Les - Ara Lleida

puede contemplar una gran vista sobre el cañón
con un frondoso bosque de robles. El Pla
de Tolustre, al sur de Valldarques, es un altiplano
cubierto por montañas, que queda cerrado
por los bosques de la sierra de Aubenç. Se puede
llegar por una pista que cruza el sector sur
de Valldarques o desde Gavarra, a través de un
desvío de la L-511.
Las casas del pueblo de Gavarra están coronadas
por el castillo situado encima de una roca
Coll de Nargó (Nargó Pass) is the gateway to Valldarques and
Sallent. From Nargó follow the L-511, which leads to Isona. In
the first part of the route, after passing the village of Les Masies
on the left, we will follow the gorge excavated by the river Valldarques.
On this stretch we will encounter some isolated houses
reconverted into rural tourism establishments: Toriella, Sobre-
Roca, Els Vilars… without losing sight of the bell tower of Sant
Martí de la Plana. Back on the L-511 there is the house of Sobre-
Roca, with a privileged viewpoint, from where a path leads down
to the Torre de Vila, an excellent fortification of the area.
From Els Vilars you reach the settlement of Valldarques, where
the church of Sant Romà is the outstanding note, with a particular
bell tower and remains of wall paintings conserved on its exterior.
Along a track which crosses the southern half of Valldarques, or
from Gavarra, after a detour from the L-511, one reaches the Pla
de Tolustre, a high plateau surrounded by mountains and woodlands.
y por el campanario cilíndrico de la iglesia de
Sant Serni. Retomando la carretera rápidamente
llegamos al collado de Bóixols, un buen
lugar para admirar el mar de montañas del
Prepirineo que dejamos a nuestras espaldas.
El descenso hacia Nargó pasando por Sallent
nos permitirá verlo de cerca. Para proseguir,
hace falta entrar en territorio pallarés. Al norte,
la sierra de Sant Joan, una formidable muralla
vertical dominada por los buitres. La pista
que baja hacia Sallent conduce a casas solita-
The houses of the village of Gavarra are dominated by the castle
standing on a rock and by the cylindrical bell tower of the church
of Sant Serni.
Back on the road we reach the Coll de Bóixols, a good spot for
admiring the Pre-Pyrenees. To continue one must enter Pallars.
Only for two kilometres though, until reaching a turning on the
right that will take us to the Creu de Ferri. To the north lies the
Serra de Sant Joan, a formidable vertical wall, the domain of
vultures. The track leading down towards Sallent takes us through
one of the least characteristic corners of this part of the mountain.
Solitary houses, gullies, eroded slopes, the waterfall which lends
its name to the valley, the ancient monastery of Sant Maximí, the
ruins of the village of Sallent, etc. All in all there are fifteen intense
kilometres along which the Valldarques-Sallent tandem will
provide us with a thrilling lesson on physical and human geography,
in a land of primordial, ancestral beau.●
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rias, barrancos, partes erosionadas, el salto de
agua que da nombre al valle, el antiguo monasterio
de Sant Maximí, las ruinas del pueblo de
Sallent. Quince kilómetros realmente intensos,
poco aconsejables para los que quieran
conservar una falsa imagen, entre ingenua y
bucólica, de nuestras montañas. El tándem
Valldarques-Sallent siempre nos dará una espeluznante
lección de geografía física y humana,
sobre una tierra de una belleza primaria,
ancestral.●
Good land, good people.
Through Sallent, Nargó and Valldarques