Nature Paths in the Siarb Valley 1

CODE: CAT09TEENS25

Work:

The purpose of this work camp is to participate in the recovery of old paths and learn the history of the Pyrenees, learn about culture and nature, and participate in both with different activities of preservation and conservation.

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, etc., 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, redo these sections in order to maintain the cobbled areas.

Accomodation and food

The accommodation is in a terrain called "La Solana, near the village of Vilamur.
It's a camping area in the middle of nature, so you should definitely be eager to have a (somehow) wild experience! Location: https://maps.app.goo.gl/z9WX5boUgCdoEsdf6

You’ll be spending your days at a campsite, and you’ll be camping and sleeping in a tent; usually there are 4 participants per tent and no separation to gender.
Tents are basic; mainly, there’s only space for sleeping or laying down. Tents will be provided by the organization, and you’ll be sleeping on a mattress 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 summer) and mattress.

There is 1 dry toilet near the campsite and 1 shower available in the camp with 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.

The volunteers are in charge of cooking and keeping the area clean and safe: they will be split in groups, each group will prepare the food for one day, and they will be rotating every day, so camping in the field and cooking by 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.

There’s no Wi-Fi at the campsite. However, there's mobile phone signal in the area, so you should be able to connect to 3G almost everywhere. There is the possibility to charge the phones in the village of Vilamur.

Location and leisure

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 by 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 Civil War bunkers in the Coll de Sant Joan, about 4 km from the camp. The context of the Civil War and the specific situation of Pallars Sobirà and the Vall de Siarb will be explained.
- Visit to the Despoblat de Santa Creu de Llagunes: guided visit to the medieval Despoblat where we 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.
- Orientation activity: the group will be divided into different teams and based on a series of clues related to the environment they will have to decipher an enigma or map. This dynamic enhances group cohesion and organization, agility and skills.

Project hosted by

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" de Llagunes, visits to the trenches on the Pallars front and to the Vilamur bunkers, discoveries of geology, and 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 and discovering life rural in Pallars Sobirà, and in the rest of the Pyrenees.

Directions to meeting point

The meeting point will be on July 3th at 18.30h in the bus station of La Pobla de Segur.
From there, the hosting organization will take you to Vilamur by private bus (which will cost 6 euros per person, so please bring some cash with you).

By bus:
. From Barcelona’s Airport, you have to go to the bus station in Barcelona called Estació del Nord.
You can go by train: go to Terminal 2 and take the RENFE train R2Nord and stop in Estació de Sants. Once there, transbord to RENFE train R1 and stop in Arc de Triomf.
You can go by metro: from terminal 1 or 2 take metro L9 to Torrassa, and there transbord to L1 and stop in Arc de Triomf. From the metro exit, walk 200m to the bus station.
. From Estació del Nord to La Pobla de Segur, you should get the ALSA bus (www.alsa.es).

IMPORTANT: make sure you get to Barcelona on time! The ONLY choice to get in time at the meeting point, is to take the bus to La Pobla de Segur at 14.30h.

Private transportation:
The meeting point will be directly in Vilamur around 19:15h, and a person from Balmes Blancs will pick you up and show you how to get to the camping area. Location:

LAST DAY OF THE CAMP
The best option is to go back to Barcelona by bus from La Pobla de Segur.
The hosting organization will take you from Vilamur to La Pobla de Segur very early in the morning, by a private bus (which will cost another 6 euros per person, so please bring some cash with you).
From La Pobla de Segur, there is one bus at 8:45h in the morning, which will allow you to transfer on time to the airport or train/bus station in Barcelona.
Take under consideration the travel time is around 4h.

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