Day 4 – 33.3 km – Saturday 14.12.2024
It rained again last night and punctually at half past five a lightning struck not far from me. Although no thunderstorm was actually reported, I’m awake for now. Luckily I stayed a little below the summit in the forest, where I should be relatively well protected. So I turn around in my sleeping bag and just keep sleeping.
At 7:30 am I get up to watch the sunrise. I sat with my gas cooker on the edge of the rocks next to me. Then I make my coffee relaxed and watch the rising sun.
Then I pack my things and set off. It continues downhill through the oak forest in the direction of Valldemossa. Even today I pass old charcoal burners’ huts and the ovens again.
Soon after, I can take a first look at the city, which is already illuminated by the morning sun.
Since I want to take it easy today, I first shop at a supermarket and then sit down in a café.
After the little refreshment, it goes on and I quickly notice that my GPX file is apparently outdated. I’m standing in front of a gate where it’s clear that it’s not getting through here.
So I walk back for a moment and quickly find the new way. It also goes straight up. While the path still leads gently upwards at the beginning, it soon becomes steeper and steeper. I quickly sweat, but keep walking. The climb is really fun. Again and again I get beautiful views back into the valley.
The path leads me steadily further up and the landscape is getting more and more beautiful. Unfortunately, more and more dark clouds are gathering above me.
When I get to the top, I see the sea below me for a moment before disappearing completely into a wall of clouds. Actually, I was looking forward to the whole ascent for a break with a nice view, but there is little to see of that. At the summit I eat and drink a little quickly, but then soon start the descent again, as the wind gets pretty cold and there is no improvement in sight.
On the descent I get some sight at least and can see the city of Deia.
Even if the path is quite covered by wet leaves and acorns and running fast is not really possible, I still lose height rapidly. Once again faster than stated, I get to the city. I’ll leave out the hostel and buy water and cola in a kiosk instead. I drink the cola on a bench, eat a piece of bread with salami and continue walking straight away because today I want to make it to the Refugio Muleta right in front of the port of Soller.
With a blue sky, I continue downhill and soon for a long time through olive plants, which look particularly beautiful in the late afternoon sun.
After a last descent over slippery rock, I reach the Refugio. Since it’s still light and I’m not tired yet, I continue to walk to the port.
As I have to say, all the hotels here are closed and somehow it resembles a ghost town. So I probably have to go 7 km further to the actual city. In the setting sun I quickly walk on to get there in the light.
With the last natural light, I finally reach the foothills of the city and can continue hiking in the light of the street lamps.
Today I’m going to a hotel to finally take a shower and charge my batteries again after 4 days of hiking. Luckily my room has a bathtub and so I enjoy an extensive warm bathroom. Later I’ll go eat pizza for a moment. Actually, I wanted something typical from here, but at this time of year almost all restaurants are closed and I didn’t want to walk far anymore. After that I return to my room and rest a little before I go to sleep exhausted.
Today’s motto: ‘Today I have a lot of time and can hike very relaxed.’ I too 10 minutes later: ‘This sign says 6.5 hours to the next place. I’m sure if I’m in a hurry I’ll make it in 4 hours.’
In the end I did more than 30 km again.
Day 5 – 22 km – Sunday 15.12.2024
For once, I wake up at the hotel today. At 8 a.m. I go down for breakfast. I use the buffet very often and take advantage of the plentiful selection. After that I pack my things and leave the hotel around half past 10 a.m.
I walk straight away and at the beginning it’s relaxed out of town. The path leads slightly up and I get beautiful views of the city back.
I’ll be arriving in Biniaraix soon. From here the path then picks up quickly and I walk steeply up the mountain for over an hour. Although it’s not really warm, I’ll be running on my shirt soon because I’m pretty sweaty. It goes over the developed stone staircase and paths up. Apparently I’m on an old pilgrimage path that leads steeply up the mountain. In addition to the path, there are always great terraces and olive trees grow here too.
After what felt like an eternity, I leave the converted paths and continue up on small paths. From above I have a great view down to the city and I take my lunch breaks on a rock.
Then it goes further back over the plateau and I pass a reservoir that is used for the drinking water supply.
Then I turn off and it’s over a small pass again. I’m slowly noticing the constant running up, but I’m rewarded with a nice panorama for that.
From here it’s a little more relaxed over rocky paths. In between there is even a chain as a fuse, but with the dry rock, I can do without it.
I’m losing more and more in altitude and just before 4 p.m. I reach the Refugio Tossals Verds. Here I fill up my water reserves and start a climb again.
It continues over rocky paths through an oak forest. In the meantime, I’m already on the lookout for suitable sleeping places, which is not very easy in the stone landscape.
