BIVOUAC OVERNIGHT

We woke up in the Claror refuge (2,280 metres) after spending the night bivouacking, still dreaming of the barbecued sausages that Willi had cooked for us for dinner yesterday. Amazing! From here, we headed towards Pic de Negre, Monturull, and went down to the campsite for lunch. In the afternoon, Saulo had prepared “The Forest Improshow” for us. Sounded good, right? We discovered the famous and toxic Tora Blava and learned about lightning and other forest curiosities.

Big Bike Camp by Orbea couldn’t be left out, and we also woke up at the Gònec refuge (1,770 metres) after spending the night outdoors under the stars. We took it easy that day, so much so that we stopped in Bellver de Cerdanya to eat a coca at the Pous bakery. In the afternoon, we did what the enduro riders love best: we set up a brigade and started opening and cleaning the trails around the campsite.

After a morning of Spartan Race, Aventura Junior had the horses from Beginner’s Horse Riding Camp all to ourselves. We spent the afternoon brushing them, braiding their hair, and trotting them through the forest. We snacked on donuts, awesome!

But it wasn’t all fun and games. It was a clean-up day for the Minairons, the little ones in the camp. We had a bit of work to do, but don’t worry, we had fun too! We organised the tent and prepared the backpack for the next day’s trip to Annes Cave. In the evening, we performed the Chinese shadows play that we had been preparing all afternoon. We were equal parts nervous and excited!

The Beginner’s Horse Riding Camp woke up at the Paradell refuge, packed up the tents, and spent the morning playing by the river and doing games. The day ended with community service, tidying up the horse stables, and sharing the forest workshop with the Bold Adventure and Aventura Junior camps.

The first week without storms and with heat, which was much appreciated up there (we didn’t want to say it out loud). Now everyone was slepping, the moon illuminated us. It seemed as if dust from the Sahara had come in… the sky looked whitish. The week was slipping through our fingers… how quickly the days and nights were passing.