In the morning I woke up to thunder. Looking outside my tent, I spotted some clouds rolling over the southern hills of the valley.

I quickly zipped up my tent flaps which I had left open during the night for ventilation, and pretty soon rain started pouring down. A thunderstorm at 6am!

I went back to sleep for a few more hours, and slowly got ready for the hike down to Arinsal. Today was going to be a short day.

The descent was steep but manageable. After a junction, the trail entered some woods.

Hiking through a forest after bit of rain is such a nice feeling. The spongy ground and crisp air was a nice contrast to the rocky wilderness I’d been walking through.

When I reached Arinsal, I bought some fuel for my stove and groceries. As I waited for the restaurants to open, I planned my next few days of walking.

Arinsal is a ski resort, and everything comes at a premium, especially food and drinks! At lunch, the menu was written in four languages-French, Spanish, English, and Catalan (the official language of Andorra)The day started to get hot, and I didn't not feel like hiking more this afternoon. I was super curious about city life in Andorra, so I booked a place to stay in La Massana for the night. The bus arrived promptly, and pretty soon I checked into The Secret Spot hostel.La Massana felt a bit less like disneyland compared to Arinsal, but it still had a strong tourist vibe. However the town felt very livable, and I could easily walk around to explore. My first stop was the grocery store for some vegetables, which I almost never carry while hiking. The restaurants looked pricey and not that special so I decided to cook dinner.Andorra is world famous for cycling, and many of my roommates in the hostel were cyclists. The place had bike wheels and snowboards as wall decoration and light fixtures. While cooking dinner, I enjoyed talking to some fellow North Americans, the first ones I’ve met in at least two weeks.

Refugi de Comapedrosa to Arinsal - 4.78km and 747m lost.