At some point I see an old charcoal burner square next to a stream and find a nice area for my tent there. Since it’s getting darker now, I’ll decide to stay here. I set up my tent and then cook my dinner. For the third Advent today there is even a three-course menu, which consists of a soup (instant noodles) as a starter, couscous with tuna as a main course and chips for dessert. After that it’s already pitch dark and I crawl into my tent to read there. At 8:30 p.m. I go to bed early.
Day 6 – 15.3 km – Monday 16.12.2024
The night was freezing cold today. I wake up shortly after 7 a.m. and stay in my warm sleeping bag for a few more minutes. Then I pack everything up and start running thickly wrapped up. With a hat and gloves, I start looking for a sunny place for breakfast. Despite the cold, I’m out and about in shorts and quickly run up the mountain. So I get warm quickly.
When I finally leave the forest, it’s really light. After a short climb, I’ve almost reached the top of the pass. I sat on a stone from where I got a nice look back. Here I have a hearty breakfast.
At some point, two young women come up the mountain and also decide to take a coffee break here. The two Belgians are also on the GR221 with the tent. We talked for a while before I slowly got cold and I set off again. Instead of following straight away, I would like to take a short detour to thePuig de Massanella (1364m)do So I turn off the actual path and slowly climb up the mountain. Soon it will be a little steeper over scree, but all in all the way is to walk well and largely harmless. Since the path leads up via a ridge, it takes longer than expected to get to the top. For this I am spoiled with an impressive panorama.
Here’s another panoramic view:
Fortunately, even the sun is shining right now and so I enjoy the view from above at pleasant temperatures. A little later I’m on my way back and I’ll be back on the actual trail soon. From here it goes up again briefly and then down. After another short climb, I meet the two girls from earlier, who are just ending their lunch break here. While the two descend, I sat on one of the rocks and take my lunch break as I look at the landscape in front of me.
After that, it’s also downhill for me for a long time. On the Steinwegen it is partly very slippery and so I can make slower than expected.
At some point the subsoil changes to something easier and I can run much faster again. just before the monasteryllucI caught up with the two Belgians. Like me, they actually wanted to top up food here and then continue walking. But since the little shop is closed today, we end up together in the restaurant and have dinner. Then we pitch our tents on the campsite right next to it and go to bed very early today.
Day 7 – 24.8 km – Tuesday 17.12.2024
The night was bitter cold again. In the morning my tent is wet from the morning dew and about 30 sheep are walking around on the campsite. Nevertheless, I pack everything and set off shortly after 8 a.m. with a hat, gloves and shorts. While running I have to keep my hands warm and some small puddles are frozen. After all, it goes straight up the mountain today and I quickly get warm.
Soon I’m meeting the two Belgians from yesterday who were assembled and started their tent much earlier than I did. I briefly exchange ideas with them and then overtake them to continue at my own pace. From now on it’s going downhill for a long time and although I’m actually looking for a place to drink coffee, I keep walking down.
Only after about 2 hours do I pass some larger stones that lie in the sun. Here I sit down and finally drink my coffee. Then we continue through agricultural land. The path is pretty flat and so I’m making quick progress.
Since I’m inpollencaI keep walking, I keep walking. In fact, I arrive in the small town shortly after 12 noon. In contrast to most hikers who end their journey here, I would like to continue to the port, which is the actual end of theGR221means. I quickly buy a little something to eat in the supermarket. Since I didn’t have anything to eat for breakfast, the first meal of the day tasted particularly good. Then, in the best weather, I walk further north. The route itself is unfortunately very ugly, as it goes about 6 km directly along a road and the path also offers little variety.
My speed is correspondingly high and around 1:30 p.m. I actually come onPort Pollencaand meet the sea. Just like I traveled a week ago at the port ofAndratxhad started, so it ends again today at the port.
Duck good, all good:
I sat in a Nepalese restaurant and treat myself to something real to eat. Then take the bus back to Palma, where I stop in a hostel for one night. I quickly book a flight for tomorrow because I don’t want to sit around here until my actual flight on Saturday. Since I had planned much faster than expected or badly planned, there is now another flight back. Arriving at the hostel, I take a shower and then walk around in the beautifully decorated city. I pass the cathedral, which looks very impressive in the dark. I quickly eat dinner and then go back to the hostel and go to sleep there directly.
Day 8 – Wednesday 18.12.2024
Today is only the departure. Since my flight doesn’t leave until noon, I stroll through the city a bit in the morning and sit down in a café for a while.
Then I drive to the airport and fly back to Germany. So my short but very nice journey on the GR221 ends again.
It will be interesting to see when I will find time for a tour again in the new year and which trail I will look for next time.
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