THE MEMORIES OF SANT AMAND

I lived and learned about nature from a young age with the Boy Scouts. Later, I left the excursions to dedicate myself to the sport of handball. Founding with other colleagues the Club Balonmano Vic and, later, to my business. Due to my profession, I traveled a lot and the truth is that we have a very beautiful country, although when I was driving I saw it all in passing and also from afar. I thought about how much I walked through part of those lands and how much I missed them… Apart from that, I have been lucky enough to meet and deal with all kinds of people, some of whom have impressed me.

Years later, with Àlex Roca Remolins, we met to go on an excursion to Matagalls and, to tell the truth, this event made me remember my times as a Boy Scout and, in some way, regain the desire to experience nature again. I was lucky because from this excursion others arose, and others and, in turn, explaining our excursions, which Àlex knew a lot about, we encouraged and relatives joined to share our walks, expanding the group. There were already four of us in the group. After a few days, we called this group Els Xerpes.

We did very different walks, Bastiments, Núria, Puigmal, Puig de la Força, Cabrera, Els Bufadors, Taga ... and Àlex, with his wisdom of the places we were passing through, at the same time cultured us while making us discover new routes.

He was a discreet person, and with a subtle irony at the same time, and one thing that intrigued me was that the times we did the Taga from Coll de Jou, with fantastic sunrises, when we went down he always told us that like Sant Amand that we had in front of him, there was nothing and that we saw a low hill compared to what we had done. I want to clarify that the Taga is 2,400 meters high and Sant Amand 1,851 meters, but from Coll de Jou itself, the Taga has a climb of about 1,640 meters and Sant Amand, about 400 meters.

Until one day Els Xerpes organized the walk to Sant Amand, this time Quico Díaz, a great friend of Àlex, joined us and, then, I understood why they loved this route so much. Both were sons of Ripoll and the people of Ripoll have it as a tradition, they have their camping and gatherings, a whole party that makes it last all year round, the excursion is very nice, with a gentle climb and families and can bring children.

The day arrived, we left by car from Manlleu to Ripoll to pick up Quico, we continued to Ribes de Freser towards Bruguera - by the way a nativity scene village when we passed by it still in the dark and with its street lights on -, until we reached Coll de Jou, where we parked the car on the esplanade. On the left is Taga and on the right is Sant Amand.

On Wikiloc, you can find different routes, from Ribes de Freser, Ogassa, Bruguera Etc. This time we chose the less steep and easier path, as I said, to go there with the family, an excursion to spend the day, the landscape is open passing through beech forests and meadows. However, our goal was to reach the summit soon.

We signed the free book of people who have climbed to the Sant Amand cross that is at the summit, while Quico from the edge of the plain, explained to us. That cross was restored in 1978 by the Ripoll Hiking Club and that marks a point on the mountain that is a false summit but, nevertheless, a great viewpoint, known as the Balcó del Ripollès. From east to west, the panorama covers sectors of La Garrotxa, the Vic plain, Ripollès and Berguedà, with a whole background of mountains that goes from Montseny and Montserrat to the Ensija range, Pedraforca and Cadí

Àlex told us about the secrets that lay below the ridge, with its caves that had served as hiding places for bandits and the maquis, quite a story.

With the legend of the convent of the Abadesses and Count Arnau who often went to visit them, when he arrived at a place he pointed out a large crack with a large hole. They called it “sant ou” and in that place a convent of the Abadesses was built and, when Count Arnau arrived to visit them, he and his horse. A lightning strike made the convent and Count Arnau disappear down the hole. While he was explaining this, I was taking photos. My surprise was that when they were developed, in the same place where the convent and count disappeared, the horse came out, specifically its head looking down the hole. (Circled in blue)

When I wrote this article, Àlex had recently been named the Favorite Son of Manlleu. Unfortunately, both he and Quico Díaz are no longer with us, but as good friends, they have surely been reunited.

Text: PCT

Photos: PCT

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The Xerpes listening to Quico Díaz