Wednesday 3rd Oct Tavascan to Àreu 16.5 kms

After one of the great breakfasts of the trip, a real hotel buffet brekkie, we walked 20 metres up the main road, crossed a small bridge and straight into a vertical climb. No warm up this morning, within 20 paces the sweat was beginning to pour out of my forehead. Within 1 km we climbed 450 mtrs and then relief, a nice level track that sidled around the head of the valley passing through groves of autumnal birch with views to small villages. We stop briefly at the village of Boldís Sobirà to fill up with water and to put on our wet weather gear. The rain hits as we climb above the village and the temperature drops the higher we go. We climb another 800 mtrs over 6 kms, the last 2kms very steep and slippery. We pass the skeleton of a recently dead sheep, not a morsel of meat left on it stripped bare by the huge vultures. We dont hang around on the top, its too cold. We drop into the forest to get out of the wind and have a short lunch break. We need to eat but not moving chills us down. Another layer of clothes, beanie and gloves on Im still cold for the next half hour. We have to drop 1000mtrs over 5kms to Areu and do it in record time. The village is dead but the bar is open. We find an apartment to rent with a kitchen which is lucky because the bar doesnt serve food and the village restaurant is closed. The weather forecast is very bad for the next 3 days with the TV showing scenes of flooding in various parts of Spain. All our gear is soaked so there is a lot of activity washing and hanging clothes, tents, packs, etc.