We had chosen a path that is one side of a triangle as opposed to the GR221 that takes the two sides. Twenty minutes into our program we found out that our path goes on private land, that we would have needed to request permission ahead of time, or pay a toll in the form of olive oil purchase. Not knowing the legitimacy of the project and given the existence of a slightly longer way on the public land, we started on the Cami de ses Basses.
On the Cami de ses Basses, there were amazing vertical views to Valldemossa. I was glad we came this way! Then all of a sudden, I had the terrible feeling that I no longer had our credit card, with all the consulting of routes and shedding of jackets, I ended up putting the phone in the same pocket as the credit card, never mind I had five other empty pockets all with closure. Our thorough search unfortunately confirmed my premonition. Could I have had a stupider move?! We turned back to Valldemossa, looking for the card, without much hope. Back in town, John called Capital One and locked the card.
Determined not to let the credit card ruin our day, we started back on the trail. The trail through the public land was well maintained and traveled. Soon after we joined where we would have come out on the private land, we found ourselves walking high on the cliff with a sea view. It was such a heady feeling, almost vertigo. Soon Deia came into view, far below. At which point, we joined GR221, started on 800m descent into Deia. Originally we had ambitions of walking all the way back to Soller, half way into the descent, we realized we'd be taking the bus from Deia to Soller.
Deia turned out to be a little underwhelming, maybe because at one point we thought to base ourselves in Deia, instead of Soller. We now would rank Deia behind Valldemossa and Soller in every way. We were happy to get on the bus for the 12km ride back to Soller. Maybe losing the credit card saved us from slogging all the way back to Soller. Always remember to look for the silver lining.
Bus Stop seen out the bus window on the way from Soller to Valldemossa. Wow!
Strolling through Valdemossa before hitting the trail.
Looking from the City Hall to the Church.
The City Hall (below) and Church have distintive cupolas.
Viewpoint down to Valldemossa near the spot where SL realizes the credit card was missing.
Ascending through a rocky forest as we head to Deia.
Dueling photos of each other as we walk through a pass at 750 meters above sea level.
Switchbacks as we head up to pas de Son Gallard.
And we get our first glimpse of Deia in the distance.
It's an 800+ meter drop to the Mediterranean Sea. Great views and worth the uphill efforts.
We stop at a mirador on the GR221 for a short break. Deia is now in full view below.
There is time in Deia before the bus comes to take a walk around town and have a view back to the mirador where the previous photo was taken.
Back in town we buy some Majorcan oranges.
The Soller Church and City Hall (lit up in support of Ukraine) at night.
2 comments:
Great climb after all that cc drama!
@WQ, the descend was very exhausting.
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