Ardericó-international

Photos

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4 -7 day walking trips and more
The House
Autumn
Edelweiss
The woods
The Bishop's Well

Maps

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The nearby towns
A hiking map
An old jewel

How to arrive

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Airplane: go to Barcelona (BCN), Girona (GIR) or Carcassonne.
Bus: BCN to La Pobla de Lillet (link).
Minibus or Taxi: up to 8 persons, from the airports go to La Pobla de Lillet, more or less 1€/km.
Car: go to La Pobla de Lillet, click on the map in this link to chose your itinerary:
4x4: La Pobla de Lillet to Ardericó (11km/45min)
4x4 Taxi: up to 4 persons, La Pobla de Lillet to Ardericó, more or less 40€.
Mountain Bike: La Pobla de Lillet to Ardericó (11km/1h30).
Walking: La Pobla de Lillet to Ardericó (8km/2h)
More maps

Mostra un mapa més gran

Security & Equipment

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• PREVENTION AND SECURITY

• Make no fire
• Do the route in company and based on your physical condition and experience with the appropriate equipment
• Inform yourself about the weather
• Carry the necessarily food and water
• Carry a medium of communication and have the local emergency numbers and those of the lodgings
• Arrive before dark or before 19h00 at the mountain lodgings
• In case of fog or low visibility, find a safe place and wait
• In case of lightning storm stay away from high points or ridges, separate yourself from the metal you might carry and do not shelter under lone trees.

REQUIRED EQUIPMENT

The weather in the mountains is very variable and unpredictable. A pleasant morning sun can turn into a cold, rainy or even snowy afternoon, also in summer. You have to equip for these conditions.
· Shoes: high boots might be too hot for summer, take also a pair of slippers to relax your feet in the mountain huts.
· Walking sticks are a good option
· Rain/wind garments
· Polar Fleece
· Little, easy to wash underwear if you go routing
· Shorts and Pants
· Cap, sunglasses and sun protector
· Sleeping bag
· Forehead torch
· Water can
· Your orientation mode: maps, compass, gps, mountain guide.
· Camara, GSM, batteries, etc.

The weather

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Winter: Cold with often loads of snow, with northern wind (tramontana) the weather can be Siberian like. Nevertheless it’s not unusual to sunbathe in January when the air is quiet.

Spring: Mostly sunny and warm during the day and cool at night, with 5 to 10 day long cold and rainy weather episodes. Above 1500m a 2 to 3 day lasting snowfall is unusual but possible. The closer to midsummer, the hotter and drier.

Summer: Hot and dry till half August with exceptional and short thunderstorm periods. The second half of August, it refreshes rapidly because of the afternoon violent thunderstorms, often with hail and even snow. Very pleasant morning temperature in the sun.

& Fall: Rainy at times, you rarely will see lasting grey weather. The sun comes out often and the nights cool off according to the snowfall in the high mountain. In November snow is probable and sometimes lasts all winter (like 2008/2009).

Weather Forecast: Before travelling consult your preferred meteorological service.

What is a Mountain Hut?

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Mountain huts are a very specific type of lodging because of their situation and difficulty of access.
- The mountain huts are conceived as a sportive installation: respect the quiet hours for who wants to get up early.
- You are expected to arrive before dark or in summer before 19h00. Dinner is usually served around 20h00 and you should warn if you can’t arrive on time, if not emergency services might be alerted.
- The menu is standard: everybody eats the same. If you have nutritional problems (celiacs, diabetics, vegetarians …), please let it know long before arriving.
- You should carry a pair of comfortable shoes or slippers and leave your trekkers when arriving at the mountain hut.
- The bedrooms do not open till dinner time.
- Electricity and water are often difficult to obtain: respect the indications of the guard. It’s your own responsibility to drink water of the fountains and taps, potability is probable but not assured.
- Carry a battery light for nightly moves.
- Coming from the “civilisation”, you probably have more information about the weather then the guards do, but you can prefer to trust their sixth sense.
- As there is no litter recollection, as a general rule you have to carry yours back to the village.

