The Pyrenees pt1: 29/07 - 07/08

Day 8 – Tuesday 7th August
Pista Ganekoa – Rest Day
Time walking – 0
Distance – 0
Ascent/Descent – 0

We awoke to a very slight drizzly in fog that reduced visibility to about 7 meters. We weren’t going anywhere today. It was all good though, as we were due for a rest day tomorrow anyway.
The mist remained think for much of the day, which we spent programming the GPS with our route as next hour of walking would have practically no markings. At about 3 o’clock we were very surprised to have two Belgians join us. They had come from the opposite direction, had very minimal gear (no trousers or proper thermals and fleeces) and had been walking for almost 6 hours through the heavy mist only to cover about 5 Kms. Once the dried themselves out and ate we started chatting, in English as they spoke it better than their French which was surprising. It was either that or we would need to learn Flemish quickly! As it turns out, they had been to Tasmania, went to Ray Appelby’s, hired a tandem bicycle and cycle toured around Tassie for two weeks, which they loved.
Unfortunately we didn’t have any wine to drink with dinner, but we enjoyed 2 hours of playing cards and had many laughs. It was nice to have some external company for the first time. The second night in the cabin would prove to be as good as the first.

Day 7 – Monday 6th August
Iraty to Cabane de Pista Ganekoa
Time walking – 7¾ hours + breaks
Distance – 24 Km approx
Ascent/Descent – 1100/1100 approx

Today was supposed to be our first 2000m summit, but the weather was against us, quite wet and very thick fog. Not really the kind of weather that you want to be doing an exposed summit in. We skipped the summit of Pic d’Orchy, and took a longer valley option instead.
After 15Kms of downhill tarmac we arrived at Larrau where we met a Dutch cycle tourist who we were very envious of. He was doing a circuit around France called the ‘100 passes’ which is basically 4000Km with 66Km climbing in two weeks. It made our little roll around the UK look like a Sunday stroll. Mind you he had done over 150,000Kms on his bike over the last 20 years, very impressive.
Continuing along the valley gave us the opportunity to visit a fantastic series of gorges, les gorges de Holtzarté. These were quite touristy, but the track leading up to them was quite steep and slippery, and the barriers around the edge of the cliffs were basically non-existant, you could never do that in Australia! The gorges were stunning, with a very large and dodgy looking suspension bridge that sitting 140m above the river below.
We were aiming for a cabin that was about 2 hours away uphill, and we made pretty good time, until it started raining. Pouring is a better description, it was extremely wet. The track soon turned into a very steep mud-slide that made the climb very difficult. The rain and mist continued to get heavier and thicker as our paced slowed to almost a crawl-and-slide. We were very relieved after almost 3 hours that the cabin appeared out of nowhere, was empty and, more importantly, was nice and dry!

Day 6 – Sunday 5th August
Point d’Accueil to Iraty
Time walking – 6¾ hours + breaks
Distance – 21 Km approx
Ascent/Descent – 900/400 approx

The morning started with another unmarked slog up a huge grass mountain, this time we had to battle the 7am heat, which was fine until the sun started rising into our eyes, bringing with it a stream of air that was about 10C warmer than everything else. We arrived at the top to see a French couple in a campervan reverse into a rather large embankment, smashing their bicycles off the back of the van, quite amusing indeed!
We joined the GR10 and descended for about 2 hours until we reached the Chalet Pedro, where we had lunch. The rest of the day was road walking, following a valley through a very popular camper-tourist area with many artificial lakes (not damns). A phenomenon that we had noticed previously really came into its own here. At about 2pm almost every French family who is in a car, stops, gets out, sets up a large picnic table, white table cloth included, and proceeds to serve a two course lunch complete with wine. At a quick head count there were probably about 40 different groups of at least 4 people enjoying some very serene lake and roadside dining. Very strange.
We stayed at a basic but nice campsite, at which we experienced our first 20 minute Pyrenees mist. The temperature dropped about 10C in less than 5 minutes, the mist came in, and about 20 minutes later it cleared. The temperature didn’t rise again though.

