Coronallacs: Hiking route around Andorra

And while the hike doesn’t include the highest peaks of Andorra, it offers impressive views of almost 3000 m high peaks, including Pic de Comapedrosa, the highest point of Andorra.

Arriving in Andorra with Flor and Jordi were both excited and anxious. None of us have done a route like this before, so we were not sure what to expect. The weather forecast was great - at least for the first few days. We had our backpacks packed with snacks, the route passports were conveniently picked up by Jordi and we were ready to set off on Saturday morning.

Stage 1: Escaldes - Refugi de l'Illa

↔ 14 km | △ 1470 m | ▽ 40 m

We started in Escaldes. The first day was all about going up: we started at around 1100 m and we hiked up to almost 2500 m. The beginning of the trail is a wide, comfortable path in the forest. With the sun shining all day, we were grateful for the cover of the trees.

As we were gaining altitude, we slowly got out of the forest and we could see the first rocky peaks. By the afternoon we reached Refugi de l'Illa, our shelter for the first night.

Stage 2: Refugi de l'Illa - Refugi de Juclà

↔ 21 km | △ 1350 m | ▽ 1520 m

The second day started early. The sun from the previous day was gone and clouds covered the sky. We trusted in the weather forecast saying that it wouldn’t rain.

The day started with a climb to the highest point of the Coronallacs: Collada dels Pessons (2828 m). Once we reached the top of the pass, a beautiful view opened towards two sides: the valley we had come from the day before and the Pessons with dozens of lakes where we were going today.

From Collada dels Pessons we went 900 m down to the town of Envalira. From there we climbed again to Port Dret. It is a steep, long climb that costs a lot of energy. But it was still not the end of the stage.

We went down again, surrounded by some of the most beautiful views of the hike. When we passed Refugi del Siscaró, I started to think that we were close to the next shelter. I was proven wrong: we still had over one hour more in rocky terrain, with some chains and sketchy paths. Every turn seemed like the last one. When we finally reached Refugi de Juclà I was drained. Luckily the dinner and a cup of tea brought me back to life.

Stage 3: Refugi de Juclà - Refugi de Sorteny

↔ 18 km | △ 1420 m | ▽ 1750 m

Stage three features two big climbs. That day we met a lot of fellow hikers, but none of them seemed to be doing Coronallacs.

The first big climb of the day starts in Vall d’Incles and goes up to Serra de Cabana Sorda. On the way we could see some more beautiful lakes. In the distance we saw the impressively vast Grandvalira skiing resort. Once we got to Serra de Cabana Sorda, we could admire a beautiful 360 degrees panorama.

We went down 500 m to the unmanned Refugi de Coms de Jan. While it is indeed unmanned, it was surrounded by a big herd of cows. From the Refugi we started climbing again towards Collada dels Meners. It was a long way up, but the views were totally worth it. From the top we could see yet another 360 panorama, featuring some of the mountains we had crossed in the past three days and some of the ranges we would cross next.

The rest of the day is 800 m high downhill. It turned out to be very pleasant and we were quickly descending towards the Refugi de Sorteny. At some point the trail became a bit overgrown with shoulders-tall grass inhabited by thousands of crickets. The views became more idyllic as we went deeper down the valley.

Stage 4: Refugi de Sorteny - Refugi del Comapedrosa

↔ 22 km | △ 1900 m | ▽ 1600 m

When planning the route with Jordi and Flor we figured out that the four shelters booked via Coronallacs website don’t need to happen on consecutive days. We decided to split the fourth stage into two smaller chunks. The original stage is 22 km long with mindblowing 1900 m of ascent and 1600 m of descent.

The fourth day became our rest day. It was an active recovery: we hiked from Refugi de Sorteny to the town of Llorts, 500 m of downhill. Then we spent the rest of the day chilling in Jordi’s house, doing laundry, shopping, playing Mario Kart and watching Jurassic Park.

