Day 24: Coll de Bassegoda to Just past la Vajol

A hot one.

A cool morning made for a pleasant start as I descended to Càmping Bassegoda Park. They have a small supermarket, so I popped in as it opened at 9am. Then came the long slog, warm at first before turning properly hot for the final ascent and the dry, dusty descent.

Running low on water, I headed straight into Maçanet de Cabrenys. At the first restaurant I walked up to the waiter and asked for a Fanta before I'd even sat down. A large glass full of ice, a cold Fanta and a fan pointed towards my table brought immediate relief. Sitting there in 32°C heat, I considered my options. I still had about four hours of walking left, so I ordered some food. I managed to eat it all, although it was a struggle in the heat. Two more Fantas helped wash it down.

I considered asking the restaurant to fill my water bottles, but there were three springs marked on the map within the next 2km, so I decided not to carry the extra weight.

The first "spring" turned out to be a tap with no water. The second was a muddy puddle full of pond life, so I gave that a miss. Luckily before I even reached the third, I came across another spring that wasn't marked on the map at all.

I continued to the next small village before my planned wild camp. There was no water where I intended to camp, so I filled all four litres of my bottles at the village fountain before heading 3km along the road and then up a gravel track.

The guidebook was vague. It gave the name of the place but didn't show it on its own map, and it wasn't on mine either.

With no mobile signal I couldn't check, so I made my best guess and carried on. As the road climbed and gave me my first views of the Mediterranean Sea, I finally picked up enough signal to search. I'd already walked past the campsite and only had to backtrack about 1km.

I found a patch of grass beneath a tree, pitched my sauna and unpacked. Tired and thirsty after the day's walking, I climbed inside and settled in for the night.