Pyrenees Trip June 2024 - Part 3 Broto and Torla (Ordesa and Monte Perdido National Park), Spain

After Alquezar we headed further up into the Pyrenees to the small town of Broto in the Aragon region, where we stayed for three nights. Broto and the nearby village of Torla are two of the main places to stay for visiting the western side of the Ordesa and Monte Perdido National Park. 

This was a view taken somewhere along the way.

This map of the National Park shows Torla, just outside of it, and Broto a few kms further south.

I took the picture during a very pleasant walk we took alongside the River Ara to the bridge which is where the red arrow is on the map, then walked back along the road. We were lucky with the weather as there was plenty of sunshine which makes such a difference when you are in the mountains. We were just inside the National Park here, but we didn't have the time to go further into it, and most of the walks inside the park are the kind for fit hikers to do, with refuges to stay in along the way. Too much going uphill for my liking anyway!

Along by the river I spotted this lovely Pyrenean Violet (Ramonda myconi), top left. They grow in shady rocky areas in this part of the Pyrenees. What I discovered about this plant is that it is a resurrection plant, i.e. a plant that can survive extreme drought and then come back to life months or even years later once they receive moisture.

The other plants which were in the open near the bridge are: right, St Bernard's Lily (Anthericum liliago) and bottom left, a pink Rockrose (Helianthemum nummularium).

The River Ara.

Top left: Rock Soapwort (Saponaria ocymoides).
Top right: Nailwort (Paronychia kapela), a creeping plant with tiny leaves and semi translucent white flowers that grows in sunny rocky places.
Bottom: Snapdragons of some sort (Antirrhinum sp.).

Another view from the bridge.

Left: Robust Marsh Orchid (Dactyorhiza elata) - according to PlantNet. It grows in very damp meadows, but also in seepages on roadside banks and verges - which was most probably the case here.
Right: Fragrant Orchid (Gymnadenia conopsea).

This is a Flax of some sort, although PlantNet says 84.5% it is Sticky Flax (Linum viscosum) but the leaves are much narrower. Apple ID also says it is Sticky Flax. It looks far more like Hairy Pink Flax (Linum pubescens) which has similar leaves to my one, yet that is supposed to be around the Eastern Mediterranean. i give up!

The church at Torla with the mountains behind.

Torla was prettier than Broto as it was older and more rustic. Also in the collage are a House Martin and her young in the nest, and the plant is Corsican Stonecrop (Sedum dasyphyllum) growing out of a wall.

I love seeing the different roofing materials! Adore those old stone roof tiles with the Sedums growing in amongst them.

More views in Torla.

Mountains from somewhere near Torla.

Same view from further away, from the bridge in Broto. Damn those annoying electric/phone cables which get in the way of lovely views so often.

The old and the new in Broto: the Romanesque bridge next to a modern one.

Close to the village there is a short walk to a waterfall, the Cascada del Sorrosal. The sun was annoyingly in the way for taking shots of this 120m high waterfall.

Looking back in the other direction from the waterfall. I loved the rock strata that look like steps. Mountain water is always so clear, apart from after heavy rain.

The next post is where we went on day two of our stay in Broto.