Final day, long walk. Dia dos, caminada llarga

Chuck and I started off bright, early and eagerly the next morning.

I had hopes of walking from Cassà de la Selva clear to Blanes on the coast for a total of about 55K, nicely bringing me over the 100K mark.

Vam començar al pròxim dia ben aviat i amb moltes ganes.  La idea era d'anar des de Cassà cap a Tossa i llavors, tira per Blanes per fer una 55K i acabar amb més de 100K caminat.   Vam sortir d'hotel a les 6 amb la primera objectiu de trobar la via verde. Era una caminada super maca amb l'alba del sol sobre un paisatge d'agricultura i ben pla.

We were off by about 6:00am, first of all finding our way back to the Via Verde.  It was a lovely walk, with the sun rising through agricultural countryside.

Old stone farmhouses.  Masies antics

The Via Verde looks pretty much like this the whole way.  Wide, flat and even (and slightly boring after a while).  La Via Verde, més o menys, sembla així per tota la via.  Ample, pla i ben fet (de debò, una mica avorrit desprès una mica de temps)

Once we got to Llagostera I left the via verde. It runs beside highways for most of the distance from here, and it is so well signposted that it is a little dull.  The upper sections are well worth it, the lower sections, all in one flat gulp, a little dull.  So we cut away.  Our first challenge was to find Can Misèria.  These are common reference points in villages here, the name of a house.  It is, however, fairly rare for said house to have it's name on it, so you need a local.
A Llagostera vaig desvia de la Via Verde.  Va a costat d'una carretera per quasi tot el recorregut des d'aquí i no m'interessa gaire, està tan ben marcat que no m'enganxa.  Per tant vam trobar una alternatiu.  La primera repta era troba can Misèria.  Com sapigueu, aquestes cases son referents molt comú aquí Catalunya, però molt sovint, no tenen el nom marcat a fora.  Necessitem un gen del poble.

As I was getting near the place I thought it should be I came across a senior citizen tooling around for an early morning walk.  PERFECT!  She did indeed know which house I needed and I was off. Map in hand, compass out, interested in the walk again, now I had to find my way.
Quan estava apropiant-me a la zona, he trobat una avia caminant. molt a poca a poc.  PERFECTE!  Com pots imaginar, sabia exactament quin casa necessitava, fins i tot hi havien dues Can Misèries i sabia quin necessitava.  Vam començar, amb mapa i brúixola, amb ganes i interes, que ara havia de trobar la ruta per a mi mateix.

We worked our way out of Llagostera, not a big place and into a veritable maze of side roads.  Which we wandered in the right general direction.  There was supposedly an official walking route through here, but the signposting was spotty at best.  I decided to ignore that and make my own way.
Vam sortir de Llagostera, no una poble gran i vam entrar una laberint de carrers petits.  Vam anar xino-xano per allà en la direcció general que necessitàvem.  Teòricament, hi ha una ruta oficial, però les senyals eren una mica ocasional.  Ho vaig deixar i vaig decidir de crear la ruta jo mateix.

Eventually we came across a paved road and started heading up that.  It was nice to be sure where I was again, and I had to meet up with and NOTICE the GR92, a long distance trail that would carry me right to Tossa.
Amb temps, vam trobar una carrer més gran amb ciment i vam començar de pujar per allà.  Estava un plaer saber exactament on estàvem perquè havia de trobar la GR92 que em portaria fins a Tossa.

As it intersected with the road I was on, and I could see where I was very specifically on my maps, which even included kilometer markers, and there was almost no traffic at all, we kept to the main road for this section.
Que la GR creu el carrer que pujava, i podia veure exactament on estàvem a la mapa que portava les marques dels kilòmetres i no hi havia gens de transit, vam quedar amb la carrer més gran.

