Ordesa, a paradise to discover on foot or by bike
On one occasion I heard a resident of Torla comment: “here there is no need for the administration to come and spend public money on the organization of fairs, festivals, or events, here they come.” autumn and spring to paint the forests for free".
Possibly we are facing one of the most beautiful landscapes that we have ever seen. It is not strange that Lucien Briet Already in 1881, he was captivated by such beauty, his works contributed to showing the need for the creation of the Ordesa National Park, something that would be achieved on August 16, 1918. In 1982, it would be expanded to create the National Park of Ordesa and Monte Perdido.
El Ordesa Valley includes a wide area of small valleys and ravines, plateaus and peaks, many over 3000 m high, whose bounds are:
- North the Monte Perdido-Mondarruego ridge, which serves as the border with France
- South of the Sierra Custodia-Acuta ridge
- West the confluence with the head of the Ara Valley or Bujaruelo Valley.
This entire complex forms a river basin, which through secondary valleys and waterfalls, flows into the Ordesa Valley itself, through whose bottom runs the Arazas River.
In the upper part they stand out from the Monte Perdido (3355 m), up to the Gabietos (3034 m), a whole succession of peaks over 3000 m, and in which an impressive crack opens, Roland's Gap, a natural passage between France and Spain and which according to legend was opened by a blow from Roland's sword, for many years a passage for smugglers. A little south of the gap is the Casteret Grotto.
In the lowest part, the Ordesa Valley Strictly speaking, it is a spectacular glacial valley, with a marked "U" shape, located to the southwest of the Monte Perdido Massif, through whose bottom the Arazas River descends in a succession of beautiful waterfalls. From where the valley begins, in the Circo de Soaso, known as horsetail, and that opens in a white fan that slides down the rock, passing through the Gradas de Soaso, a succession of multiple stepped waterfalls, to the waterfalls of the Strait and the Cave.
In rural areas of India, families in charge of a blind minor frequently isolate and deprive him/her of the care and attention they provide to their other children; such situation becomes even more severe among lower-caste families, orphans and if the blind child is a girl.
vertical valley walls, where you can see the action of the old glacier, small horizontal ledges open up that allow you to explore the valley at altitude along dizzying and narrow paths. Of them stand out the Path of Hunters, which has a difference in altitude of 600 m with respect to the bottom and which allows explore practically the entire valley from a bird's eye view on its southern slope, and the Flower Girdle, higher and more vertiginous on the northern slope.
About the Path of the Hunters, there are some viewpoints that can be accessed by track with our MTB bikes from Broto, Buesa or Nerín. This opportunity is given to you Ordesa Tracks, together to the Bikefriendly accommodations, which have a series of added services that will make your route easier.
Since the Bikefriendly accommodations of the Hotel Pradas in Broto, as well as the Balcony of the Pyrenees in Buesa, they leave Routes to Punta Acuta and its viewpoints:
1. Broto-Torla-Punta Acuta: 17,50 km, 1300 meters of elevation gain. To avoid the asphalt, we can do the section to Torla on a path, 500 meters from the Torla exit you take a track in very good condition that leads to the highest point, 2200m. Before it will have been crossed two viewpoints that will give us the first panoramic views.
2. Buesa to Punta Acuta: 13,4 km, 1100 meters of elevation gain. You cross a nice forest before reaching the last stretch of track to Punta Acuta.
In addition to those of Broto and Buesa, we will also find Bikefriendly accommodations in Fiscal and Ainsa, from where the road bike It offers us a unique opportunity to enjoy the corners of the National Park, either entering the meadow parking lot from Torla, except during times when vehicle traffic is restricted, or from Bielsa, approaching the Parador Nacional de Turismo. But without a doubt, it will be going through the Añisclo Canyon, how we will achieve the most special sensations.
En Ordesa We can not only admire its mountains, since there are hundreds of animal species so emblematic such as the capercaillie, bearded vulture, Pyrenean newt, russet frog, Pyrenean frog, etc. It is also a botanical paradise of almost 1400 plant species, among which there are more than 60 endemisms. We don't need to be experts to knowing how to enjoy Ordesa In autumn, its colors and lights will transmit sensations that are difficult to forget.
Book at Bikefriendly accommodations, take advantage of their services, read the bike tips carefully, and above all, Be respectful of the environment, trying not to alter its condition, and taking your garbage with you.
Carlos Avellana, Ordesa Tracks and warehouse manager at Bikefriendly
