excerpt from a Pallars witchcraft trial (16th century): ...un dia anàrem a la montanya de Serra Spina, i portave’ns a cavall a ella una guineu i a mi un crestó.

I altres també n’hi havia, que jo no les conexia, que venien amb nosaltres. [...] I totes cavalcaven ab crestons i ab guineus. I davant mi ne cavalcava una en un crestó i jo anava a les anques. I diguí “Jesús!” una volta i vaig caure. I aprés digueren-me que no digués “Jesús”. Jo torní a cavalcar en les anques del crestó i no vaig dir més “Jesús”. I arribàrem a la montanya de Serra Spina, que hi ha mitja llegua o més. [...] I quan forem a Serra Espina trobàrem allí molta altra gent. I havia-ni un a cavall en un rossinot gran, que era home ab la barba blancha, lo qual ere lo diable. I ballàrem I cantàrem allí. I ens digué I manà que anàssem a fer mal. […] I féu-me jurar sobre uns paperots negres que de allí avant lo tindrie per senyor.

I feren-li renegar de Nostre Senyor i de la sua beneyta mare, I dels sancts i de los sanctos patres. [...] I se’ls cavalcà lo diable, ayxí a les homens com a les dones, per darrere. I de allí anfora anaren a Montrós i mataren un bou i dos o tres minyons...3 ... one day we went to the mountain of Serra Spina, her riding on a fox and me on a wether. There were other women as well, whom I did not know, that came with us [...] And all of them rode wethers and foxes. And before me a woman rode a wether and I was at the haunches. And I said “Jesus!” once and I fell. And afterwards I was told not to say “Jesus”. I rode the wether’s haunches again and did not mention “Jesus” ever again.

And we got to the mountain of Serra Spina, which is half a league or more away. [...] And when we arrived in Serra Espina, we met lots of people there. And there was a man on horseback, on a large hack, who was a man with a white beard, the devil. And we danced and sang. And he told us, ordered us, to perpetrate evil acts. […] And he made me swear to him on black pieces of paper that, from that point forth, he would be my master.

And he made them renounce Our Lord and His Holy Mother, the saints and holy fathers. [...] And the devil rode both the men and women from behind. And from there they went to Montrós, and killed an ox and two or three boys…

[Free translation of the original]

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Stage 2 · Peramea · Beranui · Witches’ Sabbath of Serraspina (9) 3,6 km · 1 h · Road (900 m).

We continue along the road, to the left, going deeper into the valley, until we arrive beneath Sellui itself, where the path is picked up once again.

(10) 4,2 km · 1 h 15 min · Sellui Path (925 m).

To identify the point that marks the outline of the old Sellui path, we must look out for three elements: the valley begins to make a major turn to the right, heading north; the road is almost at the same height as the river, and Sellui is opposite the path but on the other side of the ravine and a few metres above it. We leave the road behind and take the old Sellui road, on the left; we immediately cross the river mid-stream and begin the ascent on the sun-facing side, heading towards the village.

(11) 4,6 km · 1 h 20 min · Sellui (980 m).

From Sellui, we ascend to the Sellui barns via the sun-facing side where the path commands great views.

However, on summer days, hikers must dress appropriately and carry water.

We get to the access road to the village, beneath the first houses, which we cross perpendicularly to follow the old path that becomes a narrow alley with stairs that meander through the houses from this point

on. Initially, we pass alongside the small church and we have to continue upward until we reach the highest house in the village. For the last stretch, we will exit the village via the access track. We pass by the highest house in Sellui and get to Sellui castle hill.

Alternative route When we get to the access road to the village, beneath the first houses, we have the option of going for a dip in La Tolla, a spectacular pond that lies less than 500 metres away. It is the best option before undertaking the steep ascent to Serraspina. To get there, we take the paved road to the right for some 200 metres.

Before crossing the bridge, we take a dirt track that leads to Ancs. We will follow the track for 150 metres and take a well-marked narrow path on

the right-hand side that brings us to La Tolla. Have a nice dip!

Then we will go in search of the highest house in Sellui.Variant (12) 5,1 km · 1 h 30 min · Sellui castle hill (1.040 m).

From here the path climbs the hill for 500 metres, which coincides with an area of shrub vegetation, to later veer left, via the sun-facing side of Comacastell, where some scattered holm oak trees grow. The path climbs continuously, gaining altitude with a series of detours, until we reach La Serreta hill.

(13) 6,3 km · 2 h 15 min · La Serreta hill (1.255 m).

After the hill we get to a track we will take to the right, uphill, that leads directly to the Sellui barns.

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Vall Fosca: A Good Example of How the Association between Nature and Society Shapes a Landscape

by Maria Barrachina, environmentalist The rich cultural and environmental heritage found in the mountains is the product of thousands of years of adaptation on the part of Pyrenean societies to the limitations imposed by the environment.

The Vall Fosca specialised in livestock breeding, which has left its indelible mark on the landscape. It is a heavily deforested landscape, dominated by large expanses of pasture and terraced land on which crops were grown.

Sheep farming became the basis of a complex pastoral society, organised in accordance with the cycles and needs of the flocks. The availability of pastureland determined the livestock’s mobility. While they took advantage of communal pastures in summer, which still account for almost half of the valley’s surface area today, in winter the flocks moved towards flatland, covering hundreds of kilometres of drovers’ roads. Subsistence agriculture (not self-sufficient) and forestry (at least in the case of Vall Fosca, where the crops and pastures were reclaimed from the forest) complemented the economy.

Livestock fairs, such as those in Salàs de Pallars or La Pobleta de Bellveí, were significant dates in the life of the region. In addition to the purchase and sale of livestock, other issues and important business were conducted such as so-called “marriage agreements”, which helped strengthen the position of families. Besides fairs, also important were the mercats de carena, markets held on the divide between the Vall Fosca and Vall d’Àssua valleys, in Sant Quiri and the Triador pass, which changed their location depending on the farms that brought most livestock. It must be borne in mind that the sheep-farming trade’s communication between the valleys was primarily east to west, having to overcome more than 2,000 metres in altitude on some journeys. For this reason, we still find people in the Vall Fosca related to people in the Boí, Manyanet and Àssua valleys.

With the emergence and spread of capitalism, this system of socio-economic organisation was thrown into crisis. The inability to adapt to the parameters dictated by the market economy led to exodus from the region; some towns were totally deserted, as is the case of Gramenet. There was mass migration towards industrial centres or towards areas in which agriculture was being modernised. Land with poor access was no longer worked and many of the sheep farms closed down. Those that remained active expanded in size, progressively replacing sheep with cattle for the sake of viability. The last crop fields disappeared around the 1970s, deserted or turned into pasture or hay fields. As a result, the forest and shrubland spread over all the areas that were no longer managed.

Depopulation slowed down, first due to hydroelectric power plants and later due to the tourism sector.

However, the growth of tourism led to an increase in the use of the space for urban development, despite being particularly valuable for the development of agricultural activity. Today, “the brick crisis” shall facilitate the diversification of activity in which extensive livestock farming will play an important role. Environmentally-friendly and quality agricultural activities, together with tourist activities that are “more integrated” into the environment, can restore the territorial structure of the Vall Fosca. Now we just have to wait for a generational change and a qualified workforce to be able to sustain the primary sector.

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Stage 2 · Peramea · Beranui · Witches’ Sabbath of Serraspina (14) 7,7 km · 2 h 35 min · Sellui barns (1.375 m).

We continue upward along the path.

After a short time, we pass alongside the Xamora barn. Further on is a fork, where we have to continue along the path on the left. The track then makes steep turns to gain altitude and to get to the fields known as Els Planells.

(15) 8,9 km · 2 h 55 min · Els Planells (1.460 m).

The track fades as its moves further into pastureland. Before arriving at the top of the hill there is a signpost from where we will change direction and veer right, crossing some old terraces until we get to an old path that leads to the crest of Serraspina, to El Clot d’Andol hill.

(16) 9,5 km · 3 h 10 min· El Clot d’Andol hill (1.535 m), a place for witches and the Witches’ Sabbath of Serraspina.

This is a good spot to stop off for lunch.

On the hill is a fence separating the two pasture areas. We cross the fence and have two options: To continue along the side of La Vall Fosca downhill, diagonal to the slope and heading northeast. Be careful on this stretch because the path is indistinct throughout the meadow area. However, you can actually see where you have to go from the hill; it is a plain on a hillock that can be seen towards the northwest at some 100 metres below the hill. Once on the plain you have to go to the other side of a cattle fence to find the Gramenet path.

Another option is to follow the fence along the crest northward until you come to the fence that descends to the west. Then follow the fence to the west until you come to the access point to the Gramenet path. If we take this second option, we will see that it is easier and we can follow the continuous yellow markings on the fence posts.

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Cursed Gramenet

by Pep Coll, writer At the end of the last century, Gramenet was a village with seven or eight houses. However, a bad day befell the village when the residents decided to remove a stone from the church to repair the village fountain. A few days later, a hailstorm brought it to the ground. Since then, it hails every season, always on the same date.

After six years, the cursed stone was returned to the church wall; but the curse lingered and it hailed for a number of years afterwards. Most of the inhabitants left the village.

To make matters worse, the Casa Baró estate mysteriously lost the best livestock. The young lads on the farm that tended the flock were introduced to a goblin with a branding iron in his hand.

On seeing it, they fled in terror. “If I do not kill you today, I will kill you tomorrow”, threatened the stranger gesturing from afar that he would slit their throats. Then he branded a sheep’s udder with the iron rod and, that very night, the sheep died.

Today Gramenet has disappeared as a village. Trees and bushes grow on top of the walls’ rubble. Only Casa Baró, the last family to leave the village, remains upright with no door and whose walls have collapsed.

This legend was compiled by Pep Coll (2005). Free translation of an excerpt from Viatge al Pirineu Fantàstic. Personatges, llegendes i històries màgiques. Ed. Columna

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Stage 2 · Peramea · Beranui · Witches’ Sabbath of Serraspina (17) 10,6 km · 3 h 25 min · Gramenet path (1.430 m).

We take the Gramenet path downhill on the shaded side, among box trees and lush flora, weaving from one side to the other.

We cross the ravine known as El Bosc and continue the descent on the sun-facing side. We will immediately be able to see the ruined village of Gramenet, to which the paths leads.

(18) 11,6 km · 3 h 50 min · Gramenet (1.280 m).

Just before arriving in the village of Gramenet , the path makes a sharp change of direction to the left to descend towards the Gramenet ravine. Without crossing the river or making the ascent to the village of Gramenet, we take the Beranui path, downhill on the left side of the ravine, moving away from Gramenet.

(19) 12,4 km · 4 h 5 min · Track (1.215 m).

The path leads to a narrow track that we have to follow on the left, downhill. Shortly afterwards it leads to a wider track, passable for vehicles, which must be followed on the right, also downhill.

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Harnessing Hydroelectric Power in the Vall Fosca

by Martí Boneta i Carrer, historian The year 1911 was the year construction work began on the Capdella hydroelectric power station, the first in Spain (1914) and, with it, the onset of a series of changes that would transform the organisation of the valley’s economic and social life in a very short period of time. The Catalan industrial areas, fully immersed in the Second Industrial Revolution, experienced a growing demand for electrical energy.

At the time when its transport was technically possible, production grew in areas with no industrial tradition, exploiting the possibilities offered by water in its rivers and lakes. This is how the Vall Fosca, 200 kilometres from the industrial centre of Barcelona, entered this process. Energía Eléctrica de Cataluña, created largely from French capital, was the company that would undertake the work. Major technological innovations would make it possible to harness the water stored in 27 lakes, located at an altitude of over 2,000 metres, piped through the Estany Gento lake. A pipe, with a difference in altitude of 800 metres, would transport the water to the Capdella power station. Subsequently, the Molinos (1919), La Plana de Mont-ros (1940) and, more recently, the Sallente-Estany Gento lake (1985) reversible hydroelectric power plant would begin operating.

It is an undeniable fact that the work related to the hydroelectric power plant transformed life in the valley, such as communications, the population, the economy and commerce and – an important nuance – in a really short period of time. In 1911, it represented, for the Vall Fosca, a radical break with the past. And what’s more, a meteoric break, since it would occur in a matter of a few months. The construction of the road between La Pobla de Segur and Capdella, in just three months, as well as the beginning of construction work on the hydroelectric power station, would put an end to the valley’s historic isolation, contributing to an increase in the local population and fostering the spontaneous emergence of new activity sectors. The tertiary sector would predominate over primary activities for a few years, as approximately 3,000 people were involved in the construction work. With the works completed and the power stations up and running, the secondary sector would become very important.

Gradually, some sheep farmers would leave their trade in full or in part to work on the construction and subsequently in the power station, much better paid professions.

The recovery of the population, however, was only temporary, since from the second half of the 20th century, due to the crisis in rural areas and the growing demand for workforce in the industrial centres, a considerable part of the population would end up leaving the valley.

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Stage 2 · Peramea · Beranui · Witches’ Sabbath of Serraspina (20) 13,6 km · 4 h 25 min · Beranui path (1.125 m).

