Nature paths in the Siarb Valley

Spain Construction Culture Environment Construction Culture +1 Fixed dates

About the project

📝 Detailed information

🏢 About the local organisation

The organization in charge of the work camp is Balmes Blancs, a non-profit association created in 2010 with the aim of offering unique activities in nature with the aim of presenting new places, new people and deepening, thus, the knowledge of the Catalan territory. Since its inception, it has organized various activities such as snowshoe outings with animal footprints, astronomical discoveries, kayak outings to discover marine fauna, rafting drops, hiking in the mountains or leveling and safety workshops, among others. In 2013 the association began working in the Siarb Valley. From that moment on, Balmes Blancs began to focus its activities around this valley and, among other things, guided visits to the "Despoblat de Santa Creu" of "Llagunes", visits to the trenches on the "Pallars" front and to the bunkers of Vilamur, discoveries of geology, activities of flora and fauna in the environment. At the same time, the refuge promotes hiking with the creation of signposted routes around "Llagunes", as well as a series of actions aimed at recovering the heritage of the Siarb Valley to discover life rural in "Pallars Sobirí ", and by extension, in the rest of the Pyrenees.

💼 What the programme involves

The purpose of this work camp is to participate in the recovery of the old paths and the history of the Pyrenees in the "Vall de Siarb". Participants will learn about culture, nature, and participate in different activities of preservation and conservation of the area. The technical work that will be carried out in the field of work consists, in general, in different tasks related to the recovery of the old roads of the valley. The followings are the main ones: - Road clearing: mowing grass, bushes..., which grow in the spring to leave the roads comfortably passable on foot. - Remove stones from the road: pick up stones that have fallen on the road and set them aside in an orderly manner at the edges to make the passage passable. - Rebuild the simplest sections of dry stone wall: rebuild those walls that have fallen and are easily rebuildable. - Improved signage with paint: review the tracking marks of the paths with paint according to the instructions given to us by the "Alt Pirineu" Natural Park. - Improved paved sections: some trails have cobbled sections that have worn out. At the same time, there will also be ambiental activities about the flora and fauna of the area.

🏠 Accommodation on site

The accommodation is in a terrain called "Llavaners", the campsite is at 1000m altitude near a small river and very isolated in the middle of nature. You should definitely be eager to have a (somehow) wild experience! Llavaners terrain is located near Sort, about 5 km away. It is by asphalt road up to 1 km and the last one stretch is a track. You’ll be spending your days in a campsite and you’ll be camping and sleeping in a tent, usually there’s 3-4 participants per tent and no separation gender. Tents are basic, mainly there’s only space for sleeping or lying down. Tents will be provided by the organization and you’ll be sleeping on a mat on the floor. You must bring your own sleeping bag (it’s highly recommended a good one as in the Pyrenees it can be cold at nights even in summertime) and the mat. There are 2 dry toilets near the campsite. There’s no showers available at the camp. Mainly you will have some quick-baths in the river with cold water or in the campsite, also cold water. We strongly recommend bringing Eco and biodegradable shower gel or shampoo. No gender separation for showers, previous agreements will be done with the group. If needed, once or twice during the work camp you’ll be able to go to a Llagunes village (by foot, about 2h walking) and take a shower there in the shelter. The volunteers are in charge of cooking and to keep the area clean and safe: they will be split into different small groups that will cook for the rest of the group (and themselves) taking daily turns. So, each group will prepare the food for one day, and they will be rotated everyday, as well as camping in the field and cooking on their own. In general, lunch and dinner will be warm meals, but exceptions can be made in case of a trekking route or spending the whole day out of the campsite. But the camp is isolated and there is no possibility to buy food in the area. There’s no WiFi at the campsite. However, there's a mobile phone signal in the area so you should be able to connect to 4G almost everywhere. No heating available. IMPORTANT: there is no electricity in the camp (no phone charge available).

📍 About the location

The work camp is done in a calm and peaceful area of the Catalan Pyrenees called “Vall de Siarb“. This place is located inside one of the natural Park in Catalonia (Parc Natural de l\'Alt Pirineu) and the village belongs to Soriguera municipality. For more information about this part of the Pyrenees you can visit the web site: http://parcsnaturals.gencat.cat/en/alt-pirineu/index.html Some leisure activities: - Talk with the members of the Parc de l'Alt Pirineu about the trails and paths and the biodiversity of the park. - Visit to the bunkers: visit to the Spanish Civil War bunkers in the Coll de Sant Joan, about 4 km from the camp. The context of the Spanish Civil War and the specific situation of "Pallars Sobirí " and the Vall de Siarb will be explained. - Visit to the "Despoblat de Santa Creu" of Llagunes: guided visit to the medieval site where you can see the strategic location of the town, its function during the medieval period and why the wall, the watchtowers. - Thematic tour of the mills: circular itinerary of the mills, where you can see the remains of two flour mills and a hydroelectric power plant that supplied electricity to several villages in the "Vall de Siarb". - Itinerary of Tornafort: circular excursion that will allow us to get to know the paths of the surroundings visiting the picturesque town of Tornafort. - Vilamur itinerary: circular excursion that will take us from the land to the village of Vilamur, then towards Soriguera, and following the river we will return to the camp.

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