Ready to explore Catalunya’s hidden treasures? We’ve planned a hike to do just that! Rain or shine we’ll be meeting at 9:00am at the Sagalés bus stop at the intersection of Pg. Sant Joan & c/de la Diputació and head out to Sant Feliu de Codines where our hike begins. HIKE SCHEDULE: • 9:00 – Meet at bus stop, Pg. Sant Joan* • 9:30 – 10:40 Bus ride to Sant Feliu • 10:45 – 13:45 Hike to Sant Miquel (6.7 km/2.5 - 3 hours) • 13:45 – 16:30 Lunch & visit Sant Miquel del Fai (2.75 hours) • 16:30 – 19:30 Hike from Sant Miquel to Sant Feliu (5.9 km/2.5 - 3 hours) • 19:45 – 20:55 Bus from Sant Miquel to Barcelona *We are meeting at 9:00am at the stop because this is an immensely popular destination and the bus fills up fast. If you don’t get there early enough it is quite likely you won’t get a seat! TRAIL TECHNICAL DATA: • Trail Type: Circular • Technical rating: EASY • Condition required: MODERATE • Distance: 12.5km/7.8 miles • Estimated Duration: 4-6 hours • Highest Point: 630 m • Lowest Point: 276 m HIKE DESCRIPTION: The first leg of our hike is 6.69 km long. It starts out on a paved country road which becomes a wider dirt trail that winds around the foot of a bluff and leads us to the Tenes River Valley. At about 5 km we cross the Tenes River and walk along its banks before ascending to Sant Miquel. This last little bit before arriving at the Abbey is a 150 m. climb over a distance of about 1 km. of narrow, rocky trail. Our lunch spot will be the Medieval Abbey of Sant Miquel del Fai - the only Romanesque chapel in Catalonia to have been built inside a grotto. The Abbey is tucked into the valley’s edge where the Tenes River Waterfall tumbles over 100 meters to valley’s floor. The complex includes the 15th cen. gothic-style Priory House, the 10th cen. Chapel of Sant Miquel and the 10th cen. Sant Martí hermitage. A flight of stairs leads below to the Cave of Sant Miquel, where the mineral deposits have formed stalagmites and stalactites and further along another set of caves can be explored. Additionally, there is a small museum with fossils from the area, a picnic area and a small café where bocadillos can be purchased if you need to supplement your lunch. There are restroom facilities available and a gift shop at the exit where ice cream bars will tempt you before leaving for the rest of the hike… For the return to Sant Feliu (5.96 km.) we pick up the GR5 which follows the local road briefly before plunging into dense vegetation and leads us up even higher. Our path is at its narrowest on this section of our hike and it is on this stretch that we will reach our highest point at 630 meters as we walk along the valley’s ridge. Before you know it we will be back in Sant Feliu!