Day 5 – Saturday 4th August
Roncevaux to Point d’Accueil, France
Time walking – 6¾ hours + breaks
Distance – 21 Km approx
Ascent/Descent – 900/850 approx

For most of the morning we were part of the constant stream of walkers, as our path followed the Santiago de Compostela trail. We were, however, going in the opposite direction! This didn’t detract from the walking which was very pleasant. There was a reasonable amount of road walking, in which we saw heaps of road cyclists on very expensive bikes (a bit of jealously kicking in there!).
The day heated up immensely, as usual, and we found ourselves having a late lunch break at the bottom of a valley next to a stream in the shade. Now correct us if we are wrong, but usually when it is above 35C most people would continue to sit in the shade until it started to cool down. We weren’t having any of that, as there was only 90 minutes of walking left before setting up camp.
The problem was that most of that 90 minutes was climbing up a very steep grass slope, completely exposed to the sun, on a trail about 15 cm wide. Needless to say it was a very long slog to the top, where we were met with border stone 211 which we have nicknamed “the stone of pain!”
A good campsite beside a confluence of streams at the bottom of the valley after the border stone of pain. For every up, there is usually a down.

Day 4 - Friday 3rd August
Col de Berdartiz to Roncevaux, Spain
Time walking – 6¾ hours + breaks
Distance – 21 Km approx
Ascent/Descent – 1000/400 approx

An early morning descent saw us arrive in Les Aldudes at about 8:15, where we were able to pick up a few more supplies, including fuel and baked goods, at the small petrol station. I even managed to get 2 ‘pan o chocolate’ which both the shop keeper and I were rather impressed by, until Bridgette told her in perfect French that that was all I could say. She then just smiled at me, damn you Bridgette!
The Basque country turned on a beautiful day again with the hills rolling effortlessly and the temperature soaring again. Mental note: don’t start an epic walk in middle of heat wave. We decided not to climb the extra 100m to reach the summit today, instead taking the road, which was a good option as the proper track soon rejoined the road.
The afternoon saw us walking through a beautiful forest, with many hunting towers, used to lure birds to the end of the valley by reflecting light in there eyes. We don’t really know how they do it, or even how they found out that it was an effective way of herding birds into huge nets, but apparently it works a treat.
Our campsite for the night was just outside Roncevaux, which also happens to starting point for the Spanish section of the Santiago de Compostela track. We found a very nice secluded spot under a tree well away from anyone else. Secluded enough to convince us to have a wash in the nearby stream. After dinner we ventured into the village, to be confronted by an onslaught of casual hikers, all beginning the famous walk. Everyone had tiny pack, which were completely overloaded with stuff they didn’t need. The town had 3 restaurants and 2 bars, as well as the last sign of internet that we would see until Andorra, 4 weeks away.
Deciding that there were too many people, we enjoyed our beers and retreated back to the tent.

Day 3 – Thursday 2nd August
Col Bagacheta to Col de Berdartiz, France
Time walking – 6 hours + breaks
Distance – 18 Km approx
Ascent/Descent – 800/500 approx

A solid night of sleep without interruption from wandering farm animals saw us rise early and hit the trail. We arrived in Arizkun after about 1½ hours walking through very moody mist, which was very nice given the heat that we had already experienced. After some very broken Spanish on our part and a little French on the shopkeepers behalf we were able to purchase the required items, in addition to a couple of coffee’s to get the heart going properly again. There were a lot of laughs between us and the shopkeeper, who obviously has not too many Australian hikers travelling though.
It is quite important to point out that although the border between France and Spain is now un-policed thanks to the EU, the difference that 5 Km makes is amazing. The line defined by border stones and mountain ranges has many roads crossing it, but in terms of language, you are definitely on either the French or Spanish side.
The afternoons walking was not helped by the poor directions in our guide book and very poorly marked tracks, but we got there in the end and, more importantly, got to make use of our spiffy new GPS. Very fine views were had atop of Burga (872m) and the day was really heating up, with us attempting to walking in the shade of the trees during the small descent.
After some more poor directions from the guide book, we got a little lost in a forest, but managed to keep our bearing true and come out at sort of the right place! Again there was no campsite in the next town, so we decided to wild camp at the Col de Berartiz, about 40m from border stone 117.

Day 2 - Wesnesday 1st August
La Rhune to Col Bagacheta
Time walking – 7¾ hours + breaks
Distance – 23 Km approx
Ascent/Descent – 800/650 approx

We awoke early as the horses and sheep were still wandering about, although much further from the tent. We think that this is something we will have to get used to. A quick breakfast, then onwards to climb the remaining 200m to the top of La Rhune before the sun became too hot. The summit of La Rhune is home to, amongst other things, a huge telecommunications tower, a hotel and a small-gauge train track to take tourists to the top. Makes you wonder why you decided to walk sometimes.
Our path led us through some beautiful Basque hills, proving to be a solid afternoons walk. The next town had nowhere for us to stay so we stopped about an hours short and wild camped under a tree, surrounded by 1.5m high bracken, ensuring that the château de macpac could not bee seen from the track.

