Day 5 – To Valdelinares

Thursday 9th September

Just the two years I’ve been with a campervan and always trying to find the perfect stopover place. A couple of times I’ve got close, but last night is the best so far, pretty much perfect. From leaving the river yesterday mid-afternoon until late into the morning today we saw no one. Rather than stop at the pass itself, a kilometre further up the road, we had settled for the pull over in the road, which is pretty much a series of large potholes, for the Montsec Astronomical Observatory and the peak, La Corona, as it was out of the wind. The temperature was less than 20C, dipping to about 12C, the views over Sierra de Montsec and the distant Pyrenees fantastic, and what’s more, after dark we were treated to a light show, the night sky directly above, and the lightning over the Pyrenees.

After a pre-breakfast walk we moved south, to Ager, Balaguer (supermarket and lunch), Lleida, and Andorra. I was headed for the highest village in Spain, Valdelinares, but needed to go through Alcala de la Selva to refuel. I took a brief look at the campsite there and moved on; though it’s at more than 1000 metres, it’s situated in a humid valley, and the town based around the ski industry. Valdelinares on the other hand, though closer to the ski area, is unchanged, just a tiny village perched high on the mountain at 1692 metres asl. I had a beer there. It’s one of those Spanish villages with narrow streets, far too narrow for my van.. from which I got a lesson not to take it in to the village in future. Good job it has a reversing camera..

Back up towards the ski area to stop for the night, at 1930 metres. It’s quiet, a couple of vehicles have passed, but we are well off the road on a track. No storms forecast tonight, but it will be cool I think.