Day three of our hike in the Pyrenees of Andorra started early in the morning after our breakfast at the Juclà Refuge.
I found it to be a little hard to sleep that night because of the elevation, but nonetheless I still woke up feeling rested.
The refuge is situated in a picturesque location right next to "Lake Juclar Primer" and another slightly smaller lake cleverly called the "Second Lake of Juclar."
Lake Juclar Primer is actually the largest lake in Andorra, which is a bit surprising to me considering how small it really was. But then again, Andorra is a very small country and it's very mountainous so it makes sense that its lakes would be small as well. I wouldn't be surprised at all if the lake was considered the prettiest in the country though.
I'm just speculating here, but at an elevation of 2295 meters above sea level, I'm guessing that it is also one of the highest lakes in the country as well.
As you can imagine, the area around the refuge and the lakes themselves was absolutely beautiful.
It was probably the prettiest spot that we came across during the entirety of our hike in the country, which is saying something because we did see a lot of beautiful locations.
Large boulders strewn about the landscape nestled in among the lush greenery and a plethora of vibrant pink flowers, it really reminded me of a natural botanical rock garden of sorts.
"I like that boulder. That is a nice boulder."
We didn't sample the water but I'm guessing that it was pretty cold judging by all of the melting snow in the area.
This stand alone tree was pretty neat as well. It almost seemed out of place so high up on the mountain.
There were a few trees up there, but not many.
It becomes increasingly more difficult for plant life to grow at higher altitudes so large trees become increasingly more rare the higher up you go in elevation.
The lakes are situated close to the border of France and Andorra and are almost entirely surrounded by mountains.
The hike to this location from the train station in the town of L'Hospitalet would be roughly 6 hours, give or take.
It's definitely doable in a day if you stay at Refugi de Juclà in the evening, or if you're an avid hiker and super ambitious you could turn around and go back that same day. That would be a long day though.
We found this spot overlooking the Second Lake of Juclar and stopped to pose for some photos.
Needless to say, it was a very "Instagrammable" location.
One of many.
Who took it better, him or me?
Once we passed by the lakes we had to climb up the other side of the mountain.
It was nothing at all like we experienced the previous day but still a good push to get the body into the hiking mindset.
Personally I'm alway the most tired right at the very begining of a hike. Its as if my body is saying "No thank you. I dont want to do any work today." Its the same with biking for me. The first 10 minutes of any bike ride is alway the worst, until my body gets into an exercising mindset.
Anyway, this part of the hike - from our refuge and past the two mountain lakes, didn't take a whole lot of time but I would consider it to be a major destination along our route and would defininitly recommend including it in any Andorra Pyrenees hiking trip, if at all possible. In terms of beautiful scenic locations, it is definitely unlike any other.
You don't say!!!
I think this is indeed one of the most stunning locations you've shown, indeed! Stunning!
I get that about the elevation though, and not being able to sleep.
Would you say this is one of your most beautiful moments hiking so far?
Yeah at higher elevations there is less oxygen which makes it harder to sleep if you're not used to it.
Yes, for this trip in particular it was definitely one of the prettiest spots. There were quite a few nice areas but this one was very scenic.
The scenery is just stunning. The sun was low for a while.
The lakes are nice.
Thanks for sharing.
Have a great week further!So cool to see more @leaky20 😊😎
Yeah that particular spot was very stunning indeed. It was my favorite place along the hike.
That’s wonderful.
Have a great Tuesday 👋🏻😊
You as well 😁
Thanks 👋🏻😊
Gorgoues photos man. Those all by phone or you got a fancy camera to match your gear?
To my fellow public school indoctrinated Americans tuned in: Andorra is a country. A European country. Europe is the one just above Africa on the other side of the Atlantic. A whole country, like US or Canada, just on another continent. Shares a border with Spain and France, between Barcelona and Toulouse.
They are all with my phone.
Haha did you google all that?
Negative. I've been that way so I'm good. My first 40 years, however, never heard of it.
I was at dinner one night in Costa Rica, Pura had taken off with some girls she met to Panama. Me, a Russian, a Hungarian chick, and a Swede I'd just met. We had just began touring so it's probably early 2018.
They're talking about Buda and Pest and how Hungary is divided by the two. I'd heard of Hungary, heard of Budapest, clueless what they were talking about. After some conversation, it was the Swede who made me painfully aware.
He said it's not just me, "all Americans are horrible at geography" he said. The Russian and Hungarian laughed, elaborated, and our conversation turned.
The American can balance a checkbook by age 3, fill out W4 tax liability by age 7 and, by the time the American is 15, 60 hour work week. Mortgage, 3 dependents, white fence and a dog before their 18th birthday.
Just don't expect'em to know the Indian Ocean is a body of water and not affiliated with Native Americans.
Damn this is a long response.
Lmao that's so funny. All of it.
I actually only recently learned about Buda and Pest - maybe a year ago as well. There are so many obscure facts about countries its impossible to know everything.
I miss seeing such views. I haven't hiked the mountains for almost 2 years since I was infected two times with COVID but your post really motivates me to get back to this activity in 2023! Thank you for that and Happy New Year!!! 🥰
Sorry to hear that you got covid twice. Hopefully you are able to go hiking again this year maybe.
Happy New Year! Good luck 👍
Waaww, that's a great adventure my friend, a really beautiful place, it seems that I wouldn't go home if I was in such a place, the photos you shared are also amazing
Yeah it was a very beautiful place. I could have stayed a lot longer than 3 days, thats for sure.
Of course, three days will not be enough
Very beautiful and I can only imagine how cold that water would be. This is my first time hearing about this area but it looks amazing! Thanks for sharing and Happy 2023!
Yeah it's from a tiny isolated country in the Pyrenees mountains in Europe. Not super common.
Happy New year to you as well.
Your amazing scenic photography has definitely inspired me to look up Andorra on the map! I had no idea that such a beautiful country existed. Your photos have truly captured the natural beauty of Andorra. I am looking forward to your next post, as I am sure it will be just as inspiring as your first!
Yeah since it's such a small country not a lot of people know much about it. I didn't know a whole lot until going. It's definitely a beautiful spot in the mountains though. Thanks for checking it out.
Wowsers, skme proper stunning photos here. It looks amazingly beautiful and great contrast of colours going on.
Yeah it was a very beautiful spot.
Whoa! A breathtaking place and relaxing view! This is sooo amazing! I keep on scrolling up and down. I can't take my eyes on these pictures. Huh🥺
That was the prettiest spot that we saw during our three day hike. We saw a lot of nice locations but I think that this was the most scenic.
True... This is the best! Thanks for sharing this. Big hugs!
Wow, I hope sometime to visit such an amazing mountain, it looks just perfect.... Finishing this route would surely make me shed some tears of happiness.
It is worth checking out if you are able to. Andorra is a very nice country for hiking.
What a wonderful place, you can breathe freedom and unspoiled nature. They are those places that I love and I am enchanted to admire. Beautiful sharing, I wish I had been in that place too.
Happy New Year!
Yeah it was very untouched along that trail. We didn't see a whole lot of people during the 3 day hike. Not as many as I would have thought. Happy New Year.
Beautiful, I love these places so natural, with very little human presence. I wish you to visit and share many other paradises like this.
Beautiful photos!
Thank you! 😊
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Hiya, @lizanomadsoul here, just swinging by to let you know that this post made it into our Top 3 in Your post has been manually curated by the @pinmapple team. If you like what we're doing, please drop by to check out all the rest of today's great posts and consider supporting other authors like yourself and us so we can keep the project going!Muy buena foto . Saludos 👌
Thanks 😁