Chuck was still turning down food, so we played catch with his kibble.  Me tossing, one piece at a time and him catching and eating them.  Gradually we got some food into him this way.  He does this sometimes, simply doesn't feel like eating, and doesn't.
En Chuck encara no volia menjar, per això vam jugar amb el seu menjar.  Vaig llençar un sol trosset cap a el i  el va agafar de l'aire i el va menjar.  Poc a poc va menjar una mica.  Ho fa de vegades, simplement no li dona la ganes de menjar, i per tant, no ho fa.

We wound our way up and up and up for about 8 kilometers.  Stopping to cool off and have a break as Chuck needed.....once near these cork trees where a fire had gone through.
Vam tirar més i més amunt per unes 8 kilòmetres, parant de vegades per refrescar-nos (bé, Chuck) i descansar quan en Chuck volia....un cop a costat d'aquests sorrers a on un foc a passat fa una mica de temps.

Eventually we found the GR92, which we were both happy about, off the tarmac, into the woods and hills and onto the next stage.  All going well, lots of energy and interest and up and up we went.  My sister phoned at one point to ask how things were going and we had a great long funny chat. Do adore her.  Then, while talking to her, I made it to the peak of the walk I was on, les Cadires.    It was fun and lovely and then down we went the other side.
Eventualment vam trobar la GR92, i ens vam posar contents perquè no estàvem amb ciment, estàvem al bosc i muntanyes i passem pel pròxim pas.  Tot anava molt bé i vam continuar pujant.  La meva germana em va trucar per demanar com anim i per una xerrada ben llarg i divertit.  M'encanta la meva germana.  Mentrestant xerrant vaig arribar al cim del dia, les Cadires.  Divertit i maca i vam començar de baixar. 

Here's a view of Tossa de Mar, the first goal.  Aquí pots veure Tossa de mar, la primera objectiu.

We had quite a bit of fun working our way down the mountain, there are millions of little roads through here and we cut through the underbrush from time to time to get from one to another more directly.   Vam desfruitar-nos força baixant les muntanyes, hi ha milions de carrers petits i vam córrer entre bosc de vegades per salta des d'un cap a un altre. 

It was getting hotter and hotter, and eventually Chuck wanted to stop in a sandy shady bit on the side of the road. He digs into the sand till he gets down to cooler damper sand then throws himself onto it, his relatively hairless belly soaking up the cool and rapidly bringing him some relief from the heat.
Tota l'estona la temperatura pujava i finalment en Chuck va demanar de quedar una estona en una mica d'ombra sobre sorra al costat del carrer.  Quan té calor, excava una mica del terra fins que trobi terra més freda i li estiri allà. La seva panxa que porta poc pel deixar li refrescar-se ràpidament.

Here he has just dug himself down and he's soaking in the cool. Aquí ha tirat la terra de sobre i està desfruitant la freda al panxa.

Then he fell asleep.  LLavors, va dormir.

Woke up a few minutes later for another dig to cooler soil.  Li va despertar per troba terra més freda.

Then he fell asleep again.  For 40 minutes!  It was like traveling with a toddler, waiting around while he has a nap.  I decided at this point that there was no going on, we were out of water (we could get more in Tossa) and his Chuck was done.  He never naps in the mountains.  It was just too hot.
I va tornar a dormir.  Per 40 minutes.  Estava com viatjant amb un nen de 2 anys, esperant quan fa la migdiada!  Finalment vaig decidir que vam haver de continuar, vam haver apagat l'aigua (vam poder agafar més en Tossa) i en Chuck ja va haver gastat tot.  Mai fa una migdiada al muntanya.  Simplement feia massa de calor.