On the right, after the second major turn in the path, is the entry point to the Beranui path. A few metres later, the path crosses the track perpendicularly to continue downward. Three hundred metres later, we cross the track for the second time, but this time we have to follow the track for 50 metres to pick up the path again.

(21) 14,6 km · 4 h 40 min · Track (1.020 m).

The path leads to the track again and, this time, we take it to the right to get to the road that affords access to the village of Beranui. The final number of metres must be followed on the paved road to get to the first houses in the village.

On our arrival in Beranui, we will notice the major importance borne by the harnessing of hydroelectric power in La Vall Fosca, on account of

the two transmission towers that run along the valley from top to bottom and which we will pass by: · One older and smaller one, which is the oldest hydroelectric power station in Spain (1914) · Another more modern and larger one, which is the most powerful hydroelectric power plant in the State (415 MW).

(22) 14 km · 4 h 45 min · Beranui (1.025 m).

At the entrance to Beranui is a fountain with a drinking trough and a washing place, on the right of which we can see the sign for Casa Macianet.

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Day 3. Hike from Beranui to Les Esglésies “The Devil’s Bridge” Accommodation in Casa Batlle and Casa Mossèn Batista el cinquè llac

Distance: 23 km Cumulative elevation gain: +985 m Cumulative elevation loss: -860 m Maximum altitude: 1,540 m Minimum altitude: 865 m Estimated time: 6 h 30 min Difficulty: The stage does not present any technical difficulty.

Topographic profile

49

Traditional Architecture by the AssociaciĂł Lo Gaial Passing through the villages and towns of the solĂ (sun-facing terrain) in the Vall Fosca, visitors can discover the most characteristic features of its traditional architecture. The villages are laid out according to the characteristics of the terrain, often arranged around the church. In order to cope with winters in the mountains and to conserve the heat in homes, the houses tended to have few and very small windows, and animals were kept inside the household to take advantage of their heat or to integrate the entire life process in a single building structure, in a small but roofed area.

To accommodate the successive extensions of the houses, and due to the limited space remaining, some veritable architectural juggling had to be done, even overhanging the streets in the form of a bridge and tunnel. The extent of such construction is so great that, in some cases, seen from above, it appears as if the village has a single roof that covers all the houses, giving the impression of a very compact town.

The production unit is the threshing shed, comprising the farmyard, straw loft, the threshing shed itself and the porch. The threshing shed requires a wide and open space, enclosed and partially roofed to do the threshing in summer or to enclose the lambs in winter. Hence the estisora often appeared as a structural building solution to support the roof (tiled or covered with wool), removing the need for a central pillar, and availing of this essential open space to batre a pota (thresh by means of the hooves), by driving the mules round and round from a position of central command.

The estisora is, in reality, a joist made with wooden beams that would not be anything special today, but considering it is built exclusively through visual analogy and oral tradition without the necessary technical specifications or calculations of any kind, it constitutes an admirable building device engineered by daring individuals. Some examples may still be seen today in many villages in the valley.

On the most southern slope of the solĂ , there are very peculiar villages such as Antist, whose medieval structure can still be seen, with the houses huddled around a central hill which was accessed in its time by a very straight stepped street, delimited by two gates, forming a fortified set of buildings that points to its unique origins. Further south is Estavill, which also constitutes a very compact village.

Visitors can still see the roofed labyrinthine streets, with gates at the ends, which also allowed the village to be closed at night. These interior spaces still recreate an ambiance evocative of a shelter, as if it were a walled town.

Materials that were most at hand were employed in the building of houses: basically stone, earth and plaster for the walls, wooden beams, tiles or slabs according to the geological nature of the land in each village or town. The proximity of materials was fundamental. Those in the north of the valley used granite and slate, and those further south used limestone, sandstone, sedimentary rock and terracotta tiles with Arabic geometric patterns. This gives rise to specific shades of colour: from greys and blacks in the mid to north belt and reddish tones in the south. These disparate features, yet so consistent with the surroundings, can still be made out today in each village, despite some occasional appalling vandalism, carried out more through ignorance than through neglect, in the last third of the 20th century, an extremely difficult period for the valley.

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Stage 3 · Beranui · Les Esglésies · The Devil’s Bridge (1) Beranui (1.020 m).

The path that runs from Beranui to La Plana de Mont-ros begins opposite Casa Macianet. A signpost marks the starting point.

(2) 0,1 km · 2 min · Track (1.005 m).

We get to a track we have to take on the left, downhill, to join the bridle path again after a few metres, also on the left-hand side.

(3) 0,15 · 3 min · Beranui to La Plana de Mont-ros path (1.000 m).

The bridle path initially descends through patches of cultivated land and meadows, and then through an oakwood, but from the beginning it descends unfalteringly towards the bottom of the valley. The path does not have any breaks or interruptions and almost maintains the original width until it reaches La Plana de Mont-ros.

(4) 0,9 km · 20 min · La Plana de Mont-ros (900 m).

We enter the village via a street that continues downward on the last number of metres until we get to the road. We turn right and cross the entire village of La Plana via the road.

We continue along the paved road leaving the village behind until we get to the L-503, the road that runs along the floor of La Vall Fosca valley.

To continue the route, we cross the

L-503 perpendicularly to get to the Castell-estaó path on the other hard shoulder, whose entry point is in the same spot where the paved road that affords access to it begins. We will make the ascent to enjoy a whole host of villages that continue to uphold their traditional architecture.

(5) 2 km · 35 min · Castell-estaó path (895).

The path ascends a steep slope from the outset, overcoming the difference in altitude, twisting and turning on both sides. The entire ascent is made through an oak and boxwood forest, and halfway up, it passes alongside the mouth of an old uranium mine.

The path has no forks or breaks until it arrives below the village. The final number of metres run through patches of cultivated land where it is difficult to see the path markings, but

it is so close to the village that you intuitively know how to get there.

Finally, the path leads to a track that we have to take on the left to enter the village, on the lower end, reaching a viewing point.

(6) 3,2 km · 1 h 5 min · Castellestaó (1.100 m).

From the viewing point, we have to follow the street that runs through the village and go up a covered street until we get to the church, next to which is a signpost. We exit the village from behind the church and take the access road to the village, making a steep turn to the left. After a few metres, on the right is the Oveix path, which is signposted, and a few metres further on, the Antist path is also on the right.

(7) 3,4 km · 1 h 8 min · Old path from Castell-estaó to Antist (1.120 m).

From here the path continues on the western slope of La Vall Fosca, southward, until it reaches the village of Antist. We move along amidst former patches of cultivated land and oakwoods, maintaining the altitude.

On leaving the road behind, the path first gently ascends until it leads to an uphill track that we have to take on the left.

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Antist. The Hill-Fort of Antist and the Church of Sant Esteve

by Agustí Hereu, engineer (also using the historical works on Antist by Albert Roig) Around the 10th century, above the rocky crag where Antist stands today, there was a fortified medieval village. The current village was built by partially modifying the original structure but remnants of the “Torre del Carlà” tower remain in the east of the village. On account of its majesty – some 15 metres in height – it might be the castle’s strong tower next to the main entrance. From here, entry to the village was gained via the Carrer del Portal, which runs through the set of buildings from east to west, and affords access to all the houses, forming an enclosed complex with a clear defensive function.

Outside was the Church of Sant Esteve, which is still there today. The external structure dates from the 17th century. However, it still retains the semi-circular apse, the entire presbytery section and the original access doorway, with a semi-circular arch, to the south, features characteristic of 11thcentury Romanesque architecture.

Today’s Carrer del Mig would have enclosed the village to the south while the north-east and northwest would have been enclosed by the wall of Ca de Nadal and Ca d’Escur, features which can be identified to some extent today. Around the 17th and early 18th centuries, Antist stopped serving the function of hill-fort and the inhabitants gradually began to engage in agriculture and cattle raising like in the other valleys. The threshing sheds were built mainly on the south side, separated by what is the Carrer del Mig today, from the old houses, whose front doors open onto this new street.

In this manner, the threshing sheds, the church, the rectory and the school comprise the production and service area to the south, separated from the houses on Carrer del Mig. All this represents a radical transformation that finally comprises the village’s current architectural layout, which is unique in the Vall Fosca.

Testimony to these medieval origins is found in the houses’ names, which retain the name corresponding to their medieval function: Ca de Carlà, derived from castlà, house of the castle’s governor; Ca de Cavaller could be the house of the man-at-arms; Ca del Cortal, house of the keeper of the livestock barns, etc.

Other houses had names of trades such as Farré and Farreró (forms derived from ferrer, meaning “smith”). Others such as Ca de Santaulària, Ca d’Escales and Ca del Guit, which no longer exists, occupy a central position in the village and might have served another specific function in the hill fort we do not know of. Subsequently are Ca d’Aleix and Ca de Biles, which has also disappeared, located on the current site of the Study which, together with the priest’s house (the Abbey or currently the Rectory), would be the last buildings to be constructed towards the early 20th century.

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Stage 3 · Beranui · Les Esglésies · The Devil’s Bridge

(8) 3,7 km · 1 h 13 min · Old path from Castell-estaó to Antist (1.150 m).

On the left is an entry point to a field that is below the track, which also brings us to rejoin the old Antist path.

We move through former patches of cultivated land at the same altitude until we come to a fork.

(9) 3,9 km · 1 h 16 min · Fork in the path (1.160 m).

We continue along the path on the left, slightly downhill. Shortly afterwards, the path begins to gain altitude until it crosses the Eixert ravine, after which there is another fork in the path.

(10) 4,7 km · 1 h 30 min · Fork in the path (1.240 m).

We continue along the path on the left, gradually descending in altitude until we come to a track that accesses a field.

(11) 5,1 km · 1 h 35 min · Track (1.230 m).

We continue along the track following the same path we were on, but which we will have to leave shortly after to rejoin the path on the right, which runs parallel and is very close to the track. Finally, the path leads back to the track, just in front of the village of Antist. We immediately reach another busier track that we have to take on the left to come out on the access road to Antist.

(12) 1 h 50 min · Antist (1.235 m).

We get to a car park and, without going into the village centre, we continue along the road where we will immediately find the old Estavill path, on the right. At the entrance to the path is a signpost.

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Elevenses in Antist, Ethnological Notes

by Agustí Hereu, engineer (based on personal experiences) Until the mid-20th century, Antist was known as the granary of the Vall Fosca, since wheat was prepared very well, and though it was mainly for self-consumption, often folk from other towns and villages at the head of the valley came to purchase some. Every family sowed wheat, barley, oats and rye, and harvesting was carried out in July and August. The crop-related tasks entailed reaping, tying the sheaves and making stooks that remained in the field for a number of days until they were transported to the threshing shed for beating.

The task of reaping, traditionally done by hand, was heavy-duty work that called for specialised temporary manpower: the garbers (reapers), groups of workers that made their way from L’Urgell to the mountains following the gradual ripening of the crop. This tough profession, all day long with your back bent and carrying the sickle and the soquet4, called for adequate nutrition: at daybreak, the crostó (crust of bread) or fer pàlvera5, breakfast with the sun up, then the deu-hores6, lunch at noon, brenar (snack) in the mid-afternoon, dinner at dusk and finally ressopó (supper), if anyone needed it.

Those of us that have experienced these meals have very fond memories thereof, especially the deuhores (elevenses) with confitat7, truitada de trumfes (large potato omelette) and onion salad, as if they were our “Proust’s madeleines”. (*) To get through the work, sometimes a short break had to be taken with a swig of wine and gulp of water. The groups of garbers tended to communicate the break to one another from one field to another on either side of the valley. One team leader shouted “A beeeure…!” (Time to drink…!), the other answered “A beeeure…!” from Bernui or Mont-ros, and that is how a pace was set during the long summer days. At the same time, others, usually women, tied the sheaves into bundles with string and, finally, before finishing for the day, the stooks were made. And so it was until the season came to an end, beginning with barley and ending with oats. Later, August would bring the threshing in the threshing shed, work that was no less intense but was a little easier, then winnowing… and finally, the wheat in the granary and the straw in the straw loft. (*) Note that today’s equivalent would be to eat a hearty breakfast at the enigmatic time struck by the clock in all the adverts and shop windows around the world: ten past ten.

4 ype of wooden glove to protect the left hand from cuts from the sickle.

5 Breaking the fast with a small snack eaten before breakfast, which usually consisted of a piece of bread, garlic and a swig of wine.

6 Light snack eaten by agricultural workers mid-morning, between ten and eleven, to rest and recover their strength.

7 Combination of tenderloin, ribs and pork sausages conserved in oil or fat.

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Stage 3 · Beranui · Les Esglésies · The Devil’s Bridge (13) 6,3 km · 1 h 52 min · Old path from Antist to Estavill (1.235 m).

The path begins with a descent and immediately comes to a signposted crossing where we have to continue along the flat path, in the same direction, towards Estavill. From here the path continues without interruption on the hillside among former cultivated patches of land, bramble patches and some clearings of oak trees, maintaining the altitude at all times until it reaches Estavill.

