Pala Alta from the Virgin of Montalegre

This is a circular route through the Sierra de Mont-roig. We start the route at the hermitage of Montalegre. To get to this point, we will have made a forest track of almost 6 kilometers from the road that leaves Vilanova de Sal.

We begin to walk along a path in an easterly direction (we find a signpost to go to the Pala Alta and that warns us of the precipices that there are during the route.

The path begins flat and enters a stretch of typically Mediterranean forest, dominated by oaks and various types of bushes. The trail is obvious the entire way and there is no loss.

Further up, we find a deviation to the right indicated by a milestone. This path allows us to climb a small rock with views and, at the same time, it could be used to go directly down a channel. We follow the path and the successive milestones that take us to the foot of a rock that we climb easily. Once up, we will see some of the cliffs of the Sierra de Mont-roig, (if the winter fog allows us).

We undo the path to the fork and continue up a gentle climb to another hill in the sierra. We go down a few meters and face a more important climb to the highest peak of the mountain range, the Pala Alta, which is crowned by a geodesic vertex and a forest guardhouse.

We will see that the path goes further inside the ridge but that it can also be climbed closer to the cliff since the terrain is quite open. From the top, we can see the entire interior sea of fog, as well as the mountains of the Cordillera Prelitoral and Montserrat (if the day is clear). Towards the other side, Montsec and some emblematic peaks of the Pyrenees, such as Monte Perdido.

We continue along the crest of the mountain range and now we have to lose a few meters to then face another small hill that we will surround on its northern slope. If we want to reach the top, we can momentarily deviate from the path to reach them.

Once past this other hill, we face the steepest downhill section of the route. The path descends strongly to go in search of the Puerta pass. The section is rocky but accessible.

Once we have lost altitude, we arrive near the Porta pass, where we reach the forest track. We will follow it to the right, towards the West, to go back towards the hermitage of Montalegre. The track is planning and gently descending below the cliff that we have just climbed up. Thus we have a double vision of the mountain.

A section further down, the track reaches the intersection with the track that goes up to the hermitage of Montalegre. We continue to the right, up, and in fact we could follow this track all the time until we reach the sanctuary. However, shortly after we see a path to the right that climbs decidedly. We decided to follow him.

Surely it is a well-trodden path especially for climbers who want to reach the foot of the route. The path is somewhat less well-trodden but the milestones indicate perfectly where to go. Several pans and sections with stone are crossed without difficulty. The milestones will help us to glimpse the path at the points where it is less trodden.

Finally, at the top, we ignore some forks that go up the canals and we follow the path that now turns and heads west. Shortly after we will see the hermitage just above us. Now we only need to finish this stretch of ascent. All in all, this shortcut is pretty straight forward.

Authorship images and text: Sergi Boixader