So, after 40 min I woke him up and we marched down into Tossa, he kept wanting to stop, and I kept him going as we had no more water and it was only getting hotter.  Once into Tossa, which took about half an hour, we found some water and Chuck had a good long drink, though he was disgusted with me for not letting him lie down in a river.  No taxi in the land was going to take us on to Blanes and the train if he was soaking wet and muddy.  The bus to Blanes wouldn't let the dog on (they don't here, ever) and the first two taxi's said no too, but the third, my man, took us.  Thank goodness.
Desprès de 40 minutes, li vaig despertar i vam anar cap a Tossa. En Chuck volia parar moltes vegades, però li vaig dir que no, fins que no trobem més aigua.  Vam arribar, va beure, no estava gens content amb mi quan no li vaig deixar estirar-se al riu, ni un taxi portaria un gos ben ple de fang i xopat.  L'autobús de Tossa cap a Blanes no portar gossos per això havia de ser un taxi.  Les primeres dos em va dir no, però la tercera, el meu heroi em va dir que si.  GRÀCIES!

Onto the train from there, here's Chuck on his first train ride ever: Aquí, en Chuck al tren, per la primera vegada:

And sleeping on his first train ride ever.  I aquí dormint al tren per la primera vegada.

We had a 5K walk from the station, and I finished off the mileage with the climb of Puig Mal.  Not quite a full 100K, but as the last bit at Puig Mal was at some altitude and we did over a kilometer of climbing and descending, I'm counting it done. Vam tenir una caminada de 5 kilòmetres cap a casa i vaig acabar les kilòmetres pujant Puig Mal, no exactament 100K però que ho vaig fet amb altitud i que vaig pujar i baixar més d'un kilòmetre, dic jo, està acabat.

Most importantly, thanks to you all, we raised over $600 for Camp Kesem.  I think that's mighty fine, and I'd like to thank you all so very much.
Més important que tot, i gràcies a tots vosaltres, hem guanyat més de $600 per Camp Kesem.  Penso jo, que està fantàstic i voldria donar-vos to moltes gràcies.

Eldest La Gran

She had an important test today.  Té un examin molt important avui.

She had a test on the cha-cha-cha.  Té un examin de la xa-xa-xa.

I kid you not.  No està una broma.

Long walk, first day, continued. El Paisatge gran, primer dia, continuació.

OK, where was I? Ahhhh, the skid in the concrete, pretty cool, no?  Llavors, on era?  El ciment, no?

We kept on walking, Chuck and I.  We had quite a lovely time in fact.  There were lots of lovely mountains overhead, we had plenty of water and lots of places to get more. Vam continuar, en Chuck i jo.  Era un dia fantàstic, moltes muntanyes, vam tenir molt d'aigua, i moltes llocs per buscar més.

Plenty of food, and generally pretty lovely scenery.  Molta de menjar, i vistes molt maques.

See?  Sheep: Mira?  Ovelles:

Hills and villages and mountains.... Puigs, pobles i muntanyes.....

There were also quite a lot of cyclists.  A LOT of cyclists and at first Chuck was pretty good about them, going over to one side and letting them pass, but gradually he got kind of tired of their frequent passing.  As we were coming up to the river and bridge in the next two photos, he was hilarious.

Hi eren moltes ciclistes.  MOLTES ciclistes.  Per començar en Chuck li comportat força bé, anava a una banda del camí per deixar-los passar, però amb temps va cansar dels ciclistes.  Un cop, quan estàvem més a prop del riu allà baix, era hilarant.

He tends to walk about 20 yards ahead of me most of the time, so when we overtake people, he tends to do so first.  I always find this amusing when I am walking along as the person in front of me in generally unaware of our advance, then Chuck appears.  They normally look slightly surprised, but rarely look around, instead watching him.  This is what happened, this time, except that just after he passed an older man, three bicycles approached abreast.  Chuck seem to have decided that he was done with bikes, and he didn't go to the side of the road, in fact worse still, he decided to weave around a bit in the road.  The cyclists were ...ah.... distracted by this, one stopped completely and the other two pulled off some neat maneuvers to avoid him.
Normalment en Chuck caminar unes 20 m a davant de mi, per això quan passem gents, els passa en Chuck primer.  Sempre ho trobo divertit perquè la persona no sap que estem arribant i de seguida, en Chuck apareix.  Normalment, semblant una mica sorprès però tampoc no em buscant, en lloc, els mira cap a en Chuck.  Que va passar?  En Chuck passava un avi i just desprès, tres bicicletes estaven apropant-se cap a en Chuck i era evident que en Chuck ha decidit que ja està no li acomiadarà ni un més.  Llavors, no va anar a una banda, pitjor encara, va començar d'anar xino-xano aquí i allà al mig del camí.  Els ciclistes trobava aquest....difícil.  Un havia de parar i els altres dos havien de fer unes maniobres per evitar un accident.