(14) 8,7 km · 2 h 30 min · Estavill (1.200 m).

The path leads to a track just above the village. At the entrance, in a car park, there is a drinking trough and a fountain, though to continue the route we do not have to descend to Estavill. From the path we take the upward track, to the right, crossing a gate that demarcates a farmstead and heading towards a water tank, which can be seen nearby.

(15) 8,8 km · 2 h 32 min · Sant Genís de Bellera path (1.215 m).

Beneath the water tank you can see the entrance to the path that leads to Sant Genís de Bellera and the Devil’s Bridge. We leave Estavill, and walking on flat ground, we will get to a hill after a few metres.

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The Coal Merchants

by Mireia Font, historian From Estavill towards the Devil’s Bridge hikers will pass through an oak and holm-oak area, very much exploited by coal merchants in the 1950s. Many families earned their main source of livelihood from coal and also from the largest oak trees, which were used to make beams for the train tracks.

Eugenio, the coal merchant People from Senterada still remember Eugenio. Eugenio was a professional coal merchant; he had travelled from his native Guadalajara to La Bastida de Bellera through Huesca in search of oak and holm-oak woods for coal production. There he bought an oak and holm-oak wood and spent the last days of his life producing coal and living in the forest. Yes, he did indeed live in the woods in a cabin made of trunks and branches, from where he kept watch over his charcoal kilns. His grandson, who lives in Senterada, still remembers going to see him on Sundays and bringing him all the necessities.

During the Spanish Civil War, Eugenio found out that a neighbour in the village “of the reds” was in an underground hideout in the Torres barn. He found out because, while he was keeping watch over the charcoal kiln, he often saw his son going into the barn laden down with provisions. He even saw, that after a long time, his son carried him down on his shoulders so he could die peacefully at home.

Entire families were dedicated to producing coal. Wives and children helped to chop the wood, to transport it, to set up and keep watch over the charcoal furnace. The heaviest and most ingenious work was watching over the coal furnace, so that it ran smoothly and the coal did not burn. You had to be attentive for a dozen days and nights because it could not be left alone for a minute. Then, this coal was loaded into sarrions (small baskets). Each basket carried 60 kg of coal, and each animal carried two baskets; they were taken to the village by mule over the Devil’s Bridge towards La Bastida. This bridge was a common passage for arrieros8 because descending from these villages to Senterada, it was the main crossing point.

When the arrieros had to cross the bridge, they did so with the animals untied, because had they been tied in a row (it was customary to do so when eight or ten animals were in tow), and one had fallen, they would have dragged the others down along with them. Horses often had to be blindfolded and some people were not even able to cross it.

We were told a true story that happened to Sisco del Peraire from Senterada, a professional arriero, who led his line of tied-up mules. He always untied them before crossing the bridge, but that day, like many others, he fell asleep on the animals and woke up just before setting foot on the bridge.

With a roar, and miraculously, they came to a halt before crossing the bridge, saving themselves from a tragic end.

More than one animal had fallen headlong to the bottom of the ravine.

Francesc Masclans, schoolmaster of the school in Les Esglésies from 1927 to 1930, explained that during those years the blacksmith’s brother in Les Esglésies had accidentally plummeted to his death while working as an arriero, precisely in the spot known as Salt de la Paula.

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8 A person who transports goods using pack animals, a form of muleteer.

Stage 3 · Beranui · Les Esglésies · The Devil’s Bridge (16) 9 km · 2 h 34 min · Planell de la Serra (1.218 m).

Once at the hill, the path makes a ninety-degree turn to the right, westward, and descends a few metres to the small dry ravine of La Llau dels Plans. When we get to 1,175 above sea level, the path runs flat maintaining the altitude and goes around a few small ravines on the sun-facing side with former cultivated land and bramble patches. When we reach a young oak wood, we begin descending towards El Grau ravine, which is much deeper than the previous ones and heavily eroded. This oak wooded area was heavily exploited by coal merchants.

(17) 10,2 km · 2 h 55 min · El Grau ravine (1.125 m).

We cross the ravine and ascend on the other side to regain altitude and continue going round the ravine.

The next hill you get to is the site of Sant Genís de Bellera and Torres barn, both buildings in ruins.

(18) 10,6 km · 3 h · Sant Genís de Bellera (1.170 m).

On arrival at the ruins, we will leave the path we were on to veer left, downhill, to go around the buildings and head towards the southern side.

We cross former cultivated fields, keeping to the crest of the hill, until we enter an oakwood, where we rejoin the marked path, which is still on the crest of the hill. Be careful because, after little more than 300 metres, the path turns to the right, to the west, leaving the crest and descending the hillside towards the bottom of the Sant Genís ravine, where we find the Devil’s Bridge.

The Devil’s Bridge was built towards the 11th century in order to save the ravine from the devil, which has a depth of over 50 metres, and to connect the important monastery of Bellera to La Bastida de Bellera. It is an impressive feat of engineering, particularly on account of the dizzying height on which it is found..

We arrive at the ruins of the ancient monastery of Sant Genís de Bellera, which must have been established shortly before 840, at the time of the monastic foundations of Louis the Pious.

The buildings identified as the remains of the Bellera monastery were greatly affected towards the 1920s, when they were turned into yards for livestock. The site is known as the Sant Genís or Torres barns, on account of their use as yards.

Among the buildings that still stand, the church nave is the one that is clearly recognisable and, of the original works, is in the best state.

At the foot of the nave is the entrance porch to the church, which is the centre of all the other existing buildings: the yards, the straw lofts or the threshing shed, and advantage is certainly made of part of the monastery’s old rooms, which still has the same perimeter walls.

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The Devil’s Bridge

by Pep Coll, writer Legend has it that it was a diabolical work, carried out in just one night. It tells the story of a shepherdess in La Bastida that used to tend to the flock, underneath the village, on the right bank of the Sant Genís ravine. One day, on the other side, a dashing, young and smart shepherd called out to her: – Vine cap aquí, dona: barreiarem lo bestiar i mos farem companyia!

– Com vos que la travessa, aguesta llauota tan fonda! Que no veus que haria de fer un escamall de més d’una hora de marrada!

– Si et construigués un pont aquí mateix, passarís? – li engegà de sobte el jove.9 The shepherdess, who suspected the lad of ill intentions, wanted to make the task more challenging for him.

– Doncs, és clar que passaré! Pro amb una condició: has de fer el pont aguesta mateixa nit! Antes que cante el gall, ha d’estar dat i beneït!10 That very day, as night fell, a team of builders and labourers, managed by the young shepherd, went to the narrowest part of the ravine’s gorge. In a flash they set down a wooden centring and joined both sides. Then, they began to build a wall, while others filled in the interior with rubble. Others brought stones there that the stonemasons had ready in the blink of an eye. The young engineer did not cease to issue orders to everyone, and all of them moved as if their bodies had been possessed by the devil.

After midnight, they put the stones of the arch in place on the formwork.

In the morning, by the time the cock crowed, the bridge was completed. But then, by coincidence, a monk from the Sant Genís de Bellera monastery passed by. Realising that this brand new bridge could only be the work of evil, he went to the middle of the bridge and kicked the arch. With the kick, a stone was removed, leaving a hole in the middle of the bridge. Then he made the sign of the cross and all the builders, preceded by the engineer, slipped through the hole and disappeared into the abyss, with a sudden blaze and a strong stench of sulphur.

This hole can still be seen in the middle of the bridge today and nobody has ever been able to keep a stone in place there. It is claimed that no other stone in the world fits.

This legend was compiled by Pep Coll (1986). Free translation of an excerpt from Quan Judes era fadrí i sa mare festejava. Llibres del Mall. Barcelona.

9 Come over here, my lady: we will mix the animals and keep each other company!

– How do you wish me to cross such a deep dry ravine! Can’t you see that I would have to walk for more than an hour?

– If I built a bridge for you right here, would you cross over?, suddenly asked the young man.

[Free translation of the original dialogue] 10 Well, of course I’ll cross it! But on one condition: you have to build the bridge this very night! Before the cock crows, it must be ready. [Free translation of the original dialogue]

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Stage 3 · Beranui · Les Esglésies · The Devil’s Bridge (19) 11,6 km · 3 h 20 min · The Devil’s Bridge (1.028 m).

We cross the bridge and continue along the path, climbing the slope diagonally on the shaded mountainside of La Bastida.

(20) 11,9 km · 3 h 30 min · La Bastida mountains (1.080 m).

At the top of the mountains is a track which we will take to the right, heading northwest, and which we will follow as far as the foot of La Bastida de Bellera, where the bridle path is found.

(21) 12,7 km · 3 h 45 min · La Bastida de Bellera path (1.180 m).

When the track leaves the crest to move towards the sun-facing side, we come to the starting point to La Bastida de Bellera path, which continues towards the village over the same crest.

(22) 13,1 km · 4 h · La Bastida de Bellera (1.245 m).

The path runs very close to the village without entering the centre, which is in ruins, and it moves towards the access path. We continue along the track that runs flat until we get to Fades hill, where we find the paved road. This is a great spot to stop off for lunch.

(23) 14,4 km · 4 h 15 min · Fades hill (1.267 m).

We continue the hike along the paved road, heading west, on the left-hand side.

(24) 15,4 km · 4 h 30 min · Erdo (1.225 m).

We go through the upper end of Erdo and continue along the road until we arrive almost beneath the village of Vilella, where the old path lies on the right.

(25) 17,1 km · 4 h 55 min · Old Erdo to Vilella path (1.165 m).

The path reascends the ravine known as Torrents until it comes to a track next to flat fields. We take the track to the left and shortly afterwards we rejoin the bridle path, also on the left, to get to Vilella.

(26) 17,7 km · 5 h 3 min · Vilella (1.175 m).

Without entering the village, we continue along the access road to Vilella and we immediately find the starting point to the Xerallo path on the right.

(27) 17,8 km · 5 h 5 min · Vilella to Xerallo path (1.170 m).

The path moves along westward on the hillside, maintaining the altitude.

First we pass over a farm and shortly afterwards we get to a hill, where the path begins a rapid descent zigzagging to the river in Les Esglésies.

(28) 18,8 km · 5 h 20 min · Track (1.085 m).

Before getting to the bottom of the valley, we head towards a track, which we will take to the left, downhill, until we get to Xerallo..

(29) 19,5 km · 5 h 35 min · Chapel of L’Ascensió (1.020 m).

Shortly before the village, on a sharp bend, lies a small modern chapel on the left-hand side. A number of steps emerge from the chapel that act as a shortcut to the track. We continue downhill until we get to the road, next to Xerallo.

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Xerallo

by Joan Obiols, writer Sixty thousand tonnes of cement annually – 200,000 at its height – 160 workers at the time of sale – almost 450 when the factory was fully operational –. These are the basic figures of an industry that came into operation to supply cement, before the introduction of hydroelectric power plants in the Noguera Ribagorçana river basin in the 1950s.

I am writing a stone throw’s away from the site of the old village of Xerallo, just after the columns that frame the entrance to the valley, beneath the abandoned quarry. In the days of the factory, farmers and hunters could follow the trail left by rabbits on the ground and in the fields. The cement dust burnt the grass and left the animals emaciated. The farmers claim they wrote to Franco to voice their grievances.

But the greatest danger for the safety of the village of Xerallo lay in the quarry’s blasting, and this was one of the reasons cited for forcing the inhabitants to leave the village. Naturally, locals do not have fond memories of the incident, and still recall the dramatic scenes that took place for handling the situation in a manner that many considered unfair.

When work began on the Xerallo factory, people came from all over, laden down with children and eager to find a place to escape the elements.

– Good morning, Sir. Do you have a house for us?, the newcomers asked the locals.

– No, I don’t have one.

– Don’t you have a yard or a shed?

– Oh, yes, but it is in really bad shape; it’s bad, I’m afraid.

– Don’t worry; we’ll fix it up.

One day, at nightfall, a farmer from Xerallo tilled a piece of land that flanked the side of the path. As it was hot, the man took off his jacket and left it at the foot of a bank. After a while working, a young fellow passed by. Who knows who he is, he thought. All of a sudden, he realised that the boy had his jacket under his arm.

– Hey, escolta! escolta!... (listen up, listen up…!)

– Not to worry, my mother will lengthen it for me, answered the young lad, mistaking escolta (to attract his attention) for es corta (it’s short), as he ran away so fast that not even the wind would not have caught him.

As I look at my pen and paper, I remember a conversation I witnessed and overheard many years ago in Manyanet, at the end of the valley. There was talk of an ambitious project, of symbolically preserving the two silos and the chimney of the Xerallo factory and establishing a residential area as well as opening the valley’s road to 2,000 metres above sea level, and of joining Manyanet with the ski slopes of Boí and Taüll. There was even a hint of a possible link with the hypothetical slopes of Filià, in the neighbouring Vall Fosca.

For now, however, only the white houses could be purchased by the workers that wanted them, and they continue to be full of people in summer today.

