Spain - Aragon - SNP - May 2002
Below you will find a list of pictures (approximately 50),
taken on the Aragon trip organized by SNP from May 5 2002 to May 19 2002.
The most interesting images have a red bullet in front of them. In a hurry? Just want to see the pictures? Check out the slide show.
Most of the days we kept track of how much time we spent walking. This is excluding the time for breaks.
May 5: Home - Pau
On the first day of our trip, we went by night train from the Netherlands to Pau (France).
May 6: On the way to Santa Cruz de las Seros
In Pau a coach awaited us to take us to Santa Cruz de las Seros via Jaca (where we stopped to visit
the medieval castle). On our way over there, we passed through the Pyrenees where the weather was
pretty bad. In the afternoon we made a little trip to the Monatery of San Juan de la Peña.
This day we walked approximately 2h30m.
May 7: Santa Cruz de las Seros to Santa Maria de La Peña
Rain was pooring down when we started walking and it remained that way all day... We passed through Botaya
where we took a wrong turn. After 2 hours our guide finally decided to go back and take a different route. But
that turned out to be the wrong one too. This time we turned back after 45 minutes to arrive in Botaya for the
third time... There a very friendly Spanish man called Fidel let us shelter in his house by the fireplace while
we waited for some cars to pick us up and drive us to Santa Maria de La Peña. He also offered us a local
brandy like wine.
This day we walked approximately 5h30m.
May 8: Santa Maria de La Peña - Riglos - Santa Maria de La Peña
It started to rain again just after we started walking on the fourth day. The plan was to walk from Santa Maria
de La Peña to Riglos and take the train back. We walked too fast (and took a shortcut) so we arrived in
Riglos way too early. Because that meant we had to wait for the train for almost 4 hours we decided to walk back.
In the afternoon we could enjoy some dry spells! A dog joined us at Riglos and followed us all the way to
Santa Maria de La Peña. Just before we arrived at our hostel, a car pulled over and asked us whether the
dog had joined us in Riglos. When he heard that that indeed was the case, he took the dog in his car and brought
him home. In the guest book of the hostel, we read we weren't the first group he had joined to walk all the way
from Riglos to Santa Maria de La Peña...
This day we walked approximately 6h30m.
May 9: Around Agüero
Change of plan. In stead of walking from Salinas de Jaca to Agüero our guide decided to head for Agüero
and walk around the hills there and move the original fifth day to the sixth and skip the original route of day 6
entirely because of the weather. In the afternoon the weather finally started to improve a bit. We even had some
sunshine. Many vultures around Agüero. At one time we saw 55 of them in the air at the same time!
This day we walked approximately 3 hours.
May 10: Salinas de Jaca to Agüero
A coach took us up to Salinas de Jaca from where we walked back to Agüero. We thanked our guide for pushing
this route one day back in the schedule. It was a very nice route through rocky hills and through a W-shaped pass
that we wouldn't have wanted to miss and the day before the weather just would have been too bad to enjoy this
route. Today just windy, but again some sunshine too.
This day we walked approximately 3h30m.
May 11: Agüero to Loarre
Sunshine! Finally... Again a beautiful route with views of the Mallos de Riglos, Mirador de los Buitres and even the
Pyrenees in the distance. We spent the night in a luxurious hotel in Loarre.
This day we walked approximately 6h15m.
May 12: Around Alquézar
At Breakfast Arjen found out his birthday was no secret as he had thought. His chair was decorated and he even
got a present (a 'call it lunch' voucher since he was always the first person to request a rest to have lunch...).
No visit to the castle of Loarre as was planned (that was saved for the next stop in Loarre), but straight to
Alquézar, a lovely small town. In the afternoon we took a trip to the hills and did some souvenir hunting.
This day we walked approximately 2h40m.
May 13: Around Alquézar: Sierra de Guara
First some shopping for lunch equipment. Alquézar is the first town where we have this opportunity. In all
other towns we either arrived too late in the afternoon or there just wasn't any shop. When we started walking we
were joined by a stray dog who kept walking with us until we were almost back in Alquézar again. Then we
lost him. Some of us were searching for him while others returned to Alquézar. Luckily the both groups had
a mobile phone so the ones in Alquézar could notify the search posse that the dog had taken a shortcut and
had already arrived in Alquézar... During this trip, some of the group decided to walk an extra 30 minutes
so they could see some prehistoric wallpaintings. When we heared they could hardly be seen we were glad we had taken
a rest.
This day we walked approximately 5h5m.
May 14: Bierge to Las Almunias
Long journey through the Peonara (beautiful blue and green water which we had to wade across) and the hills close
to Las Almunias...
This day we walked approximately 5h35m.
May 15: Las Almunias - Rodellar - Sierra de Balces - Las Almunias
The guide decided to walk the route in the opposite direction for which Arjen was especially thankful since it meant
a steep climb of over 700m (2300ft.), but an easy descent, which was certainly more pleasant for his sore knees.
On the way up we had a good view of the Pyrenees.
This day we walked approximately 5 hours.
May 16: Rodellar to San Urbez
This day started with a beatiful canyon at with a lot of vultures in the sky. Later on we passed through some
deserted villages before arriving at the monastery of San Urbez.
This day we walked approximately 7h10m.
May 17: San Urbez to Belsue
The last day of walking! We decided to wait for the coach to pick us up at the one of the first villages we
encountered. The coach then took us to Loarre.
This day we walked approximately 4h35m.
May 18/19: Loarre - Pau - Home
We started the day with a trip to the beautiful castle of Loarre. Very nice view of the valley. We returned to
Loarre and were taken by coach through the Pyrenees to Pau again where we took the night train back to the
Netherlands again.
This day we walked approximately 1h10m hours.
This makes for a total of 58h30m for this holiday!