Scottish Rock Garden Club Forum
General Subjects => Travel / Places to Visit => Topic started by: Yann on July 30, 2017, 05:11:50 PM
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Early June i was undecided to trek in the region, mainly because of the very dry spring and early summer.
Finaly i flew, with family, to Perpignan and spent 8 days in the Cerdagne-Capcir.
I pretty knew that i'll not see much plant as previous visits, even above 2400-2500m.
WALK 1
The first walk occured in the Val de Planes, also called Orri de Planes.
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You can see my track (black line), i did mainly off trail. Off course i already know the areas.
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The river has a quick flow, on the lower parts of the trail steel cables help to cross the shores.
After 4km of climbing finally the first plateau can be seen.
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Approching the hills i still didn't find interesting plants, cows has eaten every green plants but not grass!
I was so disappointed, but i did the round walk in the valley at full speed :+)
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on my way back i stopped on a schists area to look at cushions plants
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Saxifraga geranioides were nice compared to the rest :-\
That's all for the first walk, just to warm up for the next summits.
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WALK 2 : Estany de L'Oliva
An easy walk among bogs, the goal was to find Ligularia siberica
On the site i've found many Trifolium badium, Equisetum fluviatile, Dianthus monspessulanus and deltoides, Angelica razulii
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WALK 3 : Sanyes, near Les Angles
The bogs of Sanyes is known by very few persons, it's a very rich vallon for flora and fauna.
It remains intact as the ski stations are far enough of this remote area.
Mosquitos and ticks are your friends, so no short trousers ;)
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more of this wet and cold area
here grow Pinguicula grandiflora, Phyteuma pyrenaicum, Pimpinella magna, Adenostyles alliariae, Drosera rotundifolia and intermedia among many other species typical of these environments.
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more tomorrow, i'll post the KMZ file of endemics plants i've found.
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Very interesting Yann, thanks for posting.
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I must really be getting old - I'm enjoying even more than usual other people doing the walking instead of me!
;D ;D
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I really like to walk a lot, sorry for your legs ;D
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WALK 4 : Puigmal de Segre, 2840m
A great walk among, that climbs a bit ;) departure at 1600m, submit at 2840m
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The road to the "parking" is easy access with sometimes strange vehicules on it
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the more you climb, the more it's interesting. Primula grandiflora in seeds, Xatardia scabra, Ranunculus ranunculus parnassifolius, Dianthus, Androsace, etc
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i had no thunders, nor rain. Higher you can find Sesamoides pygmaea (photo 3), again Ranunculus and Xatardia scabra (4) , Saxifraga aquatica, viola diversifolia just to name a few.
The best period to visit these mountains is between 1th to 20th June, i was already too late to enjoy more flowers.
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The beautiful Ranunculus, is this the Nuria Form?
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End of walk 4 :P
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No Gerrit, the Nuria ones are much more compact with pattern's deeper colors. I had no time to go there, my daughter asked me for a horse walk instead :-[
Next trail tomorrow...
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WALK 5 : Val de Galbe
A walk done in 2 days, sleeping at a refuge. The valley is less known than Eyne but it's much more beautifull and less rectilinear.
I was alone leaving wife and daughter in the warm swimming pool 8)
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The river Galbe be heard along the first part of the walk on an easy trail.
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I'll just show few photos of what you can find in the mountains, i've not sort all of them (waiting winter evening)
Gentiana (pyrenaica,verna), many saxifraga (longifolia, aizoides, media,moschata, pubescens, etc), Thalictrum (alpinum, simplex) ,Endressia pyrenaica, Dactylorhiza savogensis, Erysimum duriaei, Iberis spathulata... an open-air book ;)
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the shy Botrychium simplex (4).
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S. longifolia suffered from heat.
The evening has something magical, difficult to express.
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Very interesting to see, Yann; thank you.
One day I hope to do a long walk in the Pyrenees.
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It's a large mountain range (450km x 140km), Cataluna, Andorra, Ariege, Cerdagne, Aragon, each zone has its own flora, rocks and climates.
So you've choice of walks. The main difference with the alps is the difficulty to access some summits (versus easy roads to Galibier, Lautaret, Queyras, Ecrins, etc), that's what i like.
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(Relative) inaccessibility appeals to me too, as well as greater freedom for free camping along the way (in contrast to busy places like Switzerland).
Of course from our point of view the great diversity of conditions (Mediterranean to Atlantic, south to north, geological) makes the botany especially interesting.
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Mrs N would regret the absence of shoe shops :P ;D
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the only shoes shop where those for hiking, don't think we're talking about the same shoes style ;D
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WALK 6 : Puig de Camporells
an easy walk, elevation 750m between the ski station to the pic.
I didn't use any GPS, just followed the trail until Estany del Mig, afterthat free hike to the summit.
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Lilium pyrenaicum, Nepeta latifolia are endemics of the region
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at every step a new plant, don't forget the camera's batteries.
I found great Salix pyrenaica, retusa, reticulata on a north face.
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Here's the KMZ file to load in Google Earth, i've pointed the interesting plants seen.
I hope it will helps the adventurous travellers ;)
Ramonda were found in the border of Cadí-Moixeró
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https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B74GKpOnhkpJZDBwYW5kOFJUU0E
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I got logged out last night by the time I finished viewing - very nice, detailed report Yann, with lots of beautiful pictures!
One probably needs a whole lifetime to explore the whole Pyrennees range!
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Every mountain range on earth is a lifetime gift.