Day three of our hike in the Pyrenees of Andorra started early in the morning after our breakfast at the Juclà Refuge.
I found it to be a little hard to sleep that night because of the elevation, but nonetheless I still woke up feeling rested.
The refuge is situated in a picturesque location right next to "Lake Juclar Primer" and another slightly smaller lake cleverly called the "Second Lake of Juclar."
Lake Juclar Primer is actually the largest lake in Andorra, which is a bit surprising to me considering how small it really was. But then again, Andorra is a very small country and it's very mountainous so it makes sense that its lakes would be small as well. I wouldn't be surprised at all if the lake was considered the prettiest in the country though.
I'm just speculating here, but at an elevation of 2295 meters above sea level, I'm guessing that it is also one of the highest lakes in the country as well.
As you can imagine, the area around the refuge and the lakes themselves was absolutely beautiful.
It was probably the prettiest spot that we came across during the entirety of our hike in the country, which is saying something because we did see a lot of beautiful locations.
Large boulders strewn about the landscape nestled in among the lush greenery and a plethora of vibrant pink flowers, it really reminded me of a natural botanical rock garden of sorts.
"I like that boulder. That is a nice boulder."
We didn't sample the water but I'm guessing that it was pretty cold judging by all of the melting snow in the area.
This stand alone tree was pretty neat as well. It almost seemed out of place so high up on the mountain.
There were a few trees up there, but not many.
It becomes increasingly more difficult for plant life to grow at higher altitudes so large trees become increasingly more rare the higher up you go in elevation.
The lakes are situated close to the border of France and Andorra and are almost entirely surrounded by mountains.
The hike to this location from the train station in the town of L'Hospitalet would be roughly 6 hours, give or take.
It's definitely doable in a day if you stay at Refugi de Juclà in the evening, or if you're an avid hiker and super ambitious you could turn around and go back that same day. That would be a long day though.
We found this spot overlooking the Second Lake of Juclar and stopped to pose for some photos.
Needless to say, it was a very "Instagrammable" location.
One of many.
Who took it better, him or me?
Once we passed by the lakes we had to climb up the other side of the mountain.
It was nothing at all like we experienced the previous day but still a good push to get the body into the hiking mindset.
Personally I'm alway the most tired right at the very begining of a hike. Its as if my body is saying "No thank you. I dont want to do any work today." Its the same with biking for me. The first 10 minutes of any bike ride is alway the worst, until my body gets into an exercising mindset.
Anyway, this part of the hike - from our refuge and past the two mountain lakes, didn't take a whole lot of time but I would consider it to be a major destination along our route and would defininitly recommend including it in any Andorra Pyrenees hiking trip, if at all possible. In terms of beautiful scenic locations, it is definitely unlike any other.
