Pyrenees Day 12: Ordesa, Spain's Grand Canyon

After spending the night in the town of Torla Mark and I decided to return to the national park the next day to explore the Ordesa canyon, which we bypassed the day before by taking the Breach of Roland detour. After hiking for so many days, we opted for the leisurely route this time, leaving most of our belongings in Torla and taking a shuttle bus to the valley's bottom. From there we did a 7-hour loop along the walls of the canyon. This was probably the most crowded area in all of the Pyrenees, but there was still enough solitude for us to enjoy the hike. Ironically, parts of our path had dramatic signs warning of serious but unspecified dangers, yet there were never any such signs during our entire GR11 trek, which was incomparably more challenging.

The high reddish-white walls of Ordesa were definitely one of the most spectacular sights, especially when viewed from half-way up one side of the canyon. Although not quite on the scale of the Grand Canyon, the valley looked more like Utah or Arizona than the Pyrenees we were familiar with.

Down at the valley floor there was lush green vegetation and a stream with small waterfalls and pools of clear blue water. Unfortunately the weather was mostly cloudy, and we waited in vain for the sun to come out so we could take some nice photos of the waterfalls.

We returned to Torla for a second night, celebrating the end of our mountain trek with a family-size pizza...each. The waitress's eyes became almost as big and round as the pizzas she served us when she took our orders, and then observed as we nonchalantly downed the last slices as though they were a light appetizer.