GR11 - Day 33 - to Refugi de l'Illa

Got off to an early start. It was freezing cold. My fingers were numb holding my walking stick. We got up to the Estany (lake) de Engolasters in good time in spite of Peter not feeling good. From there, it was like walking on a 4-lane highway. The trail is so groomed. It is wide and actually has a railing on the steep drop-off side. When it eventually turned to stone, you would have thought it was a Roman Calzada. In some spots, they filled in with rough cement so that your shoes would have a grab. I was expecting it to be more scenic because it is apparently the only part of Andorra that doesn't have a road. What was really nice were the green meadows that we encountered every now and again. We arrived at the Refugi de l'Illa in 6h20. It is an unmanned refugio and the bed platforms are out of perforated metal (without mattresses). Not too inviting but it will have to do. Peter blew up our mattresses in no time flat and crawled into his sleeping bag. Hopefully he will feel better tomorrow. There was actually a broom in the refugio, so I did some cleaning. It sure needed it.