Day 1 - Tuesday 31st July
Hendaye-Plage to La Rhune
Time walking – 6 hours + breaks
Distance – 18 Km approx
Ascent/Descent – 1300/1070 approx

An early start was in order for our first day, and we ate breakfast on the shore or the Atlantic Ocean. We were supposed to put our feet in, but neither of us could be bothered taking our boots off, especially after Bridgette’s feet had been massacred by her tevas yesterday. We were quite amused by another hiker who was also starting the HRP today – perfect blue sky, waves crashing at his feet, ice axe and crampons strapped to his pack!
So we headed off, starting our journey in what was the middle of a heat wave (the forecast for the next week was 30+, and it definitely was). Like cycle touring, the easiest time for you to get lost is entering and leaving a city. Needless to say it took a little longer than expected to get out of Hendaye, following the occasionally marked GR10. Soon we found ourselves in the hills of the Basque region, wishing that we had done more exercise in our two weeks off in the UK. The sun was burning, our packs heavy and our bodies no were in nowhere near the same shape as when we finished cycling in Aberdeen!
We soon found that our route would take us across the border nearly every other day, and our first crossing was at a very weird tourist souvenir village. It was like a place where the Spanish could go and buy French products without feel ashamed, and vice-versa. We just found it ridiculously funny watching people push shopping trolleys of alcohol, cheese and ham between the shops and their cars on a 25 degree slope.
The target for the day was just past a mountain on the border called La Rhune (900m). Unfortunately the hot weather and unconditioned bodies took their toll and we decided to stop a little short of our target. We pitched the tent for the night on a grass covered, disused road in the woods, thinking we would be completely alone. After about 2 hours the sun began to set, and we started hearing bells, getting closer and closer. As it turns out cows, horses and sheep in France and Spain all wear bells, so that the Shepard can find his flock or heard in the mist or forest. These bells belonged to a large group of horses and a few sheep for good measure. Thankfully they kept their distance, and we got a decent nights sleep.

Monday 30th July
Bilbao to Hendaye-Plage, France

The first proper nights sleep in about a week, and a good sleep-in and buffet breakfast to top it off, perfect!
For those of you who know anything about Bilbao, you will know that it is home to the fantastic Guggenheim Museum or Contemporary Art, by Frank Gehry. Clad in titanium panels, the building shimmers like a fish on the rejuvenated waterfront area of the city. The art is pretty good too! Obviously we couldn’t visit Bilbao without going to the Guggenheim.
We soon found ourselves on the bus to France, where our journey would begin properly the following day. There was a bit of a mix up on the bust, with us getting off on the Spanish side of the border by mistake and then having to catch a train for the rest of the journey – about 2 Km across a river.
Our first night in the tent was spent in a very expensive campsite, that had very bad squat toilets. Apparently this is very French, and we should get used to it. Lost of French people in campervans, and the owner of the campsite kindly filled our MSR bottles up with petrol, although it seemed to burn like rocket fuel.

Sunday 29th July
Hackney, London to Bilbao, Spain

After a sleepless night on Adrian and Priscilla's floor in Camden, the day started in a blur as Bridgette set off towards to Hackney and I went to Sydenham to meet her parents. After a bit of freelance London navigation and driving we arrive to meet Bridgette to begin the frantic task of sorting all of our gear.
What to take hiking, what to take to Barcelona, what to leave for Emily to take to Barcelona, what to leave for David to take back to Australia, what to give Bridgette’s parents to take back to Australia, what to give Bridgette’s auntie to post to Barcelona, what to donate to charity. The result of this sorting was (in order); as little as possible, about 20 Kg, a 20 litre backpack, a piece of luggage – as light as possible, a big heavy book, and finally, as much as possible!
After saying our goodbyes we were off to Stanstead in the watts-express. Check in was fine, although they did want have a look at our MSR fuel bottles to make sure they weren’t bombs! Then it straight to the internet café to do the most important thing, book a hotel so we have somewhere to sleep in 3 hours time.
The Bilbao airport is fantastic! Designed by Santiago Calatrava, it makes Stanstead look like a couple of big sheds in a paddock. When we finally arrived at our hotel we were very happy to find that they spoke English, as we were way too tired to try and check-in in Spanish. Even better was the small balcony that tour room had, and that it was in the old quarter and had a great view!