Fourth day is the day when we take on the big loop around the peaks of the main massive. Its around 20km and 1650 meters in altitude starting and finishing in Vegarredonda. The alarm clock is set to 6 AM.
Night is full of rain and wind; foggy cold morning air dampens my enthusiasm to get out as early as planned.
So we do no rush, take leasurly breakfast and around nine o’clock we adjust our expectations.
The big loop is not realistic; will go as far as we feel is okey, then turn back.
In case we would feel super good we could try to do the whole circuit, but its not a goal.
We leave our bags and tent in the refugio, put raincoats on and head out. But it takes only ten minutes down the grassy slope for the rain to stop; soon sunshine is tearing fog apart.
Zuzka is not feeling super good, so we pause the descent for a while. As we sit on the boulders looking into the wet grass, light plays with the water drops. First we see just one and cannot believe it, but, then another, and another. Scarce, little amber like shiny jewels are sprinkled on the hillside.
When down in Vegarredonda we fill water bottles for the day and Zuzka takes cafe con leche to cheer up. But the coffee is not really good and the place smells of manure. Not energizing.
We climb up a bit to explore the old shelter, which is about 100 meters higher. There, Zuzka’s crisis reaches a breaking point. She leans on a boulder, no energy, headache, cannot eat. Fears a heatstroke.
Call it a day or push on? Finally, she decides to take a powershot from Endorphin Republic (200mg of caffeine), cool her head with a dampened scarf and give it one more try..
Fingers crossed, looks that the powershot is working. Zuzka is climbing fast and soon we reach a fork in the path. We take the left branch; leads us up to a saddle where new views open up. To the left, after a steep drop, unedning vastness of rocks, greenery, shrubs, and rolling hills. To the right and up, where we are heading, peaks of our massif come into view. Impressive clean limestone rock faces.
Now, without much exertion, we are traversing the hillside on the path which hugs the massive tight. We are stopping all the time, enjoying the views.
Eventually we reach a climbers camp. Great place right under the rock faces. The only downside is the lack of a springwater, must be brought from Vegarredonda every day.
From there we turn more inward, crossing different little “hou"s. I am little bit lost, expecting the Hou Santo, and consult the map often, but fail to orient myself. Then finally we get there.
On the right side of this valley are the biggest peaks, but the ones on the left are also impressive.
We descend down to its bottom and leave the path to lead us into the massif interior. The heat has been really tiring, but here we can find some shadow. Patches of snow are still surviving at hou’s bottom. Mountain goats attentively watch us from the scree slopes.
Eventually, the valley reaches a dead end. Zuzka decides to take a break right there, lays down on a flat stone in shade to eat, drink, and rest. I go further to explore.
The path goes down, then shoots up, and reaches another saddle. Has enough flat space for couple of tents, outlined by the low stone walls. Magical place to camp over night here.
From the saddle where I stop I can see the path drop to the left side of the next much narrower valley. And beyond it, in the distance, magnificant solid wall of rock faces completely blocks the view. Incredible, but too far this time.
I return to Zuzka and we turn back. The speed of time is different here; afternoon is already in full swing.. The way back is quite exhausting, but the heat is not so bad anymore and refreshingly cool fog welcomes us to the greenery of Vegarredonga. Now we are almost “home”.
Again we fill all the bottles and start climbing up. I have no idea what was in the powershot but Zuzka outpaces me uphill.. Just in time to catch the sunset on the paradise to tak some magical photos.
We feel too tired to cook anything. Zuzka opens a can of tuna, I slice bread and garlic. It is enough. Although it’s foggy again, this night the rain does not come. The sky is clear, strong gusts of wind are dont give any cloud a chance to stay. The same with my sleep.