Day 18: Camping Serra (near Tavascan) to Refugi Baiau

I was walking up the road towards Tavascan by 6.50am. There weren't many cars about at that time of the morning. I cut up to the hamlet of Aineto to rejoin the GR11 as it descended into Tavascan.

The climb out of Tavascan was steep, with endless zig-zags through the forest. It was already quite warm and, apart from seeing two deer and a snake, it was an unremarkable ascent.

Like most days on this section of the GR11, it was around 1,300m of ascent followed by 1,000m of descent. The constant up and down is definitely starting to take its toll.

At the campsite on the far side of the descent I was too early for the restaurant. The staff were all having their own meal when I arrived, so I settled for a drink and waited for it to open. I ordered chicken and chips, much-needed calories as my food supplies were running low. Tomorrow I should reach Arinsal in Andorra, where I can resupply.

The chicken and chips had their work cut out, as they needed to fuel another four hours of walking and a further 700m of ascent to Refugi Baiau "Josep Maria Montfort". My plan was to sleep inside if it was empty, as it's an unmanned emergency refuge, or camp nearby if it was occupied. It turned out to be the second option, so after boiling water for my emergency dehydrated meal — I needed every calorie I could get — I pitched the tent nearby and settled in for an early night.

I'm beginning to think I need to slow my pace a little. I've got very little reserve body fat left and need to eat more to keep up with the energy I'm burning. The difficulty is that when I'm wild camping I can't pitch the tent until late, whereas I prefer an early start, an early finish and a good long rest.

We'll see what the next few days have in store.