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Stage 3 · Beranui · Les Esglésies · The Devil’s Bridge

(30) 19,9 km · 5 h 40 min · Xerallo (980 m).

On arrival at the road, we turn left to enter the village of Xerallo. As we go in, there is a small square with a sculpture on the right, where we have to leave the main street behind to find some steps that go down to a metal bridge that crosses the river.

On the other side of the river, on the right bank, we take the paved road uphill, walking next to the cement factory. At the first diversion, we turn right, going round the factory, to end up ascending towards a group of houses higher up. Just before getting to the first building, we will climb the steps on the right, weaving between the houses to exit Xerallo via the path that leads to Castellgermà.

(31) 20,6 km · 5 h 55 min · Xerallo to Castellgermà path (1.040 m).

The path continues upward amid an oakwood via a steep hillside until we reach the Chapel of Mare de Déu de Castellgermà .

Xerallo is known as the ghost of the Pyrenees on account of the area’s large cement factory, which has been totally deserted for years.

The history of the village is very much intertwined with that of the cement factory, which encouraged the creation and development of the village, and subsequently its depopuation and desertion.

In 1948, work began on establishing the cement factory, and all the old houses of the former village and its small parish church were demolished.

ENHER’s Fábrica de Cemento Pirineo opened its doors in 1950, next to the old inn in Xerallo, a cement factory that was to supply building material to all the waterworks in the Noguera Ribagorçana river basin.

The factory ran, in part, on the coal from the Malpàs mines. For this reason, in 1951, construction of the cable car from Malpàs to Xerallo began and, in May 1953, it began operating.

The Xerallo colony formed two main towns: one on the right of Les Esglésies River, next to the factory’s west side, rising above the factory and river, and another on the left, along the road leading to Les Esglésies.

All in all, single-family and single-storey houses alternated with apartment blocks, and at the height of its activity, it had all the services of a large town, including a casino.

In 1973, the last person left the cement factory due to its poor economic performance, and it was abandoned for good.

Now Xerallo is a residential area with 119 former employees that decided to live in the shadow of the cement factory.

L’Ascensió de Xerallo shrine was built by the engineer and architect Eduardo Torroja Miret in 1955. Eduardo Torroja stood out as an innovator with his reinforced concrete architectural structures. He was able to combine the most advanced techniques with the most elegant forms.

The church stands in the best location overlooking the entire Manyanet valley, and from where hikers will get their first glimpse of what Xerallo is. Xerallo is one of the finest examples of our industrial heritage.

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Our Lady of Castellgermà

by Joan Bellmunt i Figueras, writer According to the legend, passed on by people from one generation to the next, this image was discovered miraculously: “A young person that led the cows to graze in the vicinity of the Chapel of Mare de Déu de Castellgermà, was tempted to enter the chapel to take the money in the alms box.

When the young shepherd finished for the evening, he realised that he could not leave the place despite how hard he tried. A mysterious force kept him back while the cows made the familiar return journey. He immediately thought it was punishment for having taken what was in Our Lady’s box, so he went inside again to return everything he had taken.”

“Another legend claims that wicked people wished to take the image, so they grabbed it and put it inside a bag. When they tried to exit the chapel, they could not move forward, regardless of the effort they made, they were nailed to the spot. Seeing that they could not take it with them, they decided to burn it there and then, but despite how much they tried, they could not set fire to it. So they decided to go and leave the image behind”.

These legends were compiled by Joan Bellmunt i Figueras (2003). Free translation of excerpts from Devocions marianes populars. El Pallars Jussà. Pagès Editors.

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Stage 3 · Beranui · Les Esglésies · The Devil’s Bridge

(32) 21,2 km · 6 h 5 min · Mare de Déu de Castellgermà (1.080 m).

After the chapel, the path descends a steep slope till it reaches La Santa ravine. Once we cross the ravine, we will begin the ascent once again to gain some altitude and continue along the hillside going deeper into the valley.

(33) 22,1 km · 6 h 15 min · Sabater barn (1.055 m).

The path crosses a track perpendicularly and we continue along the path downward to El Bosc ravine. After a few metres along the riverbed of the ravine, without crossing it, we come out at a track, which we will take to the left till we reach the road that runs along the floor of the main valley.

(34) 22,4 km · 6 h 20 min · Road (1.020 m).

We take the road on the left until we get to Les Esglésies.

(35) 23 km · 6 h 30 min · Les Esglésies (1.035 m).

To get to Casa Batlle, we will enter the village via the road and, on arrival at the small square, we will take a small street on the right that climbs to the upper end of the village.

From afar, at the top of a hill, the ruins of the old castle of Castellgermà can be made out, the first record of which dates back to the 11th century, comprising a tower and an adjacent enclosure. From the top, where the castle ruins stand, the entire valley of Les Esglésies is divided, and the views make the ascent well worth the effort. The origins of the original village of Les Esglésies appear to be in Castellgermà; the residents lived in large dilapidated houses, under the castle’s rock.

Near the castle is the Chapel of the Mare de Déu de Castellgermà, which has a polychrome wood carving dating from 1200-1300, but without the Child, and the Virgin’s upper limbs have been damaged. This image is deeply venerated and residents gather there in procession on the Feast of the Rosary in May.

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Day 4. Hike from Les Esglésies to Senterada “The Haunted House”

Accommodation in Casa Leonardo www.casaleonardo.net el cinquè llac

Distance: 25.2 km Cumulative elevation gain: +1,320 m Cumulative elevation loss: -1,630 m Maximum altitude: 1,554 m Minimum altitude: 740 m Estimated time: 7 h 30 min Difficulty: The stage does not present any technical difficulty.

Topographic profile

65

Ramon Violant i Simorra

by Ignasi Ros, historian Ramon Violant i Simorra (Sarroca de Bellera, 1903 – Barcelona, 1956) was the son of a humble family.

Both his parents came from lineages of tailors and travelling merchants. Following a short spell in the Sarroca school, he too learned the trade of tailor. The training and the trade drew him far from the Pyrenees. At that time, he became very fond of reading, especially the work of Verdaguer and Guimerà. When he finally arrived in Barcelona around 1923, he contacted several groups that played a decisive role in his career, such as traditional dance troupes and hiking groups. These experiences drew him closer to the world of research into popular culture. Unlike other researchers of his time, in the early 1930s, he developed an interest in material culture and lifestyles, architecture and trades. In spite of personal difficulties (particularly health) and political difficulties, with the war and Franco’s dictatorship, his work came to grow over the years until it became a reference point for popular culture in the Pyrenees.

Much of his work still remains unpublished and is gradually being recovered, such as his vast monograph on La vida pastoral al Pallars (2001), which brings together the main aspects of the life cycle of shepherds and farmers and the different types of livestock. Therein he shows us his meticulous work giving a voice to and listening to shepherds and farmers from Vilella, Sarroca, Xerallo and Les Esglésies, among others, on the topics of transhumance and the common practices of shepherds and livestock. He would later retrace his steps to collect objects related to this trade for the Museu del Poble Espanyol in Montjuïc, such as shears and bells, collars, sheepskin jackets and shepherd’s cloaks, or the iconic tool of shepherds in the Pallars region, the shepherd’s crook to catch straying animals by the upper foreleg.

From the paths we can see the walls that once protected the crops from the animals’ passage, the huts where the shepherds took shelter when it rained or when the flock was fertilising the crops, and the impressive houses and yards, known as ubles in this region, which can only be understood as the result of centuries of transhumant activity.

In his travels and research, Violent became acquainted with the exceptional photographic work of Francesc Masclans, carried out between 1927 and 1930, when he had been a schoolmaster at the school in Les Esglésies.

Violant met the author of the photographs and kept them in his home until they were rediscovered in 1999. Now visitors can enjoy this exceptional photographic chronicle of daily life in Les Esglésies by way of a permanent exhibition in the old school where Masclans was a teacher.

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Stage 4 · Les Esglésies · Senterada · The Haunted House

(1) Les Esglésies (1.020 m).

From Casa Batlle, we take the street uphill towards the upper end of the village, weaving in and out between the houses, on the paved street with some stepped sections, until we get to the top of Les Esglésies. Once past the last house, we come to the starting point of the Sentís path.

(2) 0,2 km · 8 min · Les Esglésies to Sentís path(1.070 m).

The path runs amid vegetable gardens and fields and gradually gains altitude until we come out on the road.

(3) 0,5 km · 15 min · Road (1.105 m).

We take the road to the left, heading northwest. A little further beyond the Canarill ravine, the first one we come to, we rejoin the Sentís path, on the right-hand side and above the slope of the road.

(4) 1,3 km · 30 min · Les Esglésies to Sentís path (1.140 m).

The path gains altitude until it reaches the boundary between the fields and the oak grove, which it runs along as it flanks the hillside. It runs parallel to the road but a few metres above and occasionally gains altitude with some turns.

(5) 2,6 km · 50 min · Outskirts of Sentís (1.255 m).

We arrive in Sentís via its outskirts and descend the only street towards the river, where there is a bridge that crosses over to the road that affords access to Sentís.

66

Artisanal Agri-Foodstuffs

by Enric Canut, master cheesemaker From the flatland to the mountains… and back down again! Such was the life of shepherds following the drovers’ roads and in search of fresh grass at the best time of the year for their flocks of sheep.

Always escorted by the Catalan sheepdog, their inseparable companion, and stopping off at farmhouses where they were given lodging and food, something warm at night and something cold during the day, until the next pit-stop.

If we begin the path in La Pobla de Segur, nothing beats xolís, the best pork charcuterie: lean and fatty meat, seasoned with salt and pepper, stuffed in a large intestine and left to air dry, and a slice of girella (cold lamb sausage), Arab reminiscences in the foothills of the Pyrenees.

If we have ascended as far as the Pla de Corts plain and get to Peramea, it was the obligatory stop on the way to the mountain passes. Time for milking and making cheese. Time for savouring the Tros de Sort cheese (cow’s milk cheese similar to Brie or Camembert).

It we have crossed the pass, then we have arrived in Beranui, at the gateway to the high mountains. It is chilly and it is time to spread the tupí cheese with its hint of liquor over a slice of bread to warm us up, and to relish a good cut of veal from the Pyrenees cooked on a stone slab.

If we descend towards Les Esglésies, it was the place for provisions in the middle of a closed valley through which the wind blew brazenly, but it dries the best secallona and longaniza dry-cured sausages in the world: the most is made of every last piece of pork.

On the return journey and following the Bòssia River, we arrive in Senterada, where it joins the Flamisell River. Abundant, fresh and oxygenated water. It is time to try the river’s finest produce: smoked trout and river trout caviar, the height of Pallars luxury.

Last stop at the top of Claverol, with the entire marsh stretched out before us. Under our noses are olive, walnut and almond groves, fields of wheat and the scents of rosemary, thyme and lavender.

Nothing better than lamb chops and the farmer’s sweet treat, mostillo, made from wheat flour, oil, honey, walnuts and almonds.

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Stage 4 · Les Esglésies · Senterada · The Haunted House

(6) 2,8 km · 53 min · Sentís (1.250 m).

From the access road to the village, we take a paved street that begins next to a shed. We go up through the village until we get to the church, where we continue to the right and go round the last house in the village; finally, we climb a number of steps that bring us to the top of the village. At the very top is the road where the paving ends and the track begins.

First we will follow the track uphill for a few metres, but we will leave it immediately to take the Prat d’Hort path, which begins on the right.

(7) 3,1 km · 1h · Prat d’Hort path (1.300 m).

The path climbs upward and, after a short while, emerges on the track again. We cross the track perpendicularly and, on the other side, we continue on the same path uphill. A few metres further up we get to the track once again before a bend on the left, after which we rejoin the path, uphill.

After crossing a number of small ravines, the path turns to the left and climbs the last slope until it reaches Prat d’Hort.

The route passes through villages where there is still an agrifood tradition, however odd it may seem. Noteworthy are Les Esglésies or Sentís where they continue to produce typical Pallars products such as the xolís and secallona dry-cured sausages and where you can purchase them.

Deviating a few metres from the route, you can also go to see cheesemakers. Corroncui and Puigcerver delight us with sheep’s milk cheese and organic goat’s cheese, respectively.

68

Stone Names

by Sílvia Romero-Galera, philologist Place names often add a touch of charm and mystery to the places they denominate. In fact, in the strictly geographical information given to us, the heritage value contained therein must also be included: they give us the oldest linguistic information we can avail of. This means, for instance, that they give us an insight into the characteristics of languages that were spoken before the arrival of Latin. The Pyrenees and Pre-Pyrenees were full of place names that may have come from old Basque (Escalarre, Esterri, Gerri, etc.) and from other pre-Roman languages such as Iberian, Celtic or Greek (Gavet, Isona, Talarn, etc.).

Place names also give us a great deal of information about how the Catalan language has evolved. For instance, Sarroca de Bellera incorporates the article sa, the oldest in Catalan, and it gives us information of the extension it could have had. The names Peracalç, Peramea or Peira rock, that also accompany us on the quest for the Fifth Lake, maintain different stages of the evolution of the word pedra, meaning stone.

