Monday 15th Nuria to Setcases 20kms

After a cup of coffee from the vending machine in the railway station, Javier pointed the way to the GR11. Today was to be our last day in the real high mountains of the Pyrenees. We had a perfect day for it, cold in fact there was ice on the ground, but a clear blue sky. As we climbed up towards the high ridge of Noufonts, we saw mouflon, a mountain goat brought in from France to replace the Cabra Hispanica which was decimated some years ago by a virus. Near the pass we arrived at the snowline and crunched through the icy crust to reach the Coll de Noufonts (2645mtrs). We had a clear view from there to Puigmal. Over the next hour and a half we followed the ridge through the snow with amazing views. We climbed to the top of 7 peaks before midday before finally reaching the Coll de la Marrana and the descent through the snow down to the Refugi d'Ull de Ter where stopped for lunch, then following the pista to Setcases. An excellent last day in the tops. Once in the village of Setcases we looked for a room. Finding cheaper accommodation in Spain these days is not easy. A bed in a "cheap" hotel has typically cost us 20 euros each even when the 3 of us share a room. Add dinner and breakfast and the bill for the 3 of us runs to between 120 and 150 euros a night. So a bit of searching around is always required to find the best price. So after asking around we found L'Esquella, a restaurant that rents rooms, the best value in Setcases. A good 3 course meal with a couple of bottles of vino rosado and bedtime.