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Balma de Sant Pau

Balma de Sant Pau

Petita balma amb un curt conducte intern (Montserrat)

Bruc, El • Anoia7m0

Small rock shelter with a short internal passage in Montserrat, near Sant Pau Vell.

Characteristics

Location

150 m in a straight line towards the SSW of Sant Pau Vell and about 75 m of drop below it. On the left slope of a secondary torrent whose head is right at Sant Pau Vell.

From the viewpoint of Sant Pau Vell we can see the 'unstable block' and the small outcrop of conglomerate at the base of which the cavity opens. Despite its proximity, it is difficult to access the cavity starting from Sant Pau Vell because there are steep slopes.

The most recommendable itinerary is: From Can Maçana we will take the path towards the massif of Montserrat. At the first fork we will leave on the left the path that leads to la Foradada and we will continue on the right along the path of the Bruc. When we have been on it for not yet 10 minutes, and right at a place where the path descends in a steep slope, we will leave it on the left. Some faint path brings us closer to a solitary block, about three metres high, which seems to be in a precarious balance (the 'unstable block'). From it we could sense the place where our objective is found, on the other side of the torrent and at a slightly lower elevation than that of the 'unstable block', although the vegetation covers it. From here on there is no path and it depends on each one's sense of orientation to reach it. We will have to get past some steep slope as well as lush vegetation, especially on the final stretch, where we will have to struggle with the arítjols.

Mapa

Entrances

Always verify coordinates and access conditions before setting out.

  1. Sant Pau, Balma de

    Elevation: 752 m

    41.606978, 1.772917
    UTM 31T (ETRS89) 397752 4606868
Download all entrances as GPX

Photos

Balma de Sant Pau - Photo, Bruc, El, AnoiaView image
Click to enlarge

Espeleoindex · CC BY-NC 4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ · Image © its author.

Image 1 of 4

Description

Morphology

Small rock shelter of little more than 5 m in width situated at the foot of a rocky outcrop. It continues through a very low gallery with a ceiling in which we must crawl until reaching a total length of 6.5 m. The part of the rock shelter has a very flat floor, for which reason it can be a good emergency shelter.

Progression

To access it one must crawl through a very low gallery with a ceiling until reaching a total length of 6.5 m.

Other details

It seems that it was used as a shelter in distant times, since there are traces of smoking on the ceiling from having made fire there.

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Bibliography

Totes les dades, topografia i fotografies han estat extretes del web: geb.cat (del Grup d'Espeleologia de Badalona). Apunt del 24-6-2024. Dades: Ferran Cardona (ECM Barcelonès)

Source: Espeleoindex (espeleoindex.com), modified. CC BY-NC 4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/