Pla de Beret

Monday August 1st first track of 2022 in the Spanish Pyrenees. I took my marks and discovered after about twenty minutes that the GPS mouse was faulty. I restarted the laptop the GPS signal was good, but after about twenty minutes new failure and so on. We are always betrayed by electronics. I bivouacked in a huge parking lot at Pla-de-Beret.

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Bivouac Pla-de-Beret, Spain

Sort

Tuesday August 2 long day +6h00 of driving, with only pee stops, in grandiose landscapes but a tiring track from Esport to Llessui at +2000 meters of altitude on the mountainside jumping from one pass to another. On arrival in Sort I found the heat wave +33°C at 900 meters altitude with a bivouac in the city center in full sun. Oh dear !

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Waypoint-179

Wednesday August 3 another long day of +6 hours of driving for a distance less than yesterday, 82 km. The track without being brittle is difficult, especially the course between WP-163 and WP-166; twice I engaged the reducer the tires slipped on the patches of rocks. The landscape is very changeable but the track is lined with different trees, mostly conifers. I stopped at the edge of the track to bivouac at WP-179 at 1572 meters altitude to have freshness.

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Bivouac WP-179, Spain

Pal

Thursday, August 4, the trail will cross the high mountain pastures where domesticated quadrupeds used to eat for human beings graze, a real melting pot of races! After Tor the track weaves between the cliff and the torrent on a narrow and stony track where the crossing of vehicles is almost impossible. The rocks were pointing the nose making the progression dangerous for the tires, the speed is about 5 Km/h. I entered Andorra to fill up with diesel at a Total station at the price of 1.635 euro per liter of Excellium! I returned to the heights to bivouac at 2120 meters above sea level.

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Waypoint-16

Friday, August 5, the day was eventful. I had planned to visit Andorra and more particularly, Ordino, La Cortinada and the capital Andorra la Vella. I was fine in these modern cities, but the car traffic is insane; I went my way. In St-Julia de Loria same situation. This is the beginning of the second Road Book in the Val d'Aran. But I made a navigation error at waypoint 09 and the sanction was immediate. I started on a rutted track with very deep ruts on unstable ground made up of rock slag. I crashed the truck. I took out the shovel to clear the wheels and put stones. The work was arduous and took a long time. A vehicle was approaching and stopped, an SUV, too light to tow me. The Spanish-only driver made unsuccessful phone calls. A second vehicle came to pass, a MAN van, too light. The driver walked around my vehicle making me understand that he would take it out. After continuing my work of clearing the wheels. He got out my vehicle blocked axles and reducer in reverse. I thanked him warmly. The solidarity of off-roaders exists all over the world. I experienced it several times in my trip around the world. Surely Providence was in every situation with me; I can say that I am blessed by the Gods. I bivouacked at the edge of the track at waypoin-16. Like yesterday, a violent hailstorm hit around 3:30 p.m.

Waypoint-053

Saturday, August 6 the day began with descents in laces then reassembled also in laces on a narrow track, only one vehicle at a time, I did not meet anyone. The turns required two to three maneuvers which became painful and unattractive. Of course the landscapes are sumptuous and the villages are clinging to the mountainside. In this desert the meeting of a chapel testifies to a very old habitat. I bivouacked at waypoint-053.

Waypoint-0161

Dimanche 7 août la journée se passa sur des pistes très caillouteuses requérant une faible vitesse, 10 Km. Heureusement il y avait de longues portions asphaltées. Aucune difficulté de navigation sauf sur les portions asphaltées sur lesquelles les locaux connaissant la route et leur destination circulaient à la vitesse maximale autorisée. Pour ne pas faire d’erreur de navigation j’adoptais une vitesse lente pour me diriger ; la conséquence fut une longue file de véhicules derrière moi sans que les conducteurs manifestent leur mécontentement. Comme tous les jours je cherchais un emplacement de bivouac en début d’après-midi, avant l’orage, que je trouvais dans une courbe serrée avec un site plat idéale. Vers 16h00 un violant orage s’abattit sur les montages pendant une heure avec des grêlons de bonne taille. Je mis un certain temps pour me rendre compte que l’eau poussée par le vent dégringolait par les bouches d’aération du toit sur le duvet et le matelas, dégât des eaux ! Il faudra plusieurs journées pour le séchage ? Pour la première fois de mon périple sur les pistes espagnoles, la connexion Internet est inexistante, éloignement des habitations.

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