GR 221 – day 4

Deià – Refugio Tossals Verds

Thursday, 29th February 2024

30,5 km – total 107,9 km

Ah, it’s day 4, which is always critical for me during hikes. Jozef wakes me up at 6:30 AM, saying he’s well-rested. I, however, am not—it was a horrible night, but I get up anyway. In the dark, I change clothes and pack my things. I finish packing in the hallway while Jozef makes coffee and instant noodles outside. My feet are really sore. With every step, they burn from underneath, and I’ve developed blisters on the sides of my toes from those damp shoes. Thankfully, it’s finally nice outside. We eat, drink coffee, and the sun rises. We start hiking up from Deià before 8 AM.

I get awful cramps in my calves. I try to walk it off, take some magnesium, and hope it helps. The path to Sóller is 10 km, passing through many olive groves.

I’m really struggling today, and I have to keep convincing myself to push on and stay positive—after all, it’s a beautiful day, and we’re heading into the mountains. But it’s tough, and I’m starting to get hungry. Luckily, we encounter a fluffy donkey and a kitten, which lifts my spirits a little.

The descent into Sóller feels endless, though the views of the surrounding mountains open up. There are still clouds hanging over the peaks. In town, many people are burning fires, so the whole place is hazy, and the air quality is bad.

I really don’t feel like going on today. I’m tired, hungry, and lacking motivation. Jozef buys me a sweet bun from a bakery and asks me to make a decision about what we do next. But I can’t decide. So, we head to a café to think it over. We discuss various options, weighing the pros and cons of different routes. I check the weather, the map, and accommodations. Then, we go shopping for two days’ worth of supplies, knowing I’ll need to decide soon. Next to the store, there’s a bench, so we sit down for lunch with a view of dumpsters and the mountains. I feel better after eating, and the clouds on the mountains have cleared.

So, we decide to head upwards. We face a climb of over 1,000 meters on 8.5 km. At first, the path follows a road lined with orange and lemon groves.

When the real climb starts, it’s on a beautifully maintained stone trail. It’s so warm that I switch to shorts.

I’m moving pretty slowly. I don’t have much energy, and I sometimes feel dizzy. I try to drink lots of water and have some sugar.

We stop by a stream to filter water, and I soak my feet to refresh them a bit. We’ve finished the steepest part of the climb. The trail now continues gently, sometimes through the forest, surrounded by tall mountains, all the way to Cuber Lake.

Jozef wonders if we should set up a shelter somewhere, but forecast for the night is heavy rain , so we decide to push on to the Refugio Tossals Verds. It’s still 7 km away. I’m dragging my feet, which annoys Jozef, but I just can’t go faster on flat ground. I’m frustrated that I’m so tired on such a beautiful day, but I also think, if the weather had been bad, I wouldn’t have made it this far. I get a burst of energy going uphill and pick up the pace. Maybe it’s the motivation that the end is near.

When we cross the pass, the trail turns into a stream. It really must not rain this much here normally. We thought that was the worst part, but we were wrong. The trail runs along the base of a gorge, over big rocks, constantly going up and down, with some chains for support. We thought the time estimate on the sign was exaggerated, but it wasn’t. Only now we notice the dotted line on the map, indicating the highest level of difficulty. The route is beautiful, with views of Puig d’Alaró, but we’re pretty exhausted by now.

We arrive at the refuge after sunset. I really don’t want to spend another night in a refugio, but we don’t have much choice since we didn’t bring the tent. We go to the reception and explain we don’t have a reservation. The man tells us everything is booked, but we can sleep in the shelter outside. This turns out to be a great option. There’s water and a bathroom nearby, and we don’t have to pay. A Czech guy is already set up there, recognizable by his “Jeseníky” hat. After we settle in, inflating our sleeping pads, a woman arrives with eight kids to show them how to light a fire in the fireplace. We move our stuff so they don’t burn anything and start chatting with the Czech guy. He’s doing the route in reverse, and this is his first day. Over the last few days, we regretted not bringing our tent, as it would have given us more freedom, and Jozef brought the wrong backpack, which he hadn’t tested for a multi-day trek and now finds uncomfortable. But none of that compares to the fact that he brought ventilated shoes (i.e., sneakers with holes) because a friend convinced him that it never rains here.

They successfully light the fire and all head inside for dinner. Jozef serves our dinner outside—mashed potatoes with tuna. We’re about to head to bed when the woman comes back with one of her sons and starts talking to us. She’s originally from Finland but has lived in Mallorca for 16 years, working as a mountain guide. Her son, around 4 years old, speaks fluent Catalan, Spanish, Finnish, and is learning English. He asks if there are mountains where we live. She also tells us that it really doesn’t rain this much in Mallorca; we just happened to hit a rainy week. More kids and their moms arrive, and they start playing Dixit. We’re already half-asleep, warmed by the fire, and with brushed teeth, but they keep playing until after 10 PM. We had everything ready, so we just laid down and quickly fell asleep.