The next day we restarted from Llorts. The day began with a huge 1100 m climb to Pic del Clot del Cavall. While it was a lot of climbing, it went surprisingly well. Apparently, a more chill day before did wonders to our recovery.

From Pic del Clot del Cavall we had a very good view at Pic de Comapedrosa, the highest mountain of Andorra. We had all day to enjoy the view from different angles.

The last part of the day was a 500 m climb to the Refugi del Comapedrosa. The path is really well kept and marked, but requires some effort. It follows a creek with a series of beautiful waterfalls.

Even after splitting this stage in two, it was still a big day in the mountains. We were delighted to arrive in the shelter and take our backpacks off.

Stage 5: Refugi del Comapedrosa - Escaldes

↔ 21 km | △ 750 m | ▽ 1900 m

The last day brought cloudy skies and some rain in the weather forecast. The day started with a quick uphill to Portella de Sanfons. Unfortunately the clouds covered the views: we had been told that we should be able to see Aneto (the highest peak of the Pyrenees) from here.

Then it was all about going downhill: we had almost 2000 m to descend. After passing close to Pic Negre (and crossing to Catalunya for a few hundred meters), we slowly left the high peaks and entered more wooded terrain. The clouds cleared out and the sun was out again. We were going back to civilization: we could see skiing resorts, bike parks and restaurants.

Once we were down in Sispony, we entered Camí Ral that follows Valira d’Orient river all the way to Escaldes. We finished the route next to the tourist office, after hiking almost 100 km with 6500 m of elevation gain in 6 days.

Miscellaneous

I documented some notes that may be useful for people preparing to hike Coronallacs. I wish I knew some of these before, mostly about the shelters’ facilities.

• When booking the trip via the Coronallacs website, you can choose the dates for the nights in the shelters. They don’t need to be consecutive days: for example we splitted the fourth day to get some rest. The maximum length is 8 days.
• Booking via the Coronallacs website was actually cheaper than booking all four shelters separately. We bought a package with nights, dinner and breakfast.
• Dinners contain three full courses and they are really good. You can let the shelter know that you are vegetarian (or any other dietary restrictions). It makes sense to call the shelter or send them an email to confirm the dietary choices. Breakfasts are smaller, but enough to give you some energy to start the day.
• You can refill your water in every shelter. If you need more, you can rely on countless streams, but I would suggest treating the water with tablets (as livestock can live pretty high in the mountains - we saw some horses at 2600 m).
• Some of the shelters had internet connection (l'Illa, Borda de Sorteny), the others didn’t. In Comapedrosa they were nice enough to let us make a quick phone call to tell our friends we are ok (we didn’t ask in Juclà). Remember that data is quite expensive in Andorra (for EU numbers).
• All shelters provide sockets to charge your devices. Having my phone in airplane mode all the time (due to roaming cost), I only had to charge it once.
• There aren’t many towns on the way. The only towns we passed were Envalira on day 2, and el Serrat and Llorts on day 4.
• Once you finish the route, make sure to pass by the tourist office in Escaldes. If you collected all the stamps in your passport, you will receive a souvenir buff.

Summary

I am writing this blog post a few days after completing the route. The blisters are almost gone, the shoulders don’t ask me for mercy anymore and the photos are ready to be published.

Coronallacs was the first time I’ve ever hiked for so many days in a row. It gives a big sense of accomplishment. Almost every day we would stop to catch breath, turn around and try to see where we came from. And every time we were surprised how far the starting point was. Hiking, as a relatively slow activity, gave us a lot of time to appreciate the views, the nature and the beauty of the Pyrenees. Doing it for many days in a row helped us fully immerse in the experience.

The lessons for the future? Don’t underestimate the backpack weight over long distances in multi-day hikes, especially with a lot of ascend. Trekking poles are a life-saver. Hat and sunscreen are absolutely essential on full-day hikes in the Pyrenees.

A good company and a backpack full of chuches (candies) makes wonders to your wellbeing.