GR 222, 9th Feb

 9th Feb

Last night was rather warmer than forecast and I had a surprisingly good night's sleep considering there was a group of scouts camped nearby who made an attempt to keep me awake.

The entrance to the Santuaria de Lluc

A beautiful morning with clear blue skies continuing all day. The first part of the walk was excellent as I climbed up a stoney track to the coll.

Looking back to Son Amur 

There are a number of bar/restaurants in the area and a lot of people about,  obviously starting various walks. The road was crowded with cyclists as well, an excellent hill to cycle up and down, if you like that sort of thing!

The track

There is a really good track that descends to the plains below, it goes down the same valley as the road but generally well away from it.

View in the way down 

There were even some hardy mountain bikers using the track.

Tough track for a bike

It is a beautiful descent from the mountains but rather less interesting after Caimari especially as I missed the GR 222 sign and ended up walking on more of the main road than was necessary.

Looking back to the hills

Inca was bigger than I expected and I came across a street market that was selling what looked like the stuff salvaged from skips.

A selection of junkc

A good, though crowded, train took me quickly to Palma and the Hostel for the night.

Palma cathedral 

I spent a while wandering around Palma in the afternoon. Past the enormous cathedral and the marina where there are some ridiculous motor boats.

No comment 

The old town has some fascinating old streets and buildings as well as loads of shops obviously aimed at the tourist trade.

Typical old town street 

Today's walk was an excellent way to finish the trip.

Not built for cars

The next trip planned is an attempt to finish the southern part of the South West Coast Path, that I had to retire from last year, this will be at the end of March. 

The tourists view of Palma

Come back then for more wanderings.

GR 221 Day 9, 8th Feb

 8th Feb 

Pouring with rain this morning. I had finished the GR 221 and was wondering what to do. I didn't fancy hanging around the town so decided to retrace yesterday's walk back to Lluc.

Sloshing up the road

The forecast said it would stop raining in the afternoon so I splashed, hopefully, back up the road.

Rain

Not sure what to say about today's walk, the same as yesterday?

The path up through the woods

The rain did just about stop by midday but it was cold and windy, which didn't encourage me to stop for long to admire the view.

The cause of the lack of undergrowth 

I put the tent up in the same spot as two days ago, although the ground was a lot wetter and, as it was the weekend, the site was attended so I had to pay!

Cleared up nicely as I approached Son Amer 

At least the bar/restaurant was warm and served decent tea. The forecast for tonight is -2°, think I'll stay for a while!

Magnificent 800 year old Holm Oak

Tomorrow's plan is to walk the first, completed, section of the GR 222 to Inca and catch the train to Palma.

GR 221 Day 8, 7th Feb

7th Feb 

Cold night, woke up to frost but it didn't last long after the sun rose. Coffee and croissant at the restaurant before I left to climb up to the Refugi that was full of screaming school kids.

Looking down to Lluc

I continued the climb up the hill through thick  holm oak forest, this corner of Mallorca is the waters area and it certainly shows in the vegetation.

Stone path

The forest floor is still quite bare but I believe this is due to the feral goats that eat all the saplings. There was even some moss or lichen growing on the branches.

The roadway

A roadway is reached at the highpoint and there is a mainly steady descent from there on road, track and path.

Almost like home

Lower down along the valley bottom, approaching Pollensa, you could almost imagine it was home as the path follows the river among the trees. 

Private driveway with Plane trees

At one point where there was flood crossing there were a lot of stranded oranges that had obviously been recently washed down, perfectly ripe and tasty 😋 

Oranges that had been washed down from somewhere 

I dropped my rucksack at the Refugi, as I passed, and went on to look at the town of Pollensa and finish my GR 221 journey by climbing to the top of Puig Maria.

Roman bridge at Pollensa

Puig Maria isn't the official finish but I didn't fancy walking down the main road to the harbour at Port Pollensa and it was much better to finish here high above the town at the old chapel.

View from Puig Maria

Met up with an interesting selection of international trekkers at the Refugi in the evening.

Pollensa

I forgot to mention that I saw four Black Vultures circling the hills yesterday, sometimes quite close to me, magnificent.

GR 221 Day 7 6th Feb

6th Feb

Cooler today with a bit more cloud as I headed up the hill behind the Refugi.

