This morning I left the campsite in Arties at 9am. My bag felt extremely heavy from the food I bought in Vielha. Walking along the road, I tried to get a hitch but there were no takers at first. After a few hundred meters, a guy named Jose picked me up. As it turned out, he was going to the exact same place I wanted to go, Baqueira! In fact, he was even heading up the small side road that I planned on walking along.

Jose saved me about 600m of ascent today. It kind of felt like cheating, but today’s hike was going to be a hard one so I was grateful.

After I was dropped off near the ski lifts at Baquiera, I started the climb up the valley to some lakes. My legs felt heavy and I had eaten so much in the past couple days that my pace was significantly slower.Once I got to the lakes I could see Aneto, the highest peak in the Pyrenees far behind me. It was such a clear day! Here I also spotted some marmots and a group of isards, a type of Pyrenean antelope.My first objective was to climb the Tuc de Marimanha. This was a cool climb because there was no trail, just a steep climb up the west face. Boulders gave way to grassy ledges, and at one point the trail was so steep I could smell the flowers and herbs without even bending down.At the top of Marimanha I met a Catalonian couple and we took pictures for each other.From the summit a ridge walk led to some smaller peaks, and into a boulder filled valley.The boulders started out fun, but quickly became the most annoying part of the entire HRP for me. The path did not follow an obvious line. Instead it traversed a steep, unstable hillside where progress slowed down.I endured a few grueling hours of this, until I finally reached a path at a col! It felt great to walk on a trail again.I descended towards Alos d’Isil, where I had booked dinner and a gîte for the night. This valley was drier than all the ones I’ve seen before, and it reminded me of hiking back home in California. I descended about 700m before finding a water source.When I arrived at the refugi in Alos d’Isil, I discovered that there was nobody else staying there that night. Since it was only me having dinner, I sat with the hosts, Marta and Aniol. They had recently moved into this tiny village. They served a soup and a delicious Catalan dish, Botifarra with mongetes.Alos d’Isil had no shops whatsoever, and only 6 people lived here year-round. However the refugi was a great place to stay after a hard day of hiking!

Baqueira to Alos d'Isil - 17.85km and 1248m gained.