Walking in the Els Ports – Vall d’Infern

Date of walk: Saturday 18th Feb

Temperture in Tortosa: 17 degC

Mountain Temp: approx 15 degC

Wind: NNW  4km/h

There wasn’t a cloud in the sky and the temperature in the valley was touching 17 degreesC.  In fact although it can still get chilly at night, February is often a wonderful month of blue skies, sunshine and made all the more delightful because it is when the almond blossom appears.  All in all, a perfect time of year for walking.

This walk began once more at Font Nova the natural Spring form where we commenced a previous walk to La Moleta. It is Walk 10 in the Cicerone guide “Mountain Walking in Southern Catalonia”

The first 45 mins was a fairly steep climb to the ridge and it wasn’t long before we discarded jackets and walked in short-sleeved t-shirts.

To give you an idea of the ascent: On the photograph to the right, our car is parked just out of shot at the bottom left hand side.  We crossed to the back of the mountain in the “V” on the horizon and this shot was taken on the return to the starting point.

After the climb to the ridge the rest of the walk was fairly easy, a couple of stony descents being the hardest thing to negotiate later on (often tougher on my old knees than climbing uphill I must admit!)

Once again, within minutes of reaching the ridge we came across a group of male Spanish Ibex, grazing in the scrub on a small plateau.  The largest of them stood and looked directly at us for at least a couple of minutes before deciding that we were of no account and trotting away with the others behind the boulders. It wasn’t long before we saw a couple of Griffon Vultures and then about 20 minutes later a female Ibex and her kid.

The other thing we saw today was people!  Usually, we walk mid-week but today was Saturday. There were 5 or 6 cars at Font Nova when we arrived, but the people in them were only collecting water from the fresh spring. During the walk we saw 2 couples and on our return to Font Nova there was a family having a picnic. We have become used to having the mountains to ourselves – so that seemed like a lot of people!

Below a few photographs of the general scenery, the Ibex and a couple of Griffon Vultures.

The starting point at Font Nova

Being assessed by a large male Ibex

Other male Ibex in the group

The rugged terrain and views to the River Ebro Valley

Griffon Vultures, soaring on the thermals