Forat del Miquelet

The entrance corresponds to a doline 5x4 metres in diameter. It begins with a steeply sloping ramp of about 9 metres of drop that can be down-climbed and that leads us to a chamber where the cavity appears to end; it is necessary to climb a small mound of earth fallen from the wall, which brings us to the head of the diaclase with a predominantly E-W direction. A 9-metre vertical drop followed by a ramp of about 20 metres places us in a wider chamber, where a narrow passage that had to be widened must be passed; this leads us to a short gallery with a false floor. Another alternative is to make a climb of about 9 metres that places us again in the main gallery.

Following the narrow passage, after some 10 metres a small balcony places us again in the diaclase, which widens and descends between blocks to a point where a short climb is needed to reach the head of a 13-metre pit, narrower; at the bottom of this, a new 13-metre vertical drop places us at the deepest point of the cavity: -96 metres, where the diaclase becomes impenetrable.

Returning to the point before the decorated gallery (-42 m.), just after the narrow passage, a small opening that had to be enlarged opens up, and leads us to the side route by means of a 15-metre pit in two sections; at its base and on the W side, the gallery ends almost immediately, while on the opposite side and amid narrow sections, a step can be descended and a double-level gallery is reached; after 15 metres of passage a new step is descended, the gallery ending at -80 metres of depth. Located at the -62 metre level of this route, a clearance allowed access to an 8-metre pit that gives access to a gallery 80 metres long; the end is blocked by very unstable blocks, but with possibilities of continuation. Located again at the -42 metre level, through the cleared passages we head to the side route by descending the pou de l'espoli with a 10-metre vertical drop, which leads us to an ascending meander of short length full of medium-sized blocks. The approximate length is 294 metres.

A short gallery with a false floor where we find formations of great beauty.

The steeply sloping ramp of about 9 metres of drop can be down-climbed. A small mound of earth fallen from the wall must be climbed. A narrow passage that had to be widened must be passed. Another alternative is to make a climb of about 9 metres that places us again in the main gallery. A short climb is needed to reach the head of a 13-metre pit. A clearance allowed access to an 8-metre pit. Through the cleared passages we head to the side route by descending the pou de l'espoli with a 10-metre vertical drop.

ATTENTION: The rural agent Francesc Josep Gomes Mur has sent us the following information regarding the two blocks that obstructed access to the forat del Miquelet.

On 14 July 2019, the Grup de Suport de Muntanya (GSM) of the Cos d'Agents Rurals (CAR) went to do some practice at the forat del Miquelet, TM Ogassa (Ripollès). The entrance mouth was obstructed by two stone blocks, which they made fall down by levering with a crowbar. They re-equipped the pit with 10 mm parabolts, except the head of the first pit where they placed 2 self-tapping screws with a torx key head (they wanted to place them on the outside wall to leave them permanently, but they considered it unnecessary since without a rope the mouth can be accessed well). They left the two self-tapping screws with the hanger (the assembly may deteriorate over time). In the rest of the pit they only left the parabolt studs with the nuts in place (except one parabolt whose nut fell off). At a side pit about 40 metres deep the head was reinforced with a parabolt.

For those interested in going there, in principle it is only necessary to bring about 15 hangers and a 17 key (as well as some nuts just in case).