Mundet to Les Planes via the PR-C 35

October 20th, 2021. It was a warm autumn afternoon and the shadows were growing long. It was probably a bit late to start a hike and at first I was just going to walk up to the Turó de Valldaura but as these things often go I found some momentum and kept going.

This track basically follows the Marató de Collserolla course until you get to the Portell de Valldaura. There are plenty of signs to tell you which way to go. Once you arrive at la Carretera de les Aigües from there the track climbs the ridge following the PR-C 35 trail all the way to Les Planes. There you can keep going onto La Floresta and beyond all the way to el Papiol or do as I did and climb down the pedestrian drecera to the Les Planes FCG station. In total it took about two and half hours.

I'd never taken the marathon route as I usually follow the GR-6 to the pas del rei. I had once tried to find the path coming down from la Carretera de les Aigües but got lost thanks to the dodgy GPS on my phone that went haywire in the valley. This time I saw where I'd got lost: I should have taken a left instead of a right that goes nowhere (you can even see it on satellite view, a total dead end). The climb is bit less abrupt and shaded than the GR6 but there's a bit of dumped rubbish in a few places. It looked like someone had set up camp at the Font de la Marquesa (where I also saw the skeleton of a still hairy wild boar). There are lots of remnants of buildings that are slowly being eaten by the vegetation. It's crazy to see the old photos from a hundred years ago when Collserolla was bald and treeless. Another time with other priorities.

The rest of the hike is pretty easy once you get up the hill. There's only one part where you have to step out onto the BP-1417 aka l'Arrabassada but that's for less than 5 minutes. Anyway, it's refreshing to plunge back into the cool forest after that.