Many place names are transparent and clearly descriptive of the place. Over the course of the route we will stumble upon lots of them: Les Costes Grans, Les Llaus Roies, Los Emprius, la roca del Cap de la Serra, Tossal Gros, Prat d’Hort, etc. In many cases, however, the place names seem to be clear, but popular reasoning does not correspond to the etymology. In Catalonia, beginning with this very place name, there are a considerable number of place names of mysterious or uncertain origin (Barcelona, Tremp, Girona, Lleida, etc.).

The study of place names is related to toponymy, a branch of onomastics, the study of names of all kinds.

This science compiles and studies them and gives us the appropriate form in modern Catalan, in keeping with the evolution and pronunciation of the language. A multitude of examples can be found in the Fifth Lake: the etymological article lo/los characteristic of northwestern Catalan (lo Tossal, lo Tossalet, lo Castell) or the archaic medial and final i in the Pallarès dialect (Roques Roies, Els Puialets, Pui Herbeta pass, Puiarnau mountains, etc.).

It is relatively common knowledge that Inuit languages have some twenty names to denote snow and that there are studies on Catalan toponymy that contain references to wolves in place names. How many references to stones do you think there might be in the place names on the Fifth Lake route? No doubt so many that we would be taken aback! Enjoy the route of names, of stone!

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Stage 4 · Les Esglésies · Senterada · The Haunted House

(8) 4 km · 1 h 20 min · Prat d’Hort (1.425 m).

On arrival at Sant Pere hill, amid flat pastureland known as Prat d’Hort, often occupied by Pyrenean horses, we take the track to the left, southbound. We immediately come to two forks: at the first we continue along the track on the left, while at the second fork, we will follow the track on the left. After going around Prat d’Hort hill, we rejoin the crest and reach Monebui hill, where a long descent through the mountains begins, on the main track at all times, until we come to the N-260 road.

(9) 8,8 km · 2 h 30 min · N-260 road (1.315 m).

We continue the ascent on the road to the right, uphill, heading towards La Creu de Perves hill. On getting there, we continue for a few metres along the N-260, leaving the Corroncui road behind. A few metres further on, on the left-hand side, lies the starting point to the Corroncui path.

(10) 9,2 km · 2 h 40 min · Corroncui path (1.340 m).

From the road the path runs southsouthwest. The first section is a little confusing as it crosses meadows that descend from the hill to the west without very clear markings. From the very beginning, we descend a little in

altitude but once we arrive at the Canaleta del Frare ravine, the path turns into a narrow path that begins to gain altitude, running between bramble patches until it emerges on the road.

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The Catalan Pyrenean Horse

by Marta Boleda, veterinarian The Catalan Pyrenean horse is the product of the crossbreeding, from the early 20th century, of mountain mares the farmers used for farm labour, with French horses – Breton and Percheron horses – that the Spanish army brought to the military posts in the towns and villages.

It is a medium-weight horse, highly adapted to the climate and extreme high-mountain temperatures, and it can spend much of the year in semi-freedom.

Black, chestnut coats – red body and black mane and tail – and sorrel coats – red body and blonde mane and tail – predominate. White spots, both on the face and legs tend to disappear, which indicates little evolution in the crossbreeding with French horses.

While these animals were traditionally used for field labour – sowing potatoes, tilling, clearing forests –, today, with the advent of machinery, this breed has a reproductive role. The mares, after eleven months of gestation, give birth to a foal that is fed with one of the most nutritious milks of all the domestic species. The meat of this foal, rich in amino acids, Omega-3 and especially iron, is one of the healthiest ones for human consumption, very suitable for children and the sick.

The Catalan Pyrenean horse is a docile and calm animal, dominated by matriarchism and with strong ties among the herds. Generally speaking, the mares choose the stallions they wish to mate with, and the stallions are also very selective as regards the mares. However, they are not animals that allow themselves to be touched easily and, sometimes, they can defend themselves when they feel endangered.

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Stage 4 · Les Esglésies · Senterada · The Haunted House

(11) 10 km · 2 h 50 min · Corroncui road (1.370 m).

We take the road on the right until we come to a cattle track, after which we rejoin the path on the left-hand side. This stretch of the trail averts a sharp bend on the road by ascending to the rock of El Vedat del Mas and taking a shortcut, but it re-emerges on the same road after a short while.

Once on the paved section again, we follow the road downhill a while after a double bend, very close to a highvoltage transmission line, where we have to take a track on the left, which will bring us uphill.

(12) 11,8 km · 3 h 15 min · Comillini mountain range track (1.310 m).

We continue along the track to climb for a long stretch to Els Plans del Mont and the Comillini mountain range.

(13) 14,1 km · 4 h · Pla d’Amunt (1.515 m).

In El Pla d’Amunt, we come to a fork in the track; we have to continue along the track on the right, which continues to climb a few metres further. Shortly afterwards, the track gets to the crest of the Comillini mountains, which it follows but drops in altitude, until it suddenly comes to an end.

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The Haunted House

by Pep Coll, writer “In Pinyana it is asserted that it is a haunted house belonging to the Estany Obert, a very picturesque place in the Pinyana ravine, inhabited by sorcerers and bewitched people. One night, this female giant left the mountain stream heading for the mountains, with a huge rock on her head, two under each arm and another as an apron. And all this while still spinning with a distaff and a spindle. She arrived at the top of the ridge exhausted and took her last breath.

According to Sarroca’s version, it was a bewitched person, a wandering witch that passed through these worlds, weighed down with three large, rough stones. One evening, at sunset, she passed by in front of the Torres barn in Sarroca. Seeing her loaded down like a mule, they offered her lodging.

However, she turned it down, exclaiming: – Casa meua, jaça meua!11 And she continued the ascent with her tongue hanging out from exhaustion. She was so weary at the top of the ridge that her legs gave in and she died of exhaustion.”

This legend was compiled by Pep Coll (1986). Free translation of an excerpt from Quan Judes era fadrí i sa mare festejava. Llibres del Mall.

11 My house, my bed! [Free translation of the original statement]

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Stage 4 · Les Esglésies · Senterada · The Haunted House

(14) 15,4 km · 4 h 15 min · Comillini mountain range (1.510 m).

Where the track ends, a narrow marked path begins, which weaves in and out of boxwood bushes that keeps to the mountain’s main crest line. After crossing a small plain and a hill, the path veers right, eastward, and begins to drop in altitude more steadily, still keeping to the crest.

On arrival at a small patch of young oak trees, we have to continue in the same direction without straying much from the crest, delimited by a dry stone wall that separates two farms on the mountain. Past the small forest, we return to the crest where the dolmen known as the Haunted House stands . This is a good spot to stop off for lunch.

(15) 16,7 km · 4 h 35 min · The Haunted House (1.395 m).

At the dolmen, a complicated stretch on the route begins because we have to follow a narrow path for a good while, where it is easy to get lost. The entire stretch is marked with yellow paint and you are advised to watch out and follow them carefully. From the Haunted House, we have to go back a few metres to the small oak grove, but instead of heading towards the crest, we will veer left, heading southwest, crossing the small forest diagonally to the slope and gradually descending in altitude. We will immediately exit the small forest and cross some fields and bramble patches on a slope, keeping to the initial path, southwest, until we get to a flat meadow, where we suddenly have to change direction.

(16) 17,2 km · 4 h 45 min · Change of direction (1.375 m).

We turn left at right angles and head southeast to begin a long steep descent via a narrow path that is often indistinct on the ground. The

narrow path descends on the sunfacing side of Cadolla, first on the left of the Calameia small dry ravine and then on the right. Finally, we get to a wider path.

(17) 19,3 km · 5 h 45 min · Cadolla path (960 m).

We take the path to the right, southward and downhill until we get to the access track to Cadolla.

(18) 19,5 km · 5 h 48 min · Track (940 m).

We leave the old path and we cross the dirt track that leads to Cadolla, to take the old path that descends to Casa Fierro house in Cadolla.

(19) 19,7 km · 5 h 50 min · Casa Fierro (945 m).

Upon reaching the remains of the house, we follow the path on the left, downhill (if we took the path on the right we would head uphill towards Cadolla). The path at some points follows the way of a stream, but the dry stone walls confirm that we are in the right way. We descend the old path and walk a few yards along the river-bed until we reach Cadolla’s river. We cross the river over a shallow area and on the other bank we take again the bridle path from Cadolla to Naens.

The Haunted House dolmen together with that of Mas Pallarès were the first dolmens documented in Catalonia in 1872, by Moner i Siscart.

It is a Pyrenean chamber tomb made from Holocene stone slabs, which means its deterioration is more gradual than limestone and is thus better preserved. It consists of two large lateral slabs, a well-fitting capstone and an entrance slab that only encloses one third of the entrance, leaving a side opening that can be passed through.

The chamber is found in the centre of quite a rundown mound, which measures 12 metres in diameter, made of stone and earth.

Many of the megaliths are intertwined with legends that lead the inhabitants to believe that dolmens are associated with huge giants. In particular, the legend that dolmens were the homes of giants abound, and this is the case of the Haunted House.

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The Washing Place

by Eli Nadal, anthropologist Washing places are a somewhat complex and elaborate architectural element, found at a water point in all Mediterranean towns and villages, used to wash clothes by hand and almost exclusively used by women.

They enjoyed their period of splendour between 1850 and 1960. Thereafter, access to running water in homes and the advent of the washing machine led to their rapid fall into disuse.

Washing clothes in the washing place implied much more than making a fabric that was dirty clean through the friction created by a person’s hands. It was a ritual in that it was a practice shared by a given group, women, which transcended the act of laundering. A designated area for speaking, laughing, showing camaraderie and discord, helping one another, but ultimately a space that acquired meaning through shared practice.

Some of us have grown up with vague memories of the sound of the water gushing forth and the pounding of the clothes against the cement, amidst the chatter of women. Then, when the women did not go there to do the laundry, we kids made the most of it to catch tadpoles.

Today, washing clothes is generally done privately, so much so that we even hide the laundry hung out to dry, if required by law. We may have gained time and convenience, but this alleged modernity poses a threat to the corners of our past, spaces that tend to disappear without us appreciating their heritage value.

WHEN MEMORIES SPEAK… (EL SAFAREIG) Ara penso en un record que el tinc ben viu i present, tot i quasi quaranta anys no l’esborro de la ment.

Era cosa quotidiana anar al safareig a rentar, i amb nadons o malalts no te’n podies lliurar.

Arrossegar tanta càrrega ja era habitual, i també tot fent bugada t’informaves del que passava al poble en general.

També hem de reconèixer que era lloc de germanor. i jo marxava satisfeta d’emportar-me una feina ben feta.

Les inclemències del temps era factor important, ja que amb l’aigua gelada et rabiaven les mans.

Ja sé que és una delícia la màquina de rentar... però al safareig municipal (tot passant-hi mitja vida) amb certa nostàlgia aquest poema li he volgut dedicar.12

Mes era nostra tasca i ho teníem ben clar, per dissort, la roba bruta de vacances mai en fa.

Teresa Garcia i Espanyol (Solivella, 2005)

12 (The Washing Place) I now bring to mind a memory / which is very vivid and alive, / though almost forty years old / I do not erase it from my mind. / It was an everyday chore / going to the washing place, / and with babies or sick people, / you could not get out of it. / Hauling such a load / was customary / and while doing the laundry / you found out what was going on / in the village in general. / The inclemency of the weather / was a key factor, / since when the water was freezing, / it was really painful for the hands. / But it was up to us / and we were clear on that, / unfortunately, dirty laundry / is never on holidays. / We must also recognise / that it was a place of camaraderie. / And I went home satisfied / with a job well done. / I know that the washing machine / is a delight / but at the local washing place / (having spent half my life there) / with certain nostalgia / I wished to dedicate this poem to it.

[Free translation of the original poem]

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Stage 4 · Les Esglésies · Senterada · The Haunted House

(20) 19,9 km · 5 h 53 min · Cadolla to Naens path (935 m).

The path begins to ascend thanks to some turns and soon arrives at a house, Ca del Sant. We walk past the house and continue upward, in the same direction. After a few metres, we cross the track perpendicularly to continue on the other side of the bridle path. For a long stretch, the path runs eastward and gains altitude as it goes around the shaded side of the Cadolla river crossing the hills of Les Boïgues, La Grama and Les Corneres. When the path changes direction to head southward, on the hillside of the Cadolla ravine, we get to a tractor track that provides access to a number of fields.

(21) 21,7 km · 6 h 25 min · Track (1.060 m).

We continue for a few metres along the track but soon leave it behind to veer left, downhill, and rejoin the path to make the final descent to Naens via the Profita hill.

(22) 22,2 km · 6 h 35 min · Naens (990 m).

From Naens’ square, where the fountain and the washing place are located, we take old path to Senterada, on the left-hand side, only for few meters until we arrive to the paved road. We pass by the Burguet crossing and continue downhill towards Senterada until we come upon the signposted entry point to the Senterada path on the left-hand side, on the side of the ravine.

