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Pedraforca


Description of the itinerary

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Points of Interest
The Massif of Pedraforca is one of the most emblematic natural areas in Catalonia, in a unique geological formation, consequence of the very peculiar shape of the mountain, which stands up in a small area: with only three kilometers in its base, it goes almost 1.300 meters up to the 2.497 m of Pollegó Superior. That's why the CMSC chose this mountain as regional peak in stead of Costa Cabirolera (2.604 m).
How to get there
Take road C-16 till Collet, close to Bagà, and there we take the road to Saldes and Gósol. 1,5 km past Saldes there is a road, just paved, which will take us to Mirador de Gresolet in 4 km. We might go there from Saldes, walking, by the PR-C-124.
 
Technical data
Time: 5:10 hours.
Slope: 900 meters up and 1.050 down.
Distance: 9 km.
Difficulty: A few spots requiring special attention. Must be careful.
Mobile coverage: Scarce.
Recomendations
Strong mountain boots (rocky ground). Good provision of water. In wintertime, the ascent through canal del Verdet and the walk on the mountain edge may be dangerous. Totally unadvisable in case of vertigo.
 
Description of the route
 
Mirador del Gresolet - refugi Lluís Estasen - coll del Verdet - Pollegó Superior - Enforcadura - Pla de la Serra - Gósol.

Mirador de Gresolet. 0:00 h; 1.560 m. Small parking place where the road coming from Saldes gets somewhat broader. Splendid panorama of the Gresolet Valley. Right before the parking we take a marked path which goes up to the shelter, through the woods.

Shelter Lluís Estasen. 0:15 h; 1.647 m. Located in the Jaça dels Prats. We take the indicated path (NW), which flanks the northern wall of the mountain through a wood of black pinetrees. Travessem several torrent-heads (canal) and afterwards the one of Riumbau, full of pebbles, which comes down from the wall (25'). We still have to cross the Canal del Verdet. The path starts going up from here. We pass the cave of Orenetes (45'). We cross a rill where we find a fountain. After a small pass we go up on a torrent bed and arrive to a pass.

Coll del Verdet. 1:45 h; 2.245 m. Located NW of the ridge of Pedraforca, between Cim Nord and Cap del Verdet. There is a path coming from Gósol at our right. We have abandoned the woods and start walking on nude rock. We follow the yellow marks, using feet and hands and continue going up for the last meters of the Canal del Verdet. That last part is specially nice. We continue on the ridge at left, arrive to Cim Nord ( 2.428 m), go down and up again to pic Occidental (2.476 m), down once more, a little bit up and we get there.

Pollegó Superior. 2:35 h; 2.497 m. On a clear day the view is extraordinary: To N and NE the near Serra de Cadí-Moixeró and Pics de la Cerdanya; to the E, serres de Catllaràs, Taga and the Pyrennees in Ripollès; to the S, Rasos de Peguera and Serra d'Ensija and Montserrat in the far end; and to the 'W, serres del Port del Comte, Boumort and Montsec. We descend to the other side, also yellow-marked, paying attention to the stony ground.

Enforcadura. (Fork between peaks) 2:55 h; 2.348 m. If you want to do a round circuit, must go down towards E. But to go to Gósol we take right (W), following the marks which will be with us for the rest of the journey. The Tartera (gravel slopy ground) of Gósol is not so steep as the one of Saldes and the path is clear all along the way. It goes down diagonally -by the head of several branches forming the torrent of l'Aubagó- to go join the serra de la Tossa. Once there, the path goes down for a while by the edge direction SW, till it arrives to a field.

Pla de la Serra. 4:10 h; 1.870 m. We walk again westwards through a black pine tree plantation on a steep descent till the torrent of Rubinat. At the other side of it the path becomes smoother and takes us to a small roundabout at the entry of the village.

Gósol. 5:10 h. End of the itinerary. The village well deserves a visit.

Date of the hike It was done on September 12, 2004, organized by CMSC and guided by Ramon Costa.
 
Useful maps
Serra del Cadí-Pedraforca, E:25, Editorial Alpina.
 
Page created by PR. Translations into English by Xavier Losantos. The use and copy of these pages is allowed if for non-commercial objectives. You are requested to mention the page of origin. Any suggestion will be welcome at e-mail correu