Looking down to the Refugi 

The guide book said that today was the highest and toughest part of the GR 221. It is the highest but certainly easier than yesterday.

A stream with stepping stones 

I was just getting into the swing of the climb when I was out of the trees and almost at the Coll des Prat (4000ft).

Looking back

I had thought of climbing to the top of Puig de Massanella but there was a strong, cold wind and when the cloud opened the top section looked like a tough scramble, I decided that I was high enough already!

Coll des Prat, with the cliffs above

I passed a number of snow pits on the way down, these were built to pack snow into during the winter to have ice to sell in the summer months.

Snow pit

Once past the Casa de Neu (snow house) d'en Galileu there is a good stone track that zigzags down to the olives below. Presumably this was built to get the ice down quickly before it melted.

The zigzag track

Once down the zigzags the path goes down more gently through the olives and past a number of 'sitges' or circular platforms where charcoal was burnt, before arriving at the Santurai de Lluc.

Raised stone 'sitge' in the olives

The monastery was founded because a shepherd found a 'miraculous' statue of the Virgin here.

Santuaria de Lluc

It is a busy tourist destination now as well as still being a school and monastery. It has accomodation and also the only official campsite on the GR 221.

Nearly empty campsite

GR 211 Day 6 Wed 5th Feb

Wed 5th Feb

Perfect blue skies almost all day with nearly no wind. A cold start, I actually put my gloves on for a while. The views over Soller were amazing as I worked my way up to Biniaraix.

Soller in the morning 

The climb starts there, up an incredible stone track that winds very steeply up through olive terraces.

Well built zigzag path

The terraces cling to the almost vertical rocky slopes. Very difficult to understand how, and why, they were constructed.

El Tejido enjoying himself 

Higher up it opened up to give wide views back to Soller and I emerged from the shade of the cliffs.

View back to Soller

Tee shirt and shorts then for the rest of the day. The begining of February and 3000 ft high, definitely not Scotland!

Puig de Maxia

The descent to the Cuber reservoir was very gentle compared to the other side. It is obviously drier on south side of the hills as well.

Cuber reservoir 

The reservoir is a tourist hot spot and there were a lot of cars and people by the road. The water level was very low.

Looking back to the reservoir 

A steep climb up from the reservoir and over the top to begin the interesting descent to the Refugi.

Starting the descent 

It started easily enough but got steeper and rougher all the way.

Rougher and steeper

At one point there are chains bolted to the rock to help climb up and round a particularly difficult bit.

The chain helps!

All good things have to come to an end though and soon after the walking became easier through some more old olive terraces I arrived at the Refugi.

Rosemary by the path

I was too early to check in but there is a little garden by the Refugi with native plants, usefully labeled, to look at.

Refugi de Tossals Verds

Soon turned cold as the sun went behind the hills.

Garden at the Refugi 

GR 221 Day 5 Tue 5th Feb

Tue 5th Feb 

The Refugi was excellent last night, great food, with wine! and a good conversation with a young Belgian couple.

The main beam for the press

The refugio has a restored olive press behind it that is fascinating, there are only 28 left now, none of them working, out of the hundreds that must have been on every little farm.

Clearing the terraces

Walked down from the village where there were a number of people clearing and starting to cultivate some old olive terraces, the current shortage of olive oil must be encouraging someone.

Sea view

A good walk along old terraces, again high above the sea in the morning sunshine, it must have rained sometimes last night as everything was quite wet.

Everywhere is terraced

I realised, after a while, that I was going to get to Soller, where I had a room booked, much too early.

Entrance to Refugi de Muletta 

So I took the path out to the Refugi de Muletta and back, for a cup of coffee. A nice walk down and back up through the pine woods above Port de Soller. An extra hours walking!

Wonderful old olive trees 

The path loops round above Soller before descending through groves of citrus fruits.

Soller, surrounded by mountains 

Soller is a big town surrounded by mountains, the main access is through a long road tunnel to Palma.

Tourist shopping street

Soller is full of shops and quite a number of tourists, it must be heaving in the summer. I wasted some time wandering the streets looking in the overpriced 'art' shops before finding a suitable non tourist bar to partake of a beer.

View from my balcony