Section 3: Benasque - Espot

Section 3: Refugio de Coronas - Guingueta d'Aneu
Distance: 51.91 mi (83km)
Elevation gain: 15741 ft (4797m)

Day 10b: Refugio de Coronas - Vallivierna
Distance: 1.36 (2.2km)
Elevation gain: 790 ft (242m)
Campsite: Flat area above in Vallivierna (wild camp)
Nice little uphill after saying goodbye to Jon and Lauren (although we would run into each other later). Beautiful campsite.

Day 11: Vallivierna - Vall de Conagles
Distance: 13.73 mi (22km)
Elevation gain: 5578 ft (1700m)
Campsite: Vall de Conagles (wild camp)
After a great pass and good swimming at a lake in the valley, I hiked up the valley of Conagles a bit more than I expected to find a campsite. First day in Catalonia!

Day 12: Vall de Conagles - Lac deth Cap deth Port
Distance: 8.2 mi (13km)
Elevation gain: 3215 ft (1162m)
Campsite: Lac deth Cap deth Port (wild camp)
Another great day passing beautiful lakes. Split off the GR11 for a stint to try out the HRP (a pretty difficult trail). Lots of "trails" instead of the well-marked GR11 trails. Great swimming. Met a few French people at the Refugio de Restanca before going up to wild camp near a lake. Windy night!

Day 13: Lac deth Cap deth Port - Montardo - Lac Long
Distance: 6.7 mi (10.7km)
Elevation gain: 3075 ft (940m)
Campsite: Lac Long (wild camp)
Approaching the second national park - Aiguestortes - means more and more lakes! After a short day, I ate lunch at the Refugio de Colmers where I ran into Lauren and Jon again! We hiked up a bit in the mid-afternoon to camp along a lake - perfect temperature for a longer swim!

Day 14: Lac Long - Camping Riu Gelat
Distance: 14.92 mi (24km)
Elevation gain: 2133 ft (650m)
Campsite: Camping Riu Gelat (camping)
Going through the national park, we saw many great lakes and spent a while at a super nice pass. Coming down, we saw Els Encants (The Enchantments), which funny enough looks like The Enchantments in Washington. Last night of camping in a campground, where I had a much needed shower.

Day 15: Camping Riu Gelat - Guingueta d'Aneu
Distance: 7 mi (11km)
Elevation gain: 950 ft (290km)
Campsite: My bed (given the state of my room, wild camp)
Last day of hiking on the GR11 (for now...). After a final goodbye to Jon and Lauren, I headed down to Espot then through Estais and Jou, two super small and cute villages. Made the bus and train back to Madrid, then headed straight for some fried chicken (not helping the American stereotypes much...)