Getting lost on our way to Cami de St.Antoni

Friday is usually my favourite day of the working week, it usually means finishing classes at twelve o'clock ready for the long weekend. Me and my colleague Lisa decided that we have always wanted to walk to the 'Cami de St.Antoni' which is a large lake on the other side of the valley, the lake is held up by a large dam that helps power the surrounding area including the local town of Tremp; we set off towards our local village of Talarn, the trail starts on the edge of the village, standing there you could see the leaves of the forest below turning a golden brown, it was obvious that autumn was slowly rolling in, the air has become cooler and more fresh, the sun is still blaring down on us but no longer as strong.

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The trail leads you down to the bottom of the hill, looking up you can see Talarn clinging to the edges of the hill, over time I believe the medieval village could tumble over the edge as years of decay has taken it's toll on the soil below. The main road to Tremp is an obstacle you have to cross to get to the other side, the racing traffic can be dangerous as lorries, trucks, buses and cars nearly strike you down as they pass at high speed, normally going over the limit but it only takes one minute to walk down the road to the next part of the trail.

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The forest has a scent of freshness, the cool breeze is slowly wiping the sweat from my forehead, the river runs like a serpent through the forest whilst the birds are flying high above my head, I notice an eagle searching for food as it swoops in front of the sun casting a moving shadow on the floor below.

The trail takes you further into the forest, as the path declines into the valley, the rocks are slippery as they tumble from underneath your feet, but there is a hidden surprise waiting for you when you get half way down the trail, keep an eye open for a small mound with a caged gate in the doorway, as you open the gate you will notice a long, tight passage that will take you into a large open room, this is called 'Pou Del Gel' an underground chamber which was basically a fridge that they used to build in the mountains to store the snow, I had to admit it was the last place I expected to see but as I stood there in this large, dark chamber I could only just imagine the local workers shoveling in the snow to store it away for the rest of the year, it was a truly interesting place to see.

When a trail isn't well marked you start to get lost, it must of took us a while to realise that the trail that we were following wasn't going to take us to the lake, in fact it was taking us to Santa Engracia, a mountan village on the other side of the valley.

So we decided to walk through the forest in the direction of the lake, but we managed to get ourselves lost amongst the heavily dense trees and brambles, "should we take the road" I tell Lisa as it was the only way to get us out of this little pickle that we were in. The quite rubbled road took us out of the forest and towards the large dam, we were about to give up as we didn't think there was anyway to the lake which as on the other side of this dam, "even if we don't make it to the lake, I am happy enough to see the dam" I said to Lisa in a way of cheering us both up, the dam was a sight worth seeing, the large grey, cracked wall was enormous, there was also a large quantity of water gushing out of the dam through a green pipe, the spray would sprinkle over us as we got closer to the pressured water, I wasn't sure if we was trespassing or not but even if we was it would of been worth it.

"Hey look there is a trail" shouted Lisa in amazement, she had found the trail that takes us back through the forest, up the hill and to the top of the dam, we decided to start the climb, it involved us having to cling to the rocks sticking out of the path to push ourselves up but by the time we got to the top we were welcomed to the sight of crystal blue water, the water of the 'Cami de St.Antoni was truly breathtaking, the mountainous background gave the lake a dramatic effect and the water looked still and clean, I really wanted to just dive into the water to cool off my hot, aching body; the fish would now and again pop their heads out of the water to catch the flies, it was truly paradise within the mountains.

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