(23) 23,4 km · 6 h 55 min · Naens to Senterada path (940 m). The path descends the mountain, diagonal to the slope and crosses the Naens road three times. The first time, on a sharp bend, we will walk some 50 metres to rejoin the path on the left-hand side.

The second time, we will cross the road perpendicularly. And the third

time we arrive at the road, we will continue on the paved road until we reach Senterada.

(24) 24.3 km · 7 h 15 min · Road (775 m).

We continue along the road until Senterada.

(25) 25,2 km · 7 h 30 min · Senterada (730 m).

When we arrive in Senterada, opposite the bridge over the river, we will take the N-260 road to the right.

Casa Leonardo is less than 100 metres away, just at the junction of the road that runs deep into La Vall Fosca.

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The Fifth Lake plants

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Bramble (Rubus ulmifolius).

Plant used for medicinal purpose Plant used for food (the fruit is used for consumption) Plant used to make home-made liqueurs (ratafia or similar)

Thorny broom (Genista scorpius).

Plant used for medicinal purpose Plant used for making fuel

Common Poppy (Papaver rhoeas).

Plant used for medicinal purpose Plant used for food Plant used in fun games (kids games)

Blue aphyllanthes (Aphyllanthes monspeliensis).

Plant used for medicinal purpose Plant used for food (livestock)

Venus’ chariot (Aconitum napellus) Plant used for medicinal purpose (only in veterinary) Poisonous plant

Terebinth (Pistacia terebinthus).

Plant used for medicinal purpose Plant used for food (livestock)

Phoenician juniper (Juniperus phoenicea).

Plant used for medicinal purpose Plant used for magic and ritual purpose

Fine lavender (Lavandula angustifolia) Plant used for medicinal purpose Plant used as air freshener Plant used for gastronomic purpose Plant used to make home-made liqueurs (ratafia or similar)

Common mallow (Malva sylvestris L.) Plant used for medicinal purpose Plant used for magic and ritual purpose Plant used in fun games (kids games) Plant used to make home-made liqueurs (ratafia or similar)

English ivy, Ivy (Hedera helix L.) (Hedera helix).

Plant used for medicinal purpose Plant used as natural dye Plant used for food (livestock)

Bear’s foot, Stinking hellebore (Helleborus foetidus) Plant used for medicinal purpose (only in veterinary) Poisonous plant

Cowslip, Paigle (Primula veris).

Plant used for medicinal purpose Plant used as phenological indicator

Common dandelion, Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale).

Plant used for medicinal purpose Plant used for food Plant used for gastronomic purpose

Ribwort plantain (Plantago lanceolata L.) (Plantago lanceolata). lant used for medicinal purpose Plant used for food (livestock) Plant used to make home-made liqueurs (ratafia or similar)

by the biologist Antoni Agelet Devil’s-nettel, Dog-daisy, Garwe, Milfoil, Nosebleed, Sanguinary, Soldiers woundwort, Thousand-leaf, Yarrow (Achillea millefolium L.).

Plant used for medicinal purpose Plant used for food (livestock) Plant used to make home-made liqueurs

Buncing bett, Soapwort v (Saponaria officinalis).

Plant used for medicinal purpose Plant used for detergent

Downy mint, Horse mint, Mint.

(Mentha longifolia) Plant used for medicinal purpose

Rock tea (jasonia saxatilis) Plant used for medicinal purpose Plant used to make home-made liqueurs (ratafia or similar)

Common boxwood, English boxwood (buxus sempervirens) Plant used for medicinal purpose Plant used for magic and ritual purpose Plant used in the wood processing industry Plant used in crafts Planta usada en artesania popular

Common elder, Elder, Elderberry, European elder (sambucus nigra) Plant used for medicinal purpose Plant used for magic and ritual purpose Plant used to make home-made liqueurs (ratafia or similar)

Danewort, Dwarf elder (Sambucus ebulus L.) Plant used for medicinal purpose Poisonous plant

Cotton lavender (Santolina chamaecyparissus) Plant used for medicinal purpose Plant used as air freshener Plant used for magic and ritual purpose Plant used to make home-made liqueurs (ratafia or similar)

Common burdock, Lesser burdock (Arctium minus Bernh.)

Plant used for medicinal purpose

Common juniper, Juniper (Juniperus communis) Plant used for medicinal purpose Plant used to make home-made liqueurs (ratafia or similar)

Beraberry (Arctostaphylos uva-ursi) Plant used for medicinal purpose Plant used for food (livestock)

Whotleberry (Vaccinium myrtillus).

Plant used for medicinal purpose Plant used for food (the fruit is used for consumption)

Hoary Mullein (Verbascum pulverulentum) Plant used for medicinal purpose

Holly oak (Quercus ilex) Plant used for medicinal purpose Plant used for food Plant used in the wood processing industry 78

The Fifth Lake plants

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Downy oak (Quercus humilis) Plant used for medicinal purpose Plant used for food Plant used in the wood processing industry

Great Yellow Gentian (Gentiana lutea) Plant used for medicinal purpose Plant used to make home-made liqueurs (ratafia or similar)

Pyrenean Violet (Ramonda myconi) Plant used for medicinal purpose

Perforate st. john’s wort, St. john’s wort (Hypericum perforatum) Plant used for medicinal purpose

Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis) Plant used for medicinal purpose Plant used as air freshener Plant used for gastronomic purpose Plant used for magic and ritual purpose Plant used to make home-made liqueurs (ratafia or similar)

Common thyme, Thyme (Thymus vulgaris) Plant used for medicinal purpose Plant used as air freshener Plant used for gastronomic purpose Plant used to make home-made liqueurs (ratafia or similar)

Savory (Satureja montana) Plant used for medicinal purpose Plant used as air freshener Plant used for gastronomic purpose Plant used to make home-made liqueurs (ratafia or similar)

European oregano, Oregano, Pot marjoram, Wild marjoram (Origanum vulgare) Plant used for medicinal purpose Plant used as air freshener Plant used for gastronomic purpose Plant used to make home-made liqueurs

Hyssop (Hyssopus officinalis) Plant used for medicinal purpose Plant used as air freshener Plant used for gastronomic purpose Plant used to make home-made liqueurs (ratafia or similar)

Mistletoe (Viscum album) Plant used for medicinal purpose Plant used for food (livestock)

Ash (Fraxinus excelsior) Plant used for medicinal purpose Plant used for food (livestock) Plant used in the wood processing industry Plant used in crafts

Greater celandine (Chelidonium majus) Plant used for medicinal purpose

Kidneywort, Liverwort, Pennywort (Anemone hepatica) Plant used for medicinal purpose

Dog rose (Rosa canina) Plant used for medicinal purpose Plant used for food Plant used for magic and ritual purpose

by the biologist Antoni Agelet Blackthorn, Sloe (prunus spinosa) Plant used for medicinal purpose Plant used for food Plant used to make home-made liqueurs (ratafia or similar)

Hawthorn(Crataegus monogyna) Plant used for medicinal purpose Plant used for food

Service berry, Shadbush, Snowy mespilus (Amelanchier ovalis) Plant used for medicinal purpose Plant used in crafts

Raspberry (Rubus idaeus) Plant used for medicinal purpose Plant used for food (the fruit)

Pyrenean saxifrage (Saxifraga longifolia) Plant used for medicinal purpose

Large leaved lime (Tilia platyphyllos) Plant used for medicinal purpose Plant used in the wood processing industry Plant used in crafts Plant used to make home-made liqueurs (ratafia or similar)

Stinging nettle (Urtica dioica) Plant used for medicinal purpose Plant used for food

Valerian (Valeriana officinalis) Plant used for medicinal purpose Plant used to make home-made liqueurs (ratafia or similar)

Common horsetail (Equisetum arvense) Plant used for medicinal purpose

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Day 5. Hike from Senterada to La Pobla de Segur “Montcortès Lake”

Accommodation in Casa Churchill www.casachurchill.com el cinquè llac

Distance: 22 km Cumulative elevation gain: +1,461 m Cumulative elevation loss: -1,683 m Maximum altitude: 1,345 m Minimum altitude: 520 m Estimated time: 6 h 40 min Difficulty: The stage does not present any technical difficulty.

Topographic profile

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The Long Road to the Fifth Lake

by Sisco Farràs, historian I· In the early 20th century, crossing the Vall Fosca could only be done via a dense network of bridle paths that connected all the villages in the valley and made them accessible to the outside. The network nodes comprised eight flourmills, 14 guesthouses, 12 cafés, 15 commercial establishments of different kinds and a good number of traditional trades. Around these spaces was a complex system of communication and social relations that created a perfectly articulated and integrated micro-cosmos.

A small world, less dark and less isolated that it seemed, where there was much coming and going of donkeys and people from the flourmill, from the Sant Quiri pilgrimage, from the market in La Pobla, from the Salàs fair, from La Seu seminary, from Barcelona port, from a North African military barracks or from the Argentine pampas.

II· At the end of 1911, a building fever, driven by the company Energía Eléctrica de Cataluña, shook the end of the valley. In three months, 3,000 workers built the road that linked La Pobla de Segur and Capdella. The opening of the road led to the immediate creation of a coach company called La Primera del Flamisell, a name that evoked the legendary railway companies that penetrated the deep south of the United States. Just like a Western, La Primera del Flamisell gradually colonised the territory as new roads opened up: the 1930s as far as El Pont de Suert, in the 1940s as far as Boí, and in the 1950s, following the construction of the Viella tunnel, as far as the Vall d’Aran. The rear-view mirrors of the buses reflected the intermittent images of the time: groups of hikers that began to discover the wonders of the region; workers from the cement factory in Xerallo and the hydroelectric power companies; teachers, that had seats reserved on the bus, bound for remote villages; priests that went to take the waters in Caldes de Boí; and villagers, that wavered between going down to the road to take the bus or continuing to go to the market with their donkey and cart.

III· As from the 1950s, the narrow paved roads opened up on the mountainsides to reach the highest villages. Paradoxically, they had the optimum conditions for emigrating there. In less than thirty years, following a dizzying and relentless succession of events, an entire thousand-year-old world was dismantled. Between 1960 and 1986, the former municipalities that formed the valley lost seven out of every ten inhabitants, while some thirty villages disappeared or were in danger of depopulation.

Families in the valley no longer took La Primera del Flamisell to go to the market, but rather to take the path of no return of emigration. The bus company Alsina Graells that brought them to Barcelona followed the same route as the high-voltage lines that lit up the metropolis.

IV· In the early 21st century, the traveller, spending the weekend in a rural tourism establishment, contemplates the Fifth Lake spellbound.

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Stage 5 · Senterada · La Pobla de Segur · Montcortès Lake (1) Senterada (730 m).

Starting out from Casa Leonardo, where the old grocery store stands, we will take the road that runs deep into La Vall Fosca, the L-503, heading towards La Pobleta de Bellveí and Capdella. Once we pass by the last apartment block on the right-hand side, we descend a street that heads towards the river and that also leads to the campsite and the Puigcerver road.

(2) 0,3 km · 5 min · Puigcerver road (735 m).

After crossing the bridge over the Flamisell River, we go up the Puigcerver road for almost a kilometre. A few metres before getting to a recycling and waste collection site, we will take a path uphill on the left.

(3) 0,8 km · 15 min · Senterada to Mentui path (760 m).

The path begins to climb a gypsum deposit and soon enters an oak forest where it continues the meandering ascent. Finally, it leads to an old track.

(4) 1,6 km · 35 min · Track (900 m).

We take the track on the right, uphill.

We soon come to another track, which is wider and has a better surface. This time we will cross the track perpendicularly to rejoin the

bridle path that leads into a pine forest. Shortly afterwards, we come to the track again.

(5) 1,9 km · 45 min · Track (950 m).

At the beginning of the track, we walk underneath a high-voltage transmission tower and rejoin the path on the left. This is the last stretch of the path, since shortly after we go back to the track again.

(6) 2 km · 47 min · Track (960 m).

From here we continue walking along the track, to the left, for three kilometres inside a shaded pine forest, uphill all the way.

(7) 3.1 km · 1 h 5 min · Fork in path (1,050 m).

The track we were on will stop at a busier track, which we will take on the left, heading north. We will soon get to La Creu hill and, a little further on, to another fork in the track.

(8) 3.6 km · 1 h 10 min · Fork (1,050 m).

At this fork there is the option of continuing along the track as far as Mentui or combining sections of the track and the path where it has been maintained. A second alternative is described here, though the directions are a little more complicated. At the fork we take the track that veers left, downhill, and we immediately take the bridle path again, on the right, for another stretch until we come out on the track again.

(9) 4.1 km · 1 h 20 min · Track (1,030 m).

We follow another stretch of the track and before getting to a farm, we leave it to veer right over a tractor track amidst a field. Once we get to the track again, we cross it perpendicularly to take the path again beneath the track.

