A5: El Carrilet
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Trail stats
- Distance
- 3.67 mi
- Elevation gain
- 659 ft
- Technical difficulty
- Easy
- Elevation loss
- 827 ft
- Max elevation
- 7,067 ft
- TrailRank
- 16
- Min elevation
- 6,860 ft
- Trail type
- One Way
- Coordinates
- 40
- Uploaded
- February 22, 2013
near Cabdella, Catalunya (España)
Viewed 515 times, downloaded 1 times
Itinerary description
Carrilet’ is Catalan for narrow-gauge railway and the walk is along the track itself – still in situ! It is a great introduction to the Val Fosca area (see locality guide), which is notable for its stunning high mountain location on the borders of the Parc Nacional d’Aigüestortes i Lac San Maurici, and its role in an innovative hydroelectric scheme. Furthermore, for travellers with a sense of occasion as well as adventure, access to the walk can be achieved by a fabulous cable car ride! The walk follows the wagon-way along the eastern flank of the Montseny mountain (2,883m) at about 2,100m between the glacial lake Estany Gento and the so-called ‘Cambra de l’aigua’ (literally ‘water chamber’) where water from the reservoirs flows down a vertiginous 850m drop to the power station on the valley floor. In addition there is a further section of ‘branch’ line that begins 300m above Estany Gento glacial lakes and tarns. The ‘main’ line has five tunnels in which the track has been removed for safety. The two parts of the line were connected by a dramatic cable way whose derricks can still be seen striding up the near vertical slope to the north of Estany Gento, but for the mere modern explorer a rather difficult path links the two. Other than this short section the whole walk is easy and suitable for all levels of ability.
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