GR 221 – day 3
Font de s’Obi Shelter – Deià
Wednesday, 28th February 2024
36,3 km – total 77,4km
There was another storm last night. I woke up to the sound of water pouring into the reservoir, but I was warm and dry in my sleeping bag. We get up at 6:45 AM, and I pack quietly while Jozef makes coffee outside. The Czech brothers wake up at 7 AM. Their alarm is remix of quotes from the fortune teller Jolanda. We drink our coffee, brush our teeth, and set off.
The town of Banyalbufar is 3 kilometers away, and we have a brief window of no rain. It’s an interesting little town, built entirely on a hill, with stone terraces and many rainwater tanks, though they’re mostly half-empty.
We try in vain to find an open café in town. Everything opens at 9:30 AM. It starts raining heavily, so we head straight to the next village, Esporles, which is 1.5 hours away. First, we climb through the entire town, then take a nice path through the forest.
For breakfast, on the go, we finish off some nuts, dried fruit, and jerky. When you’re desperate, you’ll eat anything. In Esporles, we search for a café to dry off, warm up, and charge our devices. We find a small one filled with elderly people. These are always the best spots. We have coffee, a croissant, and a chocolate roll, all very good. We freshen up a bit and do some shopping. It’s still raining. The Czechs catch up to us. We follow the trail through town, hoping for a shelter to eat, but there’s none. So, we keep walking—if we stop, we’ll get soaked and cold.
We snack on mini croissants as we walk. The uphill climb is pleasant and allows for a brisk pace. By 1 PM, the forecast says the rain should stop. I start feeling really miserable because my shoes and pants are soaked. But I keep reminding myself that Mallorca needs this rain, and it’s really good that it’s pouring. We finally find a shelter and stop for a meal. We put on our down jackets and eat a baguette with cheese. The Czechs arrive and start making tea with their gasoline stove. The thermometer shows 5°C at 500 meters altitude, so we wonder if there will be snow on the next, higher peak. It’s a bit cramped in the shelter, so we move on.
The rain stops, but I’m so cold that I even start running to warm up. After a few minutes, I feel better, and my pants start drying. By 3 PM, we reach Valldemossa.
It’s a very beautiful historic town, though sadly full of souvenir shops. We find a café and sit to consider our next move. It looks like the rain won’t stop today. The cheapest accommodation here is 73 €. In the next village, Deià, there’s a refugio 14 km away, with more than 600 meters of elevation gain. To Jozef’s surprise, I choose the refugio. I’m feeling pretty good.
The route has been altered, and one section is very steep. From 700 meters above sea level, we’re in fog, and it’s about 4-5°C. We take a shortcut to avoid unnecessary descent and encounter lots of sheep and goats emerging from the mist. When we rejoin the official trail, it’s a nicely built stone path. If we weren’t in the fog, it would be a really beautiful hike.
I suggest to Jozef that we do it again in a few days when the weather is nice, but he dismisses the idea, saying we’ll return in 30 years. Next is a steep and somewhat dangerous 900-meter descent. I try to go down quickly, almost running. We pass two of the Czechs. Finally, when we come out of the fog, we have a view of Deià and the sea, and the birds start singing.
We pass by some collapsed stone walls that are being repaired. Anyone who loves puzzles would enjoy this. We arrive in the village just as the sun is setting, painting the surrounding mountains pink.
It starts raining again, and I don’t think I could handle sleeping outside tonight. We reach the refugio, where the lady has free beds, but it takes her forever to register us. We smell pretty bad. We share a room with three others. We head straight for the shower. It’s only then that I realize how exhausted I am. Since my feet were wet all day, the dirt got deep into my skin, and I have to scrub them twice. Jozef goes outside to cook stuffed tortellini, and I try to write, but my phone’s battery is dead, and our only charging cable just broke. We usually have two, but I accidentally brought the wrong one. Fortunately, we still have one integrated in the power bank. We eat and then go to bed. We had to put our backpacks next to our shoes because they were soaked and smelled bad. I finish writing the blog, which I want to upload tonight. I fall asleep for about 40 minutes, then finally upload it at 11 PM. One of the guys in our room snores loudly, and it’s also quite warm. I’d rather be sleeping outside.