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A Legendary Lake

by Vidal Vidal, writer An ancient legend claims that the Count of Pallars was hunting wild boar when he fell into Montcortès lake with his horse and sank. On the verge of drowning, he prayed to Our Lady of Gerri, patron of the monastery of the neighbouring village of Gerri de la Sal, promising to do a good deed if he was saved, but as soon as he was out of trouble, he forgot the promise and, as he galloped off, he shouted: “Aigua passada, Mare de Déu enganyada”…13 So, punishing the despicable act, the Virgin Mary left him blind.

The blindness, undoubtedly deserved, that befell the feudal count from Pallars prevented him from enjoying the marvellous view of the very lake that was the scene of his ingratitude, a veritable feast for the eyes. Montcortès is a surprising and delightful spectacle, an idyllic spot, a picture postcard and a beautiful patch of blue amidst soft shades of woodland. A magical place, at the heart of the Pla de Corts plain, at an altitude of one thousand metres.

Just as the lake comes into sight, a viewing point with a railing made of logs affords views of the length and breadth of the legendary and unique lake, with a sign that informs us we are in an extraordinary lacustrine area, which is unusual in the spurs of the Pyrenees, in the sense that it is not fed by any river, but rather by an underground spring. Therefore, a karst lake, which unlike glaciers is formed by the breaking up of limestone and gypsum that led to land subsidence.

A single basin, polygon in shape, rounded, deep (up to eighty metres at some points) and with a still surface, coloured intense blue, which is partly due to the unexpected depth (the count had good reason to be afraid, not to mention his poor horse). The liquid mass of still surface, lightly brushed by the breeze, frequented by aquatic birds such as the red kite, the little grebe, the great reed warbler, the mallard or the fish hawk, is surrounded by concentric rings: firstly, a border of reeds; secondly, an orbital ring of fields through which the poetic verticality of a number of populars poke their head and where meditative horses graze; a third sloping patch of oak and pine woods; and finally, an entire system surrounding soft hills, with a pleasant profile.

A serene and charming landscape, imbued with lyricism, which soothes the soul and calms the mind.

Fifty metres ahead is a small path extended by a wooden walkway that leads into the water. Above all else, let’s be careful not to fall in, because the Virgin Mary, having learned her lesson, is not so trusting anymore.

13 Old hat, the Mother of God deceived. [Free translation of the original statement]

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Stage 5 · Senterada · La Pobla de Segur · Montcortès Lake (10) 4.4 km · 1 h 25 min · Mentui path (1,025 m).

We walk parallel to the track until we reach El Bosc ravine. We then follow the track until we get to Mentui.

(11) 4.8 km · 1 h 30 min · Mentui (1,040 m).

We come to the Mentui road. On the left we can go down to the village but the route continues to the right, up the road, until we come to the first bend, where we take the old path as far as Mentui hill.

(12) 5.5 km · 1 h 45 min · Mentui hill (1,100 m).

We pass by the Peracalç and Montsor road and, a few metres further on, at the crossroads with the track that leads to Cabestany, we take the old path on the left of the road that descends to Montcortès lake.

(13) 6.2 km · 1 h 55 min Montcortès Lake, the Fifth Lake (1.050 m).

On getting to the fields that surround the lake, we continue along the wheel tracks on the grass, heading towards the lake. When we get near the lake, the tracks veer right, southward, moving away from the water to stop at the road, in front of a fountain and a picnic area.

(14) 6.5 km · 2 h · Montcortès lake picnic area (1,040 m).

A track emerges opposite the fountain, which we will take in the direction of the Peracalç mountains.

The track begins a gentle ascent amidst crop fields.

When it enters the forest on the shaded side of Canals, it slowly drops in altitude until it comes to the small dry ravine of La Llau de les Llauetes.

Past the ravine, on the right, we get to the signposted path that ascends toward the mountains.

When its enters the forest on the shaded side, there is the option of taking a shortcut by taking the old path that leads to the steps known as Les Escales de Peracalç.

(15) 8.3 km · 2 h 30 min · Les Escales de Peracalç path (1,040 m).

The stretch of path that begins at this crossing was already taken downhill on the first leg of the route. Now we have to go up the path until we get to the crest of the mountain range.

The path climbs upward, winding on both sides; it is steep but has a good surface. Where the denser forest ends, the path leads to a track we have to cross perpendicularly to continue ascending the path.

(16) 9.6 km · 3 h 5 min · Les Escales de Peracalç (1,245 m).

We follow the downhill path towards Peracalç until we leave the path to take a narrow path that begins on the right, heading northwest, until we come out on the paved road that leads to Montsor to the right, and to Peracalç to the left.

(17) 10 km · 3 h 25 min · Montsor road (1,230 m).

We walk along the road until we get to the unpaved Montsor track, on the left-hand side.

(18) 11.1 km · 3 h 27 min · Montsor track (1,260 m).

We follow the Montsor track for a few metres.

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Montcortès Lake

by Pep Coll, writer “Another legend has it that beneath the water, of an unfathomable depth, lies the ancient city of Pallars. God punished its inhabitants engulfing the village in the water, for not having welcomed him when he journeyed through the world disguised as a beggar. Only a woman kneading dough was saved, as she was the only one that gave him some bread. It is said that on some nights the woman appears near the lake, on the strike of midnight, fleeing with a trough on her head.

This legend was compiled by Pep Coll (2010). Free translation of an excerpt from Guia dels indrets mítics i llegendaris del Pallars Sobirà. deParís Edicions.

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Stage 5 · Senterada · La Pobla de Segur · Montcortès Lake (19) 11.2 km · 3 h 28 min · Fork (1,260 m).

After a few metres, we leave the Montsor track and take another track that begins on the left-hand side and that climbs towards a hillock. Past this small hill, the track begins to descend until it reaches a large flat field on the right-hand side. Above the field you can make out the old bridle path, now half hidden by vegetation.

(20) 11.8 km · 3 h 40 min · Montsor path (1,260 m).

We continue along the edge of the field, parallel to the bridle path, going around the cultivated area until we see the path going downhill at the other end, which affords entry to some cultivated terraces.

We continue downhill, following the direction marked by the track at the edge of the field until we reach a small ravine where the path becomes a narrow path that runs flat across the mountainside.

(21) 12.5 km · Les Tosques ravine (1,220 m).

We will pass Les Tosques ravine, and after 20 metres, there is a fork in the path. We will take the narrow path on the left that runs flat. Afterwards, we will descend a little to pass La Llau de la Teulera ravine.

13.1 km · La Llau de la Teulera (1,210 m). Past the ravine, we will come to another small dry ravine and we will climb a little as far as a high plain and go along the crest of the ravine as far as La Llau de Conquilla.

13.9 km · La Llau de Conquilla (1,240 m ). We will start ascending to pass another small dry ravine and we will get to some cultivated stretches where there is a house and a caravan. We will take the old path that runs beneath the caravan, until it comes to an end and we will go into a private field, going round the edge, without treading on the sown field, as far as a track that leads to the Montsor track.

14.6 km · Montsor track (1,275 m).

The track on the left leads to the village of Montsor, but we recommend entering the village via the drovers’ road because of the superior views.

For this reason, we will take the track to the right, ascending a few metres until we get to the drovers’ road on the left that descends to the village of Montsor.

15 km · Montsor drovers’ road (1,300 m). We will descend the drovers’ road to get to the village of Montsor, which boasts spectacular views.

(22) 15.5 km · 4 h 30 min · Montsor (1,230 m).

This is a good spot to stop for lunch.

From Montsor there are two ways to return to La Pobla de Segur, via the Gelat crest or via the old path. The first option is only suitable for expert hikers that do not suffer from vertigo as there are two very short aerial passageways, but which are equipped with ladders and safety chains. The path is spectacular, but those that are not so agile may have some difficulty at the above points. This option is described in the main body of the route.

The second option is to descend via the old Montsor path, which hikers ascended on the first leg of the route. This option is described in the following alternative route.

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Dragonflies at Montcortès Lake

by Josep Maria Olmo, biologist Montcortès lake is one of the few karstic lakes situated at 1,065 metres above sea level, in a small depression in the Flamisell river basin, in the municipality of Baix Pallars. On account of its location and the cleanness of its water, this natural lake is a haven for dragonflies and other aquatic invertebrates.

The presence of more than twenty different types of dragonflies and damselflies (the two belong to the same group known as Odonata) make it a unique place in Catalonia. A distinctive feature of dragonflies is that they spend the early stages of their life in the water in the form of larvae. They emerge from the water as of late spring when the temperature is higher and turn into admirable insects we can observe, exceptional flying insects that are reminiscent of helicopters and that exhibit vibrant colours. What’s more, they are very beneficial insects because they feed mainly on flies and various mosquitoes. It is interesting to note the adults flying around the reeds and the water in search of prey and patrolling their territories, as they are very territorial insects. Nearer the summer months, we can observe mating, known as a “tandem pair” on account of the how the male and female move together during the breeding season. The male grips the female behind the head with small hooks at the abdominal tip. After copulation, they continue to form the mating wheel until the female deposits the eggs on the surface of the water with the help of the male. Montcortès lake is also important for dragonflies from higher altitudes, in the Pyrenees, that migrate to lower areas as a result of the cold, just like some wintering birds.

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Stage 5 · Senterada · La Pobla de Segur · Montcortès Lake Alternative route · The old Montsor route From the upper end of Montsor, we will descend through the houses, veering left until we come to the path that goes down to the crossing below the village. At the crossing, we will take the track that runs flat towards the ridge, heading south. After 1.8 kilometres, we get to Montsor hill, where the track ends and through which we had passed on the first day. On the right-hand side, the old path begins, which makes a winding descent until it gets to the N-260.

Finally, we will take the road to the right, heading south, until we get to La Pobla de Segur.

At the top of the village there is a signpost with directions where the path begins on the Gelat ridge.

Looking from the wooden post to the west, we can see, on the other side of the ravine, the stretch of path that leads to the crest. To take the right route from the signpost, we will descend a little and look for the walls that demarcate the bridle path.

First we will descend towards La Font ravine and then go up again on the other side until we come out at the Gelat crest.

(23) 16.7 km · 4 h 50 min · Gelat crest (1,205 m).

Once we get to the Gelat crest, we find another signpost, just where the track that descends from the upper end of the Montsor mountain ends.

From here, the path follows the ridge downward until it is interrupted by the Roca Foradada crags, where the fault known as El Llop lies.

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Drovers’ Roads by the shepherds Marquet d’Avellanos and Mariol de Corroncui The road that leads to Montsor coincides with the drovers’ road that linked La Pobla de Segur with the mountain pastures.

Drovers’ roads are old paths, or rather, stretches of land over which flocks of transhumant sheep passed on their long migratory journeys to grazing grounds. There nobody or nothing could prevent the passage of the flocks, as right of way had been regulated since the Middle Ages, to give priority to shepherds. Their route is still protected by law today and flocks continue to have right of way, even on stretches that coincide with modern roads. For instance, Marquet d’Avellanos still remembers the passage over Balaguer bridge and Mariol de Corroncui remembers the passage over the Pont Vell de Lleida bridge. Some stretches often coincide with bridle paths, while some sections run through ridges and woods following a trail that has remained unchanged for many centuries thanks to oral tradition.

Drovers’ roads were wider than other tracks so that the whole flock could fit: generally between 10 and 30 metres, 40 foot in more agricultural areas and, near the pastureland of the Pyrenees they can reach up to 60 metres in width, and even wider when passing through the mountains, as Marquet d’Avellanos reminds us. In fact, the limits of the drovers’ roads are often difficult to identify, though some are marked with boundary posts, large elongated rocks.

The animals were of higher quality thanks to the drovers’ roads, because there was always fresh grass.

Previously, those that engaged in transhumance were the more important farms. But these farms fell into decline in the 1930s and 40s for two main reasons: the salaried workforce was increasingly more costly due to growing emigration to industrial centres, and due to competition with the hydroelectric works in the Pyrenees. But new transhumant farms emerged: medium-sized and small farms, which practised transhumance with their family members and not with salaried workers. Flocks with fifty or sixty sheep that did not engage in transhumance were known as botier flocks.

Both large and medium-sized farms made arrangements to practise transhumance. The farms with a greater sheep-farming tradition joined together to form flocks of up to 5,000 sheep. For instance, Bonet de Castellnou, Sunyer de Corroncui, Emeregildo and Marquet d’Avellanos did transhumance with 2,000 sheep.

Transhumance was seasonal migration that was done in spring and autumn. Around 20 May they moved pramunt (to higher ground) and for All Saints they moved pravall (to lower ground), towards Santa Linya (La Noguera), towards Ximenells (Tamarit de la Llitera) and those from Frare d’Aguiró, towards La Llitera (Huesca) or to Saidí (Baix Cinca). Days were longer in spring and shorter in autumn, but they generally travelled 15 kilometres per day. It took seven to eight days from Avellanos to Vallfogona de Balaguer, and six or seven days from Aguiró to Luzàs. And when night fell on them, the shepherds prepared boxwood to sleep on a softer surface, with a blanket on top, and off to sleep they went. Usually, advantage was made of La Pobleta de Bellveí fair to rent winter land in the Lleida plain.