The old man was having a blast watching this, funniest thing he'd seen in DAYS apparently.  Guess he's a little tired of cyclists too, on his home stretch of path.  I didn't even have to apologize as they all thought Chuck was his.   Had a good laugh with the old man as I passed him too.
El avi estava rient!  El cosa més divertit que ha vist en DIES.  Imagino que està força cansat dels ciclistes també.  No havia de disculpar-me tampoc, que tots pensava que en Chuck fos el gos del avi.  L'avi i jo vam riure quan li vaig passar també.
 

It was starting to warm up a bit, and Chuck went for his signature maneuver of lying in a puddle (here a canal) and drinking out of it simultaneously.  This is a bit of foreshadowing....just letting you know.
Començava de fer més calor.  En Chuck va utilitzar un dels seus trucs molt característic, va ficar-se en un canal i va beure d'el aigua a l'hora.  Fes nota d'això, influenciarà el futur.

Lovely bridge!  Un pont molt maco.

Mountains.  Muntanyes.

A neat house....I was actually yo-yoing with some bikes, which was pretty strange, I guess I was the ultimate tortoise to their really skittish hare.  An American couple and I passed each other three times, they were not sure they were on the right route, repeatedly, and I reassured them repeatedly.  They had been sent on this route by a tour of some sort who had given them a list of sorts, but no map.  I ended up showing them my map book, which is in Catalan, so they can't read any of it, but hopefully I convinced them that if they just stay on the trail, they'll get to Girona with the added bonus of no highway time!

Un casa molt bonica....em va sorprendre però estava passant i repassant unes ciclistes.  Ho trobava estranya, havia de ser molt més lent, no?  Vaig passar una parella americana unes tres vegades.  No estaven gens segur que la ruta els portaria cap a Girona.  Han comprat la ruta d'un empresa de viatges i els han donat una lliste però cap mapa. Els vaig ensenyar la meva i els vaig convèncer que sí, arribaran a Girona i no haurà d'anar als autopistes. 

These are the gegants from Celler de Ter.  I would like to say to anyone reading this blog about the Vies Verdes, that if you are going to do only a portion of this walk, do the bit up to Cellers, or at most Anglès.  After that you are walking right next to a two lane road with cars whizzing by at 100K all the time.  It is safe and all that, but it is a good deal drearier and not nearly as nice as it is up to this point.  Not so much fun once we got past Cellers.
A baix pots veure els gegants de Celler de Ter.  Voldria dir que algú que trobar aquesta escrit sobre la via verde, si només vols fer un part de la ruta, para a Cellers, o per molt a l'Anglès.  A bais d'allà, estas a costat d'un carretera, i les cotxes passen a unes 100K tota l'estona.  Està segur, però gens maca.  

Still heading into Cellers.  Encara tirant per Cellers.

You can see the road in this photo: Pots veure la carretera aquí a baix.

By now it had started to rain on us.  The other thing that had started was that his Chuckiness had started to go rather slower.  By the time we got to about km 46 he demanded a rest.  So we did, sat down right in the dirt as there wasn't another option with the cars flying past, I called the man and told him what was up and my doubts about getting to the booked hotel in time (ie before the kitchen closed at 11pm) and about if Chuck was going to do the distance.  We rested a good 15 min.  By the time I hit the 50K (or so) mark, I was pretty much pulling Chuck along.

