I was really looking forward to staying at Tossals Verds. It’s the only rifugi that is actually situated in the mountains. I was looking forward to watching the sun go down, watching it rise, sharing these moments with others who appreciate overnights in the mountains.
I couldn’t get a reservation at Tossal Verds. 🙁
The rifugi was fully booked and there is no alternative accommodation option. I didn’t have any tent or outdoor sleep system with me, as I didn’t want to give an extra cent to Ryanair.
That meant that my alternative route looked like this:
- Stay overnight in Soller after hiking Day 4 of the GR221
- Skipping the handful of km from Soller to the two lakes
- Planning to take the bus
- Realising that it is now November and there are no more buses
- Taking a taxi to my starting point
I started at the car park on the Ma-10 between the two lakes. It’s always a sad moment for me when a hike is no longer a thru-hike because, for whatever reason, I had to skip a small section or take public transport for a restock.
Still, the alternative was to walk from Soller through to Lluc. An ambitious version of me would have maybe tried this in a day. But the version of me who walked the previous 4 days of the GR221 is grateful that I decided against it. My progress was slower than expected due to the dry stoned nature of the dry stone route.
From the bus stop/car park, the path starts relatively flat and follows some sort of large stone irrigation system. From here looking left, I was treated to views of the Puig Major – Mallorca’s highest point. My understanding is that you can’t get to the top of the Puig Major as a civilian and that there is some kind of US or NATO weather station at the top. The dome-shape structure surrounded by clouds definitely gave the impression of nefarious goings on.
After following the irrigation system, I crossed a small, secure wooden bridge and headed in the forest to start the day’s ascent. The peak of the Puig Major popped continuously in and out of view on my left, whilst goat friends hung out on my right. It was a warm day and I was glad to have ample water, even if it was to be a short hike.
After a few kms, I had nearly rounded half of the Tossals Verds peak and reached a wooden GR221 sign showing the direction to the rifugi. After leaving Soller relatively early, I was ahead of the hikers who had been lucky enough to get a bed there.
The next 4km were pleasant, if not – wait for it – stony. These small stones were just waiting for my small feet to slide and roll over them, taking out my ankle. I would take a boulder field any day over small stones. After the forest, the path snaked gently upwards, to the pass between these two peaks below.
The pass is at approximately 1200m. I was greeted by at long, stone wall. I found a flat, comfy, slightly grassy spot, leaned against the wall and got out my snacks. The views facing eastwards were stunning – sharp, smaller peaks and bright green shrubbery (did nobody tell the greenery that the season is over?!) seemingly all the way to the sea.
I felt perfectly peaceful here, not to mention sheltered by the wind, and my snack break must’ve lasted a good 45 minutes. In this time, around a dozen other hikers also made it to the pass. Some continued jollily on – others took my lead and found their own personal spot leaning against the wall.
I continued on the path. Others deviated to bag some smaller peaks on the way. I felt perfectly content to continue forwards with my goal. The descent was, barring one half a km long serpentine, quite smooth. The views ended as the serpentine ended and the path headed back towards civilisation.
It was a public holiday, and grassy park area was filled with families having bbqs or just spending quality, outdoor time with their families and loved ones. Shortly after the park I reached the Lluc Monastery.
Whilst not one of the grandest I’ve seen, the monastery is more impressive (and larger) than my poor photography shows it to be. Not in a rush, I treated myself to an expensive miniature tub of ice cream from the cafe at the left. I noticed a stone marker with “Km 0” on it – the starting point of a route to Santiago de Compostela (1360km, walking from the monastery to Palma and then taking the ferry and continuing to walk from the coast!).
After nosing around the monastery, I was slightly disappointed to find out that it was possible to stay overnight that! Another missed opportunity due to my consistent lack of planning or research on routes I hike.
Luckily, I had managed to score a reservation at Rifugi Son Amer – the only public rifugi I was lucky enough to stay at on this trip. I was doubly excited as, after seeing an update on my Instagram, a friend that I had met walking the Camino Finisterre got in touch to say that he was coincidentally also walking the GR221 and we had figured out that we would both stay at Son Amer the same time! What a small world. 🙂
The rifugi was a light terracotta colour – basic and spacious but also friendly and welcoming. The dorm I stayed in wasn’t even half full, although there were many people at dinner and breakfast. At night, the wind picked up and started to batter at the shutters, making for a disruptive sleep.
Komoot GR221 Day 4 Soller to Lluc
I always use Komoot to navigate whilst hiking (with a premium account for offline maps). You can check out my actual route here:
https://www.komoot.com/tour/1400660003