This report is written by Bruno Blanc, from Paraguay.

Bruno, with the Paraguayan flag, at the meeting point

On Sunday, June 15, we left Lleida at 6:40 a.m., with clear skies and a very pleasant temperature ranging between 19° and 30°C. We soon met up with Jesús, who had brought a friend, and with Joan from Barcelona.

Shortly after, Ramón, from the Friends of Pallerols Association, arrived with a four-wheel drive and accompanied us to the starting point of Stage 3, near the Barranc de la Ribalera.

At the beginning of the excursion, Ramón explained the history of this stage and how St. Josemaría’s expedition experienced it. The impression I had was that, despite having read the story in various books, it is very difficult to visually grasp those mountains while hiding from danger of death.

At the start of stage 3

Stage 3 begins with the climb to Aubenç Mountain, via the Canal de la Jaça. It is dangerous to climb at night —even in moonlight— due to the risk of falling off a cliff. The St. Josemaría expedition climbed it during the day (around 6 p.m.). We did so from 9:30 to 11:40 a.m. My watch showed me an altitude of 1,500 m at the highest point. A fresh wind blew up there, offering a fantastic view of the Catalan Pyrenees for miles. We continued the hike, which was largely downhill and would have been easy to miss if it weren’t for the blue and yellow trail markers maintained by the Association.

Nacho, on the Jaça canal, shortly before reaching the summit of Aubenç

We finished the trek at Coll de Nargó, after 5 hours and 30 minutes of hiking. A great experience.

A curiosity for me was seeing the farmhouses, since I’m a civil engineer and already familiar with them. I was able to see the stone buildings in detail, especially at the end of the hike when we reached Coll de Nargó, where we saw an 11th-century Romanesque church.

Romanesque church of Coll de Nargó

It was a great day: from the journey there, the preparations, and then lunch and the ice cream we had; the entire day was filled with moments of sharing with all the hikers.