We had a few days of adventures in the hills near Ager in Catalonia.
Friday
Ari and I headed away on a Friday into the hills inland from Barcelona. We drove to Vilanova de Meià and spent a couple of hours climbing there at the Contrafort de Roca dels Arcs crag in the cliffs above the town. It was a bit cold and grey to begin with but the weather improved. We spent a while trying to find the climbs after descending into a riverbed and then climbing back and following a bit of a track along the base of a huge cliff. We found some climbs and did three easy ones on a flat wall (two fives and a four).
We’d parked at the entrance to a bit of a ravine and the road continued climbing up with cliffs on both sides. It was quite picturesque and we ate a very late lunch on the side of the road while watching as one-by-one several huge birds flew out from between the walls of the cliffs and off into the distance. I’d guess they were vultures only because I don’t know what they truly were. I wouldn’t be surprised if they could pick Ari up and fly off with her. Luckily I’m a bit fatter.
After climbing and lunch were over, we followed the small road as it wound its way up amongst the cliffs. At one point, I cautioned Ari that a car was coming but as we got closer we saw two huge wings and the “car” lifted off into the sky and flew away. Beside the road were the bloody remains of a large fox that the bird had been feasting on. Apparently they don’t hunt but just scavenge so perhaps the fox had fallen from the high cliffs above.
We stayed the night in the small town of Ager and ate at one of the two restaurants in town where we got talking to an older couple. The woman was originally from the Netherlands, the guy a local. He bought me a schnapps to help with the discussions. They were both friendly and the village had a friendly small town vibe.
Saturday
We drove 20 minutes to Corsa in the morning and met Anaïs, Pol, Mereia, and Marina. The plan was to do a ferrata or two. It was a cold and slightly grey day and we all opted for warmer clothes. We set off down a rough and steep track to the large hydro lake below the carpark on one side of a sharp ridge that ran down to the lake. After a quick introductory course in harnesses and ferrata equipment we were ready to tackle Los Teletubies, the beginners ferrata near the lake. The Germans were all over it with a map on bergsteigen.com so we felt right at home.
The ferrata is easy and even has spots to abseil if you’re guiding a group and need to bail, I guess. Anaïs had no trouble, which was great as she’d had bad experiences with ferratas in the past. Ari went first and I was in the middle with Anaïs and Mereia behind me.
The weather improved and the sun came out and we had a really nice couple of hours climbing back up first via Los Teletubies and then by another ferrata, Olmo-Soler. This second one took us up and over to the other side of the narrow and sharp ridge whose other side we’d descended on. We had great views down to the lake in different directions. It wasn’t hard but we had a bit of a feeling of exposure and in some parts you had to unclip for a few metres. We stopped at the small chapel Mare de Deu de la Pertusa at the top of the ferrata before continuing back to the cars.
There was still time in the day so we went walking for a couple of hours along the track that wound it’s way through the hills above the lake. We stayed in Ager again in the evening and ate out at the same restaurant, ordering pizzas with interesting toppings.
Sunday
We headed off to do another ferrata on Sunday, 15 minutes drive from Ager near the town of Cellers at a hyrdo lake. The ferrata is new and traverses along the side of a cliff above the lake. It’s easy (overall K3) and has some interesting features (a bridge and a swing). Anaïs had had enough of the excitement and went for a walk while the rest of us set off along the cliffs beside the lake. It was pretty easy with a short section that was K5?/D? that was optional. Ari and I did this and the others took the easier option skipping it. A bridge followed and then the main highlight, a swing. Ari opted not to do the swing but changed her mind after Mei did it without losing any limbs. I stood on the wooden platform and helped everyone clip the swing into their belay loops before finally having a go myself. It was good fun and I followed Pol’s approach, swinging slightly to the right to avoid the chains for a clearer run.
We continued and the final part of the ferrata was a climb directly up the rock, away from the lake to the vegetation at the top. From there we walked through scrubby bush along a track that took us back down to the road near the car park. We met up with Anaïs and then went for a walk to a stony beach on the lake shore where Pol and I went for a quick dip. Later we went for a walk along the road that is tunneled into the rock behind the ferrata. Finally, we drove a few km down the road and went for another walk up a valley with steep rocky sides. In the evening we drove back to Barcelona.
