Recovery of ancient paths in the Pyrenees | CAT09TEENS | 2023-07-31 - 2023-08-14 | ENVI,CULT | Age: 14 - 17

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 deepen, 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, 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, to discover life rural in Pallars Sobirà, and in the rest of the Pyrenees.

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 a terrain called "Llavaners", the campsite is at 1000m altitude near a small river and very isolated in the middle of nature. You should definitely be eager to have a (somehow) wild experience! The terrain is in the municipality of Soriguera, Pallars Sobirà, between “Malmercat” and “Puigforniu” and near “Tornafort”. Location: https://goo.gl/maps/UK2ntLBfazCnLdpc9 You’ll be spending your days in a campsite and you’ll be camping and sleeping in a tent, usually there’s 3-4 participants per tent and no separation 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 time) and mattress. There are 2 dry toilets near the campsite. There’s no showers available in the camp. Mainly we have some quick-baths at the river with cold water or in the campsite, also 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. If needed, once or twice during the workcamp you’ll be able to go to Llagunes village (by foot, about 2h walking) and take a shower there in the shelter. The volunteers are in charge to cook and to keep 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 everyday, so camping in the field and cooking by their own. In general, lunch and dinner will be warm meals, but exceptions can be done in case of a trekking route or spending the whole day out of the campsite. But the camp is isolated and there is no possibility to buy food in the area. There’s no WiFi at the campsite. However, there s mobile phone signal in the area so you should be able to connect to 3G or 4G almost everywhere. "Llavaners terrain is located near Sort, about 5 km away. It is accessed by asphalted road up to 1 km and the last one stretch, is a track that maintains the Natural Park of the High Pyrenees.

Location: Theterrainiscalled“MasdeLlavaners”inthemunicipalityofSorigueraPallarsSobiraCatalonia

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.

Airport: BCN

Train/Bus station: Bus station in Barcelona: - "Estació del Nord" - "Estació de Sants" Train station in Barcelona: - "Estació de Sants"

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 toTerminal 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 in 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 Llavaners at 19:30h, and a person from Balmes Blancs will pick you up and show you how to get to the camping area. Location: https://goo.gl/maps/UK2ntLBfazCnLdpc9 The last day of the camp, the best option is to go back from Sort by bus (with ALSA bus company).

Language: eng

Extra Fee: 200 EUR