The Pyrenees pt2: 08/08 - 17/08

Day 18 – Thursday 17th August
Gavarnie – Rest day
Time walking – 0
Distance – 0
Ascent/Descent – 0

Gavarnie is know best for it world heritage listed Cirque de Gavarnie, a massive natural amphitheatre with walls exceeding 1500m high. A constant stream of tourists, most on donkeys, flowed past the campsite towards the natural wonder.
We spent most of the day planning, sorting and resting for the next 10 days of hiking. As there are 3 days graded extreme in the next section we had to be sure that we had back-out options if the weather was bad or the glaciers too dangerous without equipment. We sent a heap of postcard to family and friends, a pile of maps back to Emily in London and found out that Bridgette’s bike had been delivery the day before it was officially deemed lost.
The weather started to close in and we made a quick dash up to the Cirque, but by the time we got there the mist had rolled in and all we saw was the first 200m of cliff and a heap of mist. With the sun beaming down all day, we kicked ourselves for being so blasé about going to see it. Next time we will go and see the sights as soon as we can.

Day 17 – Wednesday 16th August
Refuge Bayssellance - Gavarnie
Time walking – 2 hours + breaks + car assistance
Distance – 16 Km approx
Ascent/Descent – 200/1490 approx

With 1 day of hiking left before our rest day we set off early, in full gore-tex. As we descended we passed the Grottes de Bellevue, which are a series of 3 hand carved shelters in the side of a cliff. They were created by Henry Russell, a pioneer of mountain living in the early 19th century. They were very impressive, being more like large rooms then basic shelters.
We passed 2 tour groups who were obviously setting out to climb the summit of Vignemale, over the massive eastern glacier, in the rain. We are guessing that when you pay someone to take you up there, you go regardless of the view that you won’t get! Better them than us.
We reached the Barrage d’Ossoue and had a small break. With Bridgette’s knee in a slightly bad way we decided to follow the road down to Gavarnie rather than rejoin the GR10 for 3.5 hours. This turned out to be a great idea, as we only walked for about 10 minutes when a couple of Spanish guys offered us a lift down to the town. We swallowed our track pride a little and decided that it would be very rude for us not to accept the life, regardless of not walking all the way down.
Gavarnie is a tourist mecca, and we were a little shell shocked by the number of people and camper vans that populated the streets. Maybe this rest day wasn’t such a good idea. We arrived at the camp site which was very good, did our washing, finally had a shower and headed out for dinner at 6pm which wasn’t a very French time to be eating at all. The pizza was amazing though, two of the best that we have had, and the beer was pretty good too.

Day 16 – Tuesday 15th August
Refuge Wallon – Refuge Bayssellance
Time walking – 7 ½ hours + breaks
Distance – 22.5 Km approx
Ascent/Descent – 1400/620 approx

We made good time on a big day of climbing. 3 hours to the Col d’Arratille on the border with a very beautiful lake, a 700m climb to start the day! It was quite windy at this height though. It was then into Spain for a short while as we dropped down and followed a level path through the biggest scree field yet. A short steep climb back up to the border saw us reach the Col des Mulets.
A long descent towards Refuge des Oulettes de Gaube had us pass the magnificent north face of Vignemale (3298m), complete with it fantastic glacier. Pete was quite excited, as this was the first he had seen. The refuge was within an easy day walk from civilization so there were heaps of walkers about, but it didn’t detract from the blue-white glacier ever-so slowly sliding down the valley under the north face in the perfect blue sky. You couldn’t ask for more.
We did however get more, without even asking for it. A 600m climb to the Hourquette d’Ossoue to finish the day. It was quite slow as Bridgette’s knee was getting a little worse, but the track did take us much closer to the face and glacier which was nice. At the pass the weather started to come in, but there were still plenty of hikiers setting out to the top of Petit Vignemale. We looked at it and decided that the weather and the knee were against us.
We spent a very windy night in the designated camping area of Refuge Bayssellance, the highest staffed refuge in the Pyrenees. The tent areas were more like turrets, situated at the edge of a cliff, with large dry-stone walls built around them for protection from the wind. We fastened the guy-ropes tightly, and hoped for a still night. It didn’t happen!

Day 15 – Monday 14th August
Refuge de Larribet – Refuge Wallon
Time walking – 8 ¼ hours + breaks
Distance – 25 Km approx
Ascent/Descent – 1200/1350 approx

Another big day of walking with another huge descent followed immediately by a huge ascent. It was a pretty easy descent into the valley, but the limb back up to the Port de la Peyre-Sant-Martin was a bit of a grin, taking over 3 hours. We had lunch here while sitting on the border. Without crossing into Spain we hooked back around to climb a further 400m Col de Cambales following a poorly marked track on steep scree.
We met a lovely French couple at the pass, and we chatted to them for about 20 minutes. They were headed for the summit of Pic de Cambles and they offered for us to join them. At a touch under 3000m it looked tempting, but we decided against it as it would add another 2 hours to the day at least.
The descent was initially on scree but the path soon became very faint, so we took the easy option of scooting over a snowfield that was still present. Lots of fun and not too dangerous as there were plenty of footprints to follow. It soon started to flatten out and the descent from the pass to Refure Wallon took well over 3 hours, which seemed like an eternity as Bridgette’s knee was starting to play up. At least we passed some beautiful lakes.
Refuge Wallon is like the Hilton, absolutely huge with heaps of hikers. We were defiantly not the only campers, there were more than we had seen anywhere previously.

Day 14 – Sunday 13th August
Refuge de Pombie – Refuge de Larribet
Time walking – 10 hours + breaks
Distance – 25 Km approx
Ascent/Descent – 1500/1370 approx

The mountain mist that finally settled overnight was still quite thick in the morning and unfortunately was not very good photography weather at all. Today we would start with a 700m descent immediately followed by a 1300m climb, it’s a good thing our hiking legs were in full swing at this stage! The descent to the main road and the climb to the Col d’Arrious proved to be very comfortable walking, both being well graded and tracked.
The guide book warned us about a cable traverse that we need to complete today, but as it turned out to be not too bad. It was basically a ledge carved into the face of a cliff, about 90cm wide and 300m up the face, it did have a very solid cable bolted to the cliff side to hold onto for stability. It was very exposed and if we had had bad weather we would have chosen the alternative, an additional descend and climb of 600m each way.
We arrived at Refuge d’Arremoulit and had a short break before we started the second part of the days climbing over two passes, Col du Palas and Port du Lavedan. The path to the first was a little hard to find at first and then it turned into a straight walk in a boulder valley to the pass. We spent 45 minutes in Spain while negotiating a very steep scree slope. The next pass that would take us back to France was a very narrow slot in the frontier ridge that had a tricky little climb on either side. Actually it wasn’t that tricky, it was our heavy packs that made it harder.
It was a 600m descent our next camp site at Refure de Larribet, but it took almost 