7-24-23 Day 6: site 9, we were told, would be the hardest hike…

So we had been warned, over and over, that site 9 would be the worst of the hikes, and after site 11, many of us had concerns.  But per usual, the day started off with small mammal plots.

1. Morning:  check the new small mammal plot (yesterday when we were in town, Uri went out to the new site and set up ALL 72 traps).  So today was day 1 of this site.
2. Afternoon:  we would hike to site 9 (more details on this in a bit)

Morning:

The new site for small mammals was in the high elevation area – 7132 feet  (previous plot was in “low elevation” of 6200 feet).  In fact, at this second plot we were next to the Ordino Arcalís ski resort (we were SOOOOO close to France at this point…)

Despite being in this kind of busy area (many hiking trails are used here in the summer), the second plot was incredibly picturesque:  a rambling stream going through a meadow, adjacent to a rocky outcrop and then the mountain (which of course, is where the traps were).  To me, super European.  This plot was much easier to navigate than the low elevation plot, because of the lack of dense, low-lying plants (but rocks were still hidden under the grass…they are flipping everywhere here)

AND…at this location, I saw for the first time, Brown Swiss cows!  Their coloring, to me, was so unique!  They are part of the same herd as the horses (owned by the same rancher), and we even met the shepherd today (who drives around in his 4WD listening for the cow bells around their necks…)

Being day 1 of the small mammal trapping, like the previous plot we didn’t catch much, just some bank voles (we catch so many of these, we are no longer excited to see them…!!).  We caught a total of 3 bank voles in the 72 traps.  However, bank voles are really not supposed to be this high up, so this is an interesting observation.

Afternoon:  the dreaded site 9

Okay, so we had been told since the beginning that site 9 would be the hardest, and on paper, it definitely looks that way:  up and OVER one of the peaks would be 2,000 feet up in 1.4 miles (so yes, 1428 feet/mile) and then a 4,000 foot descent over 3.5 miles.  The plan was to start at location “X”, go up and over the mountain to site 9.  Once doing all the measurements we needed to do at site 9, we would then hike down the 4000 feet to the town of Llorts, where Uri had previously left his own car.  So after the hike, Uri and Jana would take Uri’s car back to the parked vans, and then they would come back and pick us all up.  I have marked a map below

So these maps were in all the towns, and these hikes are commonly done…granted, we didn’t have a ton of people pass us up and over the mountain, but we definitely saw people around on a Monday.  When I looked at AllTrails, this hike wasn’t even on there:  in fact, there were only 6 hikes in Ordino, all rated HARD!!  I had to use Gaia to figure out the mileage…(because I kept forgetting to turn my watch on) – and for sure, there are WAY more than 6 hikes in the Ordino valley…

Up 2000 feet

Honestly, because it was all trail, this was definitely hard, but NOTHING like the terribleness of site 11.  Here we all are hiking up:

At the top!!!  

You can hear it in the video, the wind was FIERCE.  While taking a quick rest up there, we often had to turn our heads when a big gust came through, hold all our stuff, and brace ourselves against the rock.

AT THE TOP – video perspective

Going down (the start of the 4,000 feet)

(but also lunch and the data collection of site 9)

Our first goal was to get to the lake immediately below us on the other side of the peak to rest and grab some lunch.  Again, steep, but there was a path

Lunch at the lake (2pm by now) was “super nice” (as Jana would say):  peaceful, beautiful views, crystal clear waters

The lake sounds are so calming

Next was to collect the data from the site.  I was lake water collection, and then on dendrometer reading and nest box checking, and…hmmm….I took pictures of the lakes, but no pictures of the tree data because it took ALL MY CONCENTRATION to get to the site and get to the trees:  very steep, lots of hidden rocks.  11 trees, per usual.  I have to thank the young people with their swift legs and good eyes for doing the majority of the work (they are like gazelles, just skipping up the rocky mountainside…).  However, the second group (camera trap SD card collections (and inserting new SD cards, batteries, etc) and then tea bags) managed to get some interesting pictures of the camera setups, because being at the treeline, there are no trees north of the ecotone, so where to place the camera…..where to place the camera…

The other lakes

The camera trap above the treeline

The real hike down

After doing the data collections, we met up with the second team at a “resting hut” (refugi de l’Angonella on the map).  Our group finished first, so Ewa and I hid under a rock so we could find some shade (the hut was occupied by a little family with kids – amazing they did the hike!).  Once we all were together, we did the trek down…down….down…2 hours down the majority of the 4000 feet.  By the end, we were dead tired.

It was one of those “goal” hikes that people train and train for, and yet it was just one of 5 major hikes we would do this week.  Was it long?  Yes. Was it massive in elevation change?  Yes.  Was I so tired at dinner, that I couldn’t carry a conversation (I mean, Irene being silent??!!??)?  Yes.  Was it the hardest hike of the week?  No.

Because we all agreed, site 11 WAS WORSE!  All downhill from here…😎