Ara ha començat de ploure.  L'altre cosa que ha començat era que en Chuck ara va més i més poc a poc.  Quan vam arribar a 46K va manar que parem.  Ho he fet, vam seure-nos allà mateix al terra, no hi havia cap altre lloc, amb les cotxes allà mateix.  Vaig trucar l'Home per explicar-li on estàvem i que estava passant.  Tenia dubtes de arribar abans de quan tanca la cuina - a les 11, i si en Chuck podria anar més.  Vam descansar per 15 minutes.  Quan vam arribar a 50K, jo estava tirant-li. 

Decided to call it quits at this point.  It was still raining, Chuck was clearly unwilling and we still had a good four hours to go and there was some doubt about making it in time at all.  So, I called a cab.  I had thought we would take the lift through Girona and out the other side, leaving us with just about 2 hours of walking left.
Vaig decidir que ja està prou.  Encara plovia, en Chuck no tenia gens de ganes de continuar i encara faltava 4 hores de caminar i començava de fer tard. Vaig trucar un taxi.  Pensava d'anar a l'altre banda de Girona i caminar un altre dues hores....

But while we were waiting for the cab, we sat in the window of a friendly baker's with an awning, and look at his poor Chuckiness;
Però quan estàvem esperant pel taxi, vam seure al finestra d'un forner molt simpàtic, i mira pobre Chuck:

He's solidly asleep.  Just lay down beside me and passed out.  Head on the camera case.  I decided it was time to call it a day at this point and we went straight to the hotel.  A good thing to, while we were in the cab the heavens OPENED and it POURED down rain for two hours.  We would have been utterly miserable.
Adormit.  Simplement va estirar-se al meu costat i paf, dormint.  Amb el cap ficat a sobre la fonda d'el camera.  Vaig decidir que estàvem acabat pel dia i vam anar directe al hotel.  Bé que ho hem fet, perquè quan estàvem en el taxi va començar de ploure, però MOLT, i plovia per dues hores.  Hauria estat una misèria.

Instead we hung out in the hotel, Chuck slept and slept and slept, I listened to podcasts, phoned the family and had some dinner.  Oh, and a long hot shower.  Ready for the next day.

En lloc, vam descansar al hotel, en Chuck va dormir i dormir i dormir.  Jo escoltava podcasts, trucava la família i sopava.  Oh, i m'he dutxat, ben calin i ben llarg.  Preparat pel dia següent.

Went to the MOUNTAINS again today! He anat a les MUNTAYES avui!!

So, the continuation of the story of the weekend's walk will have to wait.  Per això, l'historia del cap de setmana haurà d'esperar.

Cause I was at the hairdresser's on Tue getting my hair dressed (cut) and he was telling me about this break up the week walk he was going to do with a friend (and fellow hairdresser.  They were going to leave super early Wed morning, climb Puig Mal (2911 M) and come back for lunch.  I asked, slightly pathetically, if I could come and he said YES!!!!!

Mira, estava al perruqueria dimarts i el pello m'explicava que al següent dia anirà al muntanya amb un amic seu i tornaran abans de dinar.  Patèticament, preguntava si podria venir jo. Em va dir que SÍ!!!!


I borrowed walking sticks from a friend and checked out the climb with a couple of experienced types I know, and it all seemed very doable.  Not technical at all, just a walk at high altitude.  And it was and it was MARvelous.....
Un altre amic em va deixar bastons i preguntava algunes muntanyers amb experiència si fos una bon idea i van dit que sí, que no és una ruta tècnica, simplement un paisatge amb altitud.  Era un dia fantÀstic....
 

Below?  The view from the parking lot.  If you're going to climb a mountain and be back for lunch, you have to start high.  Aquesta foto a baix és del parquing.  Si vols pujar una muntanya i tornar per dinar, has de començar ben alt.

Climbing higher, we are actually still pretty low at this point.  Best we didn't know.  Aquí estem pujant, i encara estem ben baix.  Millor que no vam saber.

Made it over the first bump.  Hem superat la primera puig.

My hairdresser brought his dog who had a BLAST!  El gos del meu pello va venir i tenia un dia espectacular.

