We start the excursion at the Hotel Les Brases de Sort (0:00 - 693m).

From the hotel, we follow the course of the Noguera Pallaresa.

Direction towards the center of the town.

We reach the bridge of the N-260 road and cross the river.

Just on the other side, we find a sign for the Sort and Àssua Valley Nature Trail and the starting point of the Les Vernedes circuit.

We take this road.

We continue along the side of the river, but now on its left bank.

We are leaving behind the houses of Sort.

We enter the riverbank forest of Les Vernedes along a comfortable and very pleasant path.

To our right we can see the aquatic birds that live in the Noguera Pallaresa, such as the gray heron, the dipper, the great cormorant and the mallard.

To our left we can see the grass meadows and poplar plantations.

Path of Les Vernedes.

Cows grazing in the meadows of the Vernedes.

We arrive at the confluence of the Noguera Pallaresa and Cantó rivers.

At this point the path turns to the left, without crossing the Cantó River.

We follow the river a few meters up.

We reach a detour to the left, which would take us back to Sort, we leave it behind and continue up.

Next, we arrive at the detour towards Soriguera and Llagunes, which we also leave aside.

We continue in the direction of Tornafort - Malmercat - Baro.

We cross the Cantó River over a bridge.

We continue along a path that passes between a row of trees and dry stone walls.

We surround Savarneda's house from behind (0:50 - 693m) and begin to gain altitude.

We leave behind a path to the left towards Tornafort and continue towards Malmercat - Baro. We climb through a sparse forest, enjoying extensive panoramic views of the Noguera Pallaresa river valley.

The town of Arcalís and the silhouette of the Sleeping Geganta.

We pass through an area of boxwoods and meadows and arrive at the Malmercat crossroads.

We have a wide view of the valley, with the meadows on both sides of the river, the village of Montardit de Baix and, above, the villages of Montardit de Dalt, Llarvén and Enviny, below the Cometa peak (2,445m).

Views of Savarneda and Sort.

Enjoying the views.

We continue to gain height.

At this crossroads we leave the Malmercat path and follow the directions for Baro. We go down a grassy slope where the path fades. Pay attention to the worn yellow paint marks on stones and logs.

View of Montardit.

Further on, when we enter the forest, the path becomes more obvious again. We go down, first through the interior of a red pine forest with boxwood and, later, we enter an oak grove.

We follow a dry stone wall and, right under a farm.

We end up on the paved road.

We continue along this road a few meters up, until a curve.

We link up with a dirt track.

We cross a stream and go down the ravine, leaving behind several detours.

Next, we go around some grass meadows and, before reaching the Soriguer hut, we leave the track behind and take a path to the right that goes down to a dense stream, where small birds live.

Pasture meadows at the Borda de Soriguer.

Bottled torrent.

Nice muscari we found.

After crossing the stream, we take a path to the left.

It climbs on a reddish rock floor.

We pass through a sparse holm oak forest.

Little by little, the path becomes more evident and flanks the slope, going up and down and adapting to the relief of the mountain.

Path through the forest.

We cross two ravines.

One of the ravines equipped with stairs and a wooden railing.

We keep moving forward.

and we arrive at a new crossroads, where we take the path that goes down towards Baro and Gerri de la Sal.

We descend through a shady oak forest.

We come to some meadows.

We pass through the Roca Gran ravine.

We continue along a path between dry stone walls.

We continue to the beautiful Menal hut (2:50 - 648m).

We continue our itinerary in a southerly direction, while we enjoy the postcard landscape made up of the meadows that surround the hut.

We come to a dirt track, cross it, and continue along a path that goes under the track and along the side of the river.

We went through a couple of gates.

Finally, we link to the track.

We continue until we connect with the Arcalís road.

We walk a few meters down the road.

We arrive at the Arcalís - Baro bridge (3:15 - 637m).
Just across the river is the small town of Baro.

We do not cross it and continue our itinerary along the orographic left side, following the indications of Arboló and Gerri de la Sal.

We now walk along a track that follows the Noguera Pallaresa.

Until we reach a point where the track forks: we take the path to the right, slightly downhill, and that brings us closer to the river bank.

View of Baro.

Noguera Pallaresa.

We passed some poplar plantations.

We cross a pleasant area of meadows.

We leave behind a detour to the right and, just after, we find a crossroads.

We leave behind the path that climbs towards Arcalís and continue towards the Arboló sanctuary.

Little by little the valley becomes narrower.

The track turns into a trail.

We advance through a shady pine forest of red pine with boxwood and, suddenly, after a turn in the road.

The silhouette of the Roca Punxeguda appears before us.

We advance without losing or gaining height with the pyramidal shape in front and the river to the right.

The gorge narrows even more and the path climbs a few meters to overcome the narrow pass.

We continue on our path.

Noguera Pallaresa.

We go back down.

We overcome a section equipped with a railing that passes just below a rocky wall and next to the water.

Tree Bridge.

Finally we reach the intersection of the Arboló bridge, where we leave the bridge to the right and we go up to the sanctuary.

Now the road is wide and does not present any difficulty.

Quickly, we arrive at the place where the sensational sanctuary of the Virgen de Arboló stands (4:15 - 641m).

Mare de Deu d'Arboló.

We visited the sanctuary and enjoyed the views of the surroundings.

On the other side of the valley we see a set of vertical cliffs where it is easy to see vultures flying.

Paragliding descent.

The Soc d'Arboló.

After regaining strength, we tackle the last section of the route, which will take us to the town of Gerri de la Sal.

From the sanctuary we take a path.

The path goes down the rocky slope between brambles and rosemary bushes.

Suddenly, the landscape radically changes and becomes more arid.

The green of the meadows contrasts with the red color of the rocks in this area.

We go gently down to the banks of the Noguera Pallaresa river.

We passed some walls and some orchards.

Red colored rocks in the area.

We continue along our path along the banks of the Noguera Pallaresa river, getting closer to Gerri de la Sal.

Romanesque bridge of Gerri de la Sal.

We leave behind the path that would take us to the nearby monastery of Santa Maria de Gerri and enter the center of Gerri de la Sal crossing the monumental Romanesque bridge.

Views from the bridge.

Views from the bridge towards the center of Gerri de la Sal.

We arrive at Plaça Sant Felip and continue along a narrow alley on the left that leads us to the C-13 road, the road axis that joins Pobla de Segur and Sort.

Narrow alley.

Highway C-13.

We cross the road with great caution and go up some stairs to the Plaza del Mercadal de Gerri de la Sal (5:00 - 615m), the end point of this beautiful itinerary.

THE WHITE GOLD OF GERRI DE LA SAL

For centuries, the exploitation of the salt source was the main economic engine of Gerri de la Sal and its surroundings. Witness to this important economic activity are the salt pans -where the water remained stagnant until it evaporated, leaving the salt deposited on the terraces- and the Real Alfolí, which was the large warehouse where the salt was later treated and stored. This building, which currently houses the Gerri de la Sal Museum, is considered the largest medieval construction for civil use in all of Pallars.