Activities

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Four day Walk "La Flor de Neu” (Edelweiss)
A very easy mountain walk in four short stages, designed to introduce people to the world of trekking. Accommodation in three different lodgings, every night a typical Pyrenean mountain menu (barbecue, hunter’s dishes, stockfish, mountain rice ...) is served. Every afternoon an activity or siesta, one evening with entertainment. A qualified mountain guide introduces map, compass and gps reading, and accompanies the group.

Four day Introduction to Mountain Sports
Four day stay at Ardericó. A qualified mountain guide introduces you to various activities such as mountaineering, canyoning, orienteering, archery, tree park, mountain bike, segwayx4, etc. Every night a typical Pyrenean mountain menu (barbecue, hunter’s dishes, stockfish, mountain rice ...) is served.

Four day Walk "La Ruta de l'Ermità” (the Hermit’s Path)
Can be walked (100km) or biked (165km) in three stages. A sporting challenge for people who know what they start, no guiding if not requested.

Week Stay "La Ruta de l'Ermità” (the Hermit’s Path)
Five days to walk the path, different lodgings. Easy but for sportive people, with guide. Tourism and spa to complete the week. Each night a Pyrenean mountain menu.

Week Stay Introduction to Mountain Sports
Week Stay in Ardericó. A qualified mountain guide introduces you to various activities such as mountaineering, canyoneering, orientation, ferrata, wild water, climbing to 3000m, archery, segwayx4, tree park, mountain bike, spa, etc. Intensive.

More information? Booking?
Tel ++32++499355495 (Belgium)
arderico@gmail.com

Accommodations and Prices

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Morels stuffed with nettle mousse and a tear of black olive paste

Accommodations
- Various bedrooms with 3/5/6/10 beds
- Common dinner room and sanitary installations
- Same food for everybody (including the guard) except vegetarians, diabetics, celiacs, etc. Please warn before arriving
- The house has independent water and current supply and (poor) gsm connection, 250kb internet
Services and Prices
- Pension: bed and three meals_42€
- Mountain hut: overnight boarding with dinner and breakfast for passing by hikers, bikers, etc._33€
- Housing: bed _14€
- Camping: per night and person_5€
- Using our kitchen: per person_2€
- Restaurant: hot meals (13.50€), sandwiches and drinks
- Special dishes on demand: paellas, hunter’s dishes, bbq’s, etc.

Mountain Lodgings in the Area/Links

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Accomplishing with the tradition we hereby give you the references of nearby mountain huts and an approximation of the distance in walking time. With this information you can organize your own trekking tour, like it always was done.

Mountain Hut Erols 4h: www.refugierols.com/
Mountain Hut Coll de Merolla 5h: matiworld@hotmail.com
Mountain Hut Rebost 5h: www.refugirebost.cat/
Hostel La Closa 5h: www.cingles.org/
Mountain Hut Cobert de Puigcercós 6h: http://refugi.contacontes.cat/
Mountain Hotel Falgars 3h:http://www.falgars.com/
Mountain Hut Sant Romà de la Clusa 3h
Mountain Hut Niu de l’Àliga 6h
The town (in catalan):www.poblalillet.cat/
The nearby natural park: http://mediambient.gencat.net/eng/el_medi/parcs_de_catalunya/cadi/
The county: http://www.berguedaturisme.com/Asociacion.aspx
Gaudi's work at La Pobla de Lillet
The Spanish website of Ardericó
The Catalan Blog of Ardericó

The Neighbourhood

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Nature
The Natural Park of Cadí-Moixeró
One of the largest natural parks of Catalonia goes from 800 to 2600m and has its information centre in nearby Bagà. We can find here hiking routes, ice climbing and alpinism.

The Llobregat sources

The impressive source of one of the main rivers of Catalonia, the Llobregat, pours out the water with pressure.

The “Riera de Merlès”
A river with many natural enormous bathtubs which allow swimming and are very popular in summer.

