Circular route with snowshoes through the Pedró dels Quatre Batlles, Tossa Pelada and the Estivella

We start the route leaving from the Estivella car park following the snowshoe itinerary marked in black. We start next to an artificial pond and shortly after we leave the La Rasa Pauet track and go up the Zanja de Prat Piquer, through a black pine forest.

After about 25 minutes, the forest clears up and we arrive at Prat Piquer and near the Coll de Tancalaporta. From this point, we follow the tracks that turn north to climb the climb to Cabo de las Pedrusques. The first stretch of the climb is through cleared forest. The second section, now without trees, goes by a comma and finally we face it to the right. Throughout the route, we will see the black signs of the Pedró snowshoeing route.

We arrive at Cabo de las Pedruscas and we can already see the main objective: the Pedró dels Quatre Batlles. We lose about 20 meters in height and face the last ascent to Pedró, which is called Quatre Batlles because it is the point where four municipalities meet. The maps with the indicators of the surrounding peaks will allow us to guess almost all the mountains of the Pyrenees from Puigmal to Monte Perdido (if the day is clear). On the south side, the perspective towards Montserrat and Montseny often emerges from an incredible sea of fog. An exceptional watchtower!

Having filled up with the views, we follow the route towards Tossa Pelada. The summit is a small promontory that hardly stands out from the southern corner, but it is well visible from the Nordic station of Tuixent. In fact, the snowshoe or ski route from there is a good option for another day.

From Tossa Pelada, we turn right, heading east, towards El Prat del Orri, which is the highest level of the Estivella sector of the Port del Comte ski resort. We can go through the comma planning, or going down directly from the Tossa Pelada by the ridge. When we reach the top of the ski lifts, we will continue gliding up gently to the top of Tossal de l'Estivella. Now we gain the view towards the Valley of Lord and La Coma and we also see almost the entire ski resort of Port del Comte perfectly.

We return to Prat de l'Orri and follow a couple of tracks to go down to the Estivella car park. First, the green track of the Vuelta. Afterwards, we lose height more quickly along the red track of Rasa Pauet to the parking lot. If the ski resort is open, we must go to the side or opt for an alternative at the foot of the Estivella ski lift. We can also follow the indications of the paths marked by the station and that are specific for snowshoes. In this case, we would first head east and gently go down a track at the foot of Tossal de l'Estivella.

Whichever way it is, we finally reach the car park again and end this beautiful circular route for today.

Authorship photographs and text: Sergi Boixader