The flock was organised by the maioral (head shepherd), who gave the orders, and then there was the regatxo (herd boy), who was the young apprentice. The head shepherd led the way, followed by the wethers with crestonera (large bell for wethers), rams bearing large round bells and then the sheep with bells. When the sheep heard the bell being put on the wethers, they knew the time was coming to move up-valley or down-valley and they started to bleat. The owner only used the drovers’ road to bring food to the shepherd. This entire ritual was done more during the mountain’s ascent, and it was done so as to show off. For instance, the wethers had a patch on their fleece that was left unshorn, the mane, so that it seemed thicker, more elegant and pompous. The wethers bearing such large bells could not eat, they were so huge that they could not reach the ground, so a high utensil was brought to them and they were fed barley and bread. The biggest square bells were called quartissos, because they could fit a quarter of wheat, “just imagine how big they were”, says Mariol de Corroncui.

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Stage 5 · Senterada · La Pobla de Segur · Montcortès Lake

Transhumance joined the Lleida plain to the mountains, but this tradition no longer exists today.

Nowadays, most drovers’ roads are no longer used and they are increasingly covered by forest. Now flocks do not travel down-valley. Small flocks are on sunny private preserves on good days, and when it snows they are fed dry leaves and grass in the ubla (barn), in the mangers. That is how they spend the winter and the shepherds sleep at home every night, such as the flock of 1,400 sheep belonging to Bonet de Castellnou. This has come to an end in the Pallars region. And in L’Alta Ribagorça there are only two flocks that practise transhumance: Bellita de Taüll and Ramon de Cardet.

The small flocks that remain and move to the Lleida plain go to pastures full of trucks since the arrival of roads. And the few large sheep farmers, such as Peiró de Cóll, have built barns for the winter and have a considerable amount of pastureland, since there is little grain, and if necessary, it is purchased.

The tradition of moving up-valley is being lost. The situation has changed tremendously. In recent years, transhumance was practised increasingly closer by, as the further you went, the more expensive it was. For example, Mariol de Corroncui recalls that the last time he practised transhumance was more than 15 years ago when, together with Sunyer de Sentís and Badia de Benés, they went to Sant Salvador.

The difficulties posed by transhumance: “The advent of the tractor put a stop to everything”, Marquet d’Avellanos asserts. In one day, a tractor ploughed a great deal of land and there was no grazing ground left, everything was given over to agriculture. Ploughing with oxen was so difficult that there was always free grazing land remaining and grass for the sheep.

With the CAP (Common Agricultural Policy), many people from L’Urgell opted for irrigation, which led to the disappearance of many pastures; therefore, there was an increase in cereal farming, which was more profitable.

The urbanisation of the Lleida plain, emigration from and depopulation of the Pallars region, the shortage of shepherds and, therefore, the difficulty in finding a workforce… “This is over, it is all lost, there is nobody coming behind, young people do not keep it up, older people are retiring and farms are closing down”, Mariol de Corroncui tells us.

Marquet d’Avellanos was a shepherd for almost fifty years, from the age of 14 until he retired. Mariol de Corroncui was a shepherd for almost 25 years, from the age of 45 until he retired, though when he was young he tended to sheep at home.

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Casa Mauri, a Smattering of Modernity in the Pallars Region in the Early 20th Century

by Teresa Sabarich, teacher in the Escola Vall Fosca When visitors arrive in La Pobla de Segur and head towards the town square, sheltered by the hundredyear-old magnolias that contemplate the Casa Mauri, which currently houses the town hall, it will not be at all difficult for them to travel back in time to between 1903 and 1907, to the time the structure was built. While Barcelona witnessed an explosion of modernity with the development of Modernisme (Catalan Art Nouveau), reflecting the economic and social potential of the new Catalan bourgeoisie, the Pallars region also played a part in this emerging movement with the construction of the Mauri set of buildings. Its owner and builder, Ramon Mauri, had been born in La Pobla de Segur and was one of many Pallars inhabitants that had to leave in search of better employment prospects. Son of the town’s master builder and bricklayer by profession, he went to Barcelona where he perfected his trade.

He subsequently moved to Madrid, where he was among those that introduced the Catalan vault, a building innovation that garnered him great renown and enabled him to take part in the building of many important buildings and to earn a considerable fortune.

Upon his return to La Pobla, he embarked on his own urban development venture by purchasing sites known as, according to local place names, La Sort de Toyades, and a water concession from La Segla dels Camps. He undertook a construction plan with the intention of constructing different buildings presided by the Casa Mauri. It was all part of a major urban development plan to afford unity and harmony to the complex. It has its own lighting with electricity produced on the property itself. In short, a set of buildings that enjoyed the luxuries and comforts of any bourgeois mansion in Barcelona.

These splendid, urban buildings stood out among the town’s simple buildings at the time and reflected the entrepreneurial and innovative spirit of Ramon Mauri, as well as his economic and social status.

In this regard, it is noteworthy that he hired the services of two prestigious artists from Barcelona for his building plan: the mosaicist Lluís Bru, creator of the mosaics in Barcelona’s Palau de la Música Catalana, among other works, and the sculptor Josep Llimona, to whom he commissioned the sculpture of Sant Josep that presides the oil mill.

Close inspection of Casa Mauri reveals that it is a Modernista palace, characterised by its own style, with rich decoration brimming with detail. The bare building blocks and decoration with cobblestones, pumice stones and small pebbles make the entire house a hymn to the aesthetic value of nature. But the elements that really stand out and lend prominence to the house are its mosaics. It is no doubt that Lluís Bru must have been satisfied with his work, as he left his signature on the ceramic mosaic in the entrance hall. Careful observation of the external mosaics, spilling over with beauty and originality, shows the interest in the figure of the owl, a unique element for its presence in noteworthy spots in the building. The ceramic tile wainscot in the hall, closer to the aesthetic principles of Modernisme, also harbours surprises such as the discovery of Cu-cut, a symbol of conservative Catalan nationalism of the time, or the presence of a commemorative medallion of the house’s official opening, loaded with symbolism, with Catalan nationalist and heraldic references, which highlights the economic and social standing enjoyed by its owner.

However, due to various adverse circumstances, Ramon Mauri’s economic position progressively weakened until he was ruined and lost all his assets. The Mauri buildings later became the property of a major timber businessman in La Pobla, who set up a sawmill and moved his offices to the house. Casa Mauri, over the years, was adapted to different uses, until in 1988 the town hall purchased the set of buildings and the house was finally refurbished to become its seat.

The current view of the palace, with renewed splendour thanks to successive restorations of its mosaics, which were beginning to suffer the devastating effects of the passage of time, allows visitors to enjoy, even today, that smattering of modernity afforded by Casa Mauri in the Pallars region in the early 20th century.

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Stage 5 · Senterada · La Pobla de Segur · Montcortès Lake (24) 18.5 km · 5 h 20 min · El Llop (1,050 m).

When the crest is interrupted by crags, we have to turn slightly to the left to find a passage in a crevasse equipped with a chain and a few iron rungs. It is four metres in height and does not present any difficulty on account of the installed equipment.

However, it is an aerial passageway exposed to falls. Once at the end of the chain, we flank the crag from below until we rejoin the crest and finish the descent via the steep rock.

From here there is a stretch that is not marked because the terrain is very rocky and broken. We follow the signs painted on the rock and make the descent by zig-zagging. In the most difficult parts, the path always tends to seek out the best passage over the side of the Montsor ravine.

(25) 18.9 km · 5 h 30 min · Roca Foradada crags (1,015 m).

When we get to the second prominent rock, where there is a flag, we veer left to find a passage between the rocks where we can make the descent. We return to the crest and continue the descent with no evident path. A third prominent rock forces us to the left again until we come to a passage through which we can descend. Once we have made the descent, we return to the crest where we rejoin the path and quickly leave the crags behind.

The path continues descending toward La Pobla de Segur and, on some stretches, you can see the small walls that delimit the drovers’ road.

(26) 20.8 km · 6 h 15 min · Water chamber (710 m).

On the right of the path are an antenna and a water chamber from where the waterfall pipes belonging to the hydroelectric power station in La Pobla de Segur emerge. We cross a bridge above the pipes and get to a track.

(27) 21 km · 6 h 16 min · Track (690 m).

We take the track to the left, downhill.

(28) 21.1 km · 6 h 20 min · Track (670 m).

We leave the main track behind to take another one that emerges on the left, which is in very poor condition and descends in a very straight path.

(29) 21.5 km · 6 h 30 min · High-voltage transmission tower (605 m).

Passing alongside a high-voltage transmission tower, we leave the track to take a narrow path to the right. We cross another track perpendicularly and pass over a small channel of irrigation water. Two paths begin on that stretch above the channel; we will take the one on the left and descend towards La Pobla de Segur.

(30) 22 km · 6 h 40 min · La Pobla de Segur (535 m).

On the street where the path leads, there is a signpost with a map of the Montsor path. From the signpost we can see the historic Modernista (Catalan Art Nouveau) building, Casa Mauri. It houses the town hall, the tourist office and the Molí de l’Oli (the former Olive Oil Mill that now acts as a cultural centre).

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The Trade of Raier (Raftsman) by the Associació Cultural dels Raiers de la Noguera Pallaresa The Associació Cultural dels Raiers de la Noguera Pallaresa (Cultural Association of Raftsmen on the Noguera Pallaresa River) was founded in 1979 in order to commemorate the ancient trade of timber rafting. For more than thirty years in La Pobla de Segur, the Diada dels Raiers (Rafters’ Day) has been celebrated on the first weekend of July. Over four days, activities are organised that revolve around the world of timber and rivers, as well as the descent of rafts through the Noguera Pallaresa River, which attracts thousands of spectators.

The trade of raftsman entails the transport of timber by river.

To transport the timber, the raftsmen built rafts, which were the vessels they used to travel downriver and to transport goods. To carry out their work, the raftsmen called for the help of other timber workers. So woodchoppers felled the timber in the forests and haulers dragged the timber with mules to the riverside where the raftsmen built the rafts. To tie the logs together, they used birch branches that were softened beforehand with water and twisted by hand to afford them the flexibility of a rope.

Once ready, the raft was driven by the raftsmen as far as the sea, the hardest and most dangerous part of the process.

Timber rafting by river was a livelihood in the Pallars region for centuries until the early 20th century, when dams were built and trucks appeared. But this trade existed all over the world, from Africa to Canada, and Japan in-between, where there are also associations that commemorate this ancient profession. Since 1986, when the first gathering took place in La Pobla de Segur, International Raftsmen Gatherings have been held worldwide.

A good way to learn more about who the raftsmen on the Noguera River were is to visit the Museu dels Raiers (Raftsmen Museum) in La Pobla de Segur. The museum is dedicated to the study and dissemination of timber transportation by river and the conservation of timber-rafting heritage in the Pyrenees.

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Alternative route 1 · La Pobla de Segur · Claverol (1) La Pobla de Segur (535 m).

Situated on the road N-260, in front of the town hall and the tourist information office, we will walk a few metres in the direction of Sort, heading northeast, until we get to the bar L’Argenteria and a small square on the right. From the square we will take the unpaved path that runs through vegetable gardens. We continue walking along Carrer d’Oran until we stop at Carrer del Raval.

We veer left, down the street, until we leave the village and get to the Noguera Pallaresa River, a highly frequented river throughout the history of the raiers (raftsmen). We cross the bridge and on the other side of the river we veer right, southward, via the street that runs between the houses and the river. Almost at the end of El Pont de Claverol, we come to a restaurant, next to which are some steps that we have to climb until we come to a street that leads upwards. After a few metres, the street turns into the Claverol path.

(2) 1,1 km · 15 min · Claverol path (525 m).

The path begins uphill, going round the last house in El Pont de Claverol, and immediately arrives at the access road to Claverol.

(3) 1,2 km · 20 min · Road (545 m).

We cross the road perpendicularly and continue on the other side via the Claverol path. From here there is a well-preserved stretch of the old path that gently climbs upward towards the village.

(4) 1,8 km · 35 min · Track (635 m).

The path leads to a track that we will take to the left, roughly following the same route we were on. After a short while, we rejoin the old Claverol path, on the right-hand side.

(5) 1,85 km · 37 min · Camí vell de Claverol (640).

We continue upward on the path until we emerge again on another track, which we will take on the right until we eventually come out on the road.

(6) 2 km · 40 min · Road (665 m).

On arrival at the road, we turn left and continue walking on the paved road, upward. We pass by a farm on the right and a few metres further up is a track on the right, beneath Claverol itself.

(7) 2,4 km · 45 min · Track (700 m).

We continue along the track taking various bends to gain altitude until we come out on a hill where there is a fork. We continue along the track on the left, from where you can see the first houses in Claverol.

(8) 2,9 km · 1 h · Claverol (750 m). Claverol.

Distance: 2.9 km Cumulative elevation gain: +264 m Cumulative elevation loss: -43.2 m Maximum altitude: 750 m Minimum altitude: 510 m Estimated time: 1 h Difficulty: This section does not present any technical difficulty.

Topographic profile

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