There he is!  Chucky didn't come.  Mita'l!  En Chuck no va venir.

SNOW!  I haven't seen snow in years, so this was pretty neat.  It ws 1º at the parking lot and got a great deal colder as we went up. Neu!  No ho he vist per molts anys.  Guia.  Feia 1º al parquing i molt més fred més amunt.

French Pyrenees in the background.  Els pirineus de França al fons.

The top, what you cannot see is the wind that was HOWLING around.  El cim, que no podeu veure és el vent!  Hi havia MOLT.

The view going down.  Baixant.

A little flower by the hotel in the Vall de Nùria.  Unes flors a prop del hotel en Núria.

Walking back towards the car.  A very nice walk in and of itself.  Tirant cap al cotxa a Font Alba.  Un paissatge molt maca.

More views on the walk back.  Més vistes.

Looking up towards where we were, kinda, tough place for a girl to have a pee if she's out walking with two guys.  Aquest és la vista cap amunt, nuvolat.  Un lloc una mica difícil si ets una dona amb dos homes i vols fer pipi. 

Look who we saw on the drive out!  Cute overload.   I mira qui vam trobar quan estàvem baixant amb cotxe.

Also, I have a fancy new Garmin GPS watch thing-y (thanks M and D!) so if you click here, you can find out ALL about it.  (the highest speed?  I must have been stumbling or something, or it was during the part where I slid down a snowy hill on my butt).  I'm sorry, but some nerdy part of me finds all that info SO cool.
També tinc un Garmin GPS rellotge, molt guia (gràcies M i D), per això si cliqués aquí, pots veure tot.  (el rapidesa màxim?  Havia de ser caient o quan estava baixant un tros de neu al cul)  Un part de mi trobo tot aquesta informació TAN guia.

I am feeling overwhelmed trying to write this up. Em trobo enfonsda intentant d'escriure aquest passeig

Which is silly.  Que està una mica tonta.

I am going to add the rest of the Catalan later though.  I am getting too tired tonight.

So, here goes.  We went up to Olot on Sat evening so that we could leave bright and early the next morning.  The hotel was fine, nice and clean and just renovated, the people very friendly and it was VERY close to the start point of the walk.

His Chuckiness and I walked a couple of hundred yards up the walk just to get our bearings, and saw this:  

Then we went into Olot and we saw this:

And this:

The next morning on the way out of Olot we saw this:

The path we took goes along an old railway line, and in places this was quite clear.

No?

About 2K out Chuck found the first cow pat - thankfully, the only cow pat. See?  EEEEWWWwwwww  That's what happens when you have to put the leash on.

Fortunately I found this font nearly immediately.

Then the route flattened out a lot.  There are mountains in the background, but it was a very cloudy misty day.

This was slightly depressing, but fortunately it happened early while I was still fresh.  The other thing I didn't like was the mile markers, well, km markers and half markers.  When you have so far to go, it is not uplifting.  I prefer something of a float happily in the moment and don't think of the miles and km to go, nor hours, just enjoy where you are.  It's good that way.

This is a really fun copy of this painting, by a much esteemed and beloved Catalan painter.  I adore it too.  

This is a fantastic bicycling route so there were a lot of bike themed paintings, like this one at a highway underpass:

This one is fuzzy because the shot off the warning gun as I took the picture, and I think I jumped more than the anti-shake could manage.  Lining up for the start!

These ones are swinging around the back to meet up with the start, they have about 10 min to go.

Coming out of that town, into more fields, rolling more now, with beautiful mountains in the background.

The track is now going up the only hill on the route, 2 k of gentle climbing.  Chuck in the foreground.

Through a cut.  There were a number of these, and they were very cool.

Poppy season here.

Now, this last picture for today was on the way down from the Coll d'en Bas, the only hill.  Look closely at those marks in the concrete.  They tell what I thought was a funny story.  See if you can guess.  

DONE! FININT

we're back, we're well, more later.

hem tornat, tots bé, més desprès.