First hike in Andorra

Let’s see, last Saturday six of us went on a hike up to the Refugi de Juclar, situated at the Estany de Juclar (a mountain refuge on a lake). It was suggested to us by Andrew’s homestay (or as he calls her, ‘his woman’). We really had no solid information about the place because every website said something different about it, but according to Andrew’s woman there was a restaurant and beds. We tried to call for more information, but no luck. So anyway, we all took a bus up to this little village where we walked for about an hour to the trailhead, and then from there maybe about another two hours to the top. The village was very small and there were lots of cows and horses, all wearing cowbells :) One horse was lying down by the river, and because it didn’t move at all, we really weren’t sure if it was alive or not… Eventually we got to the end of the road and the trail got very steep from there. There were streams and some small waterfalls, and we even saw some sheep (or goats?). There was one picnic area with places to cook, and by that time we were starting to get hungry and wished we had brought up that horse with us. Overall, it wasn’t the hardest trail I’ve been on, but I don’t think it was as easy as we were planning on.
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Anyway, everybody was ecstatic to get to the lake, but when we went into the refugi to ask about staying the night, the girl told us that everything was full. It was way to cold up there to stay, so we quickly ate dinner and then hiked back down. I was a little worried about how much daylight we would have because I was the only one with a flashlight (or as the Oxford students call it, ‘torch’). However, we made it past the steep part and most of the road before it got dark, and we managed to catch one of the last buses back to Escaldes where we live. It may have been a little disappointing not to be able to stay, especially knowing that the refuges are going to close pretty soon as it gets colder, but it was a good hike and I’m still glad that we went. Oh, and the horse was not where we had left it, so good news, it must have been taking a nap.
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Pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/kelsey.maass/EstanyDeJuclar02?feat=directlink