Villages
La Pobla de Lillet
A former industrial village (mining, textile, paper, cement, etc.) that is looking for a new way to live, probably tourism. The glorious past left some precious reminiscences such as a park and a chalet of Gaudí (yes, the one from Barcelona), a modernistic factory that is being restored (in fact on the lower part of Castellar de n’Hug), a touristic train on the old small track, mines in the Catllaràs and (not too) impressive villa’s.
We will also find remindings of the medieval past of La Pobla, like the Castle (now on hire for vacations), the strangely restored abbey and several age old farms (like Ardericó) and hermitages.

Bagà
The medieval centre of Bagà recalls the times when it was the capital of the barony of Pinós, the barons of which simpathized with the Catars.

Castellar de n'Hug
A beautiful high mountain village (1600m) with a long tourist tradition (hotels, restaurants, museums, etc.)

Sant Jaume de Frontanyà
It maintains its traditional rural architecture and personality. A charming Romanic church crowns the smallest village of Catalonia in number of inhabitants.

Gombrèn
In this other old settlement we can find the Castle of a character of the middle age, the duke Arnau and a sanctuary near an important alpinism zone with the same name (Montgrony).

Ripoll
This little medieval town is considered the crib of Catalonia.

Berga
Another medieval town that has many things to offer. Its ancestral spring celebration, la Patum, was declared Patrimony of the Humanity by the UNESCO.

The Vegetation

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The flora is of great interest, as a result of the diverse weather conditions and altitudes, thus allowing the coexistence of Alpine, Euro Siberian and Mediterranean species.

The Mountain Stage
On the mountain stage we find forest species typical of humid places. On the shady parts of the south slopes the beech (Fagus sylvatica) prospers in dispersed patches, meanwhile the oak species (Quercus pubescens and Quercus ilex) largely populate the sunny parts.
These three species, along with others such as field maples (Acer Campestre) and aspen (Populus tremula) form more or less extensive claps amid pine (Pinus sylvestris) forests. The pine forests represent a majority on the lower and medium height with undergrowth composed mainly of the boxwood (Buxus sempervirens). In the main valleys and close to the villages there are also meadows, which are mowed two or three times during the summer, the grass being stored to provide food for the livestock in winter.
A large diversity of rare or endemic flowers and small plants can be observed, mainly from June to August: Iberis sempervirens, edelweiss, the orchids Platanthera bifolia, Dactylorhiza elata, Ophrys sphegodes, Ophrys insectifera.
From March to November the popping up of hundreds of different mushroom species motivates one of the Catalan national sports: going to the woods to collect them and prepare them on a bbq along with a good sausage or some mutton.

The Sub Alpine Stage
On the higher parts, on the Sub Alpine stage, we find mountain pine forest (Pinus uncinata), well adapted to withstand the harsh weather conditions. The undergrowth is mainly composed of thickets of dwarfjuniper (Juniperus nana), alpenrose (Rhododendron ferrugineum) and bearberry (Arctostaphylos uva-ursi).

The Alpine Stage
A testimonial presence of alpine species of grasses and showy flowers, such as gentian (Gentina sp.), the wild saffron (Crocus nudiflorus), the carline thistle (Carlina acanthifolia subsp. Cynara), the alpine pasqueflower (Pulsatilla alpina), among others can be spotted.

The Wildlife

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Mammals
In summer the chamois (Rupicapra rupicapra) can be found at the shady and higher spots, while in winter they descend and look for the sunnier parts. The red deer (Cervus elaphus) and roe deer (Capreolus capreolus), which died out many years ago, have returned thanks to the reintroductions undertaken in the last 50 years. The roe deer formed large populations till a few years ago, a disease decimated the community. The red deer is almost omnipresent and offers spectacular concerts during the rut in September.
Other interesting mammals are the pine marten (Martes martes), the ermine (Mustela erminea), the alpine marmot (marmota marmota) - appearing in recent years - or the pygmy white-toothed shrew (Suncus etruscus). At present the wolf (Canis lupus) has returned with little observations since 2003.
Birds
Among the birds we have to draw the attention to the large birds of prey such as the bearded vulture (Gypaetus barbatus), the golden eagle (Aquila chrysaetos) or the griffon vulture (Gyps fulvus).
We can also find remindings of the glacial periods such as the black woodpecker (Dryocopus martius), the latter chosen as a symbol of the nearby Natural Park Cadí-Moixeró. Other important species are the grey partridge (Perdix perdix), the wallcreeper (Tichodroma muraria), the white throated dipper (Cinclus cinclus), the ring ouzel (Turdus torquatus), the northern wheatear (Oenanthe oenanthe), the red crossbill (Loxia curvirostris), the snow finch (montifringilla nivalis) and the boreal owl (Aegolius funereus), among many others.
Reptiles
Two species of moist habitats, vividly coloured are relatively easy to spot: the green lizard (Lacerta viridis), green and bright, and the western whip snake (Coluber viridiflavus). Others such as the asp viper (Vipera aspis) and the Southern smooth snake (Coronella girondica) are more difficult to observe.
Amphibians
Among the amphibians we emphasize on the Pyrenean mountain newt (Euproctus asper), which is endemic in these mountains and inhabits streams of cold and oxygenated water, the common frog (Rana temporaria) that sometimes can be found far from the water and the midwife toad (Alytes obstetricans) with its unmistakable yell.
Fish
Because of the few watercourses and ponds existing in the Catllaràs (its limestone soil lets the water soak away), there are only three species of fish: trout (Salmo trutta), the Mediterranean barbell (Barbus meridionalis) and the minnowl (phoxinus phoxinus).

The Mountains

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Ensija, Pedraforca and Comabona from Roc del Joc

The Pyrenees
The mountain chain that separates the Iberian peninsula from Europe climbs up to 3408m (Aneto). It contains numerous ski resorts with long tradition in the three countries that share this area: Spain, Andorra and France.
Another tradition still alive is the several day trekking and ascension of peaks with overnight lodging in mountain huts. As a result there is a vast network of places to stay all through the Pyrenees, going from simple let stables to five star hotels.
The Catllaràs Mountain Chain
Part of the pre Pyrenees and reaching 1800m, which is under the high mountain stage and therefore richly forested, is influenced by three climates: the Mediterranean, the Alpine, and the Euro Siberian permitting a very wide-ranging flora.
The orography is rather abrupt with beautiful white fingers of stone pointing up (Roc del Joc, Roca de la Lluna, etc.), impressive huge rock walls of 200m (north side of Roca Forcada) and almost inaccessible canyons like the Vallfogona valley, the Salts (leaps) de Junyent, the Salt del Mùsic, etc.
A vast network of roads and paths offers a variety of hiking, biking and horse riding options.
The Catllaràs has now the lowest protection status (PEIN, scenery of special natural interest in its Catalan abbreviation).

The Guard

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Hello,

My name is Koen and I am the guard of the mountain hut Ardericó. You can address me in Catalan, Spanish, English, Dutch, a little French and even less German.

Ardericó, an ancient farm house in the midst of the moutains and the woods offers you the possiblity of resting or sporting in the Catalan pre Pyrinees. I hope you enjoy your visit and wish to be seeing you soon.

You can also consult the Spanish webpage or the Catalan blog, or write me a mail for more information

Kun, the guard.

The House

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Ardericó is a country-house that was first named in the 16 º century. In its flourishing times there were twenty adult men working (sic) and the whole valley was deforested for potato and cabbage-fields, and pasture for cows. Destroyed and rebuilt in the second Carline war (+ / - 1870) it was gradually abandoned since 1950 like most of the isolated farms in the Pirinees . A chain of coincidences, perhaps its unique location has to do with it, made sure the house didn't collapse.
Since 2006 I have been recovering the house and running it as a mountain-hut and a camping-place. All the basic needs (water, light, heating, sanitary) are available, but it is not a luxury hotel.
The distance to the nearest village (11km), the kettle-shaped valley with several ecosystems according to the orientation: beechwoods on the north side, oakwoods on the southside, in between and on the heights pine forest, the recovered fauna, the silence of an eagle cry, the poetry of a red rock in the morning, an unexpected snowstorm in June, a never before seen orchid are the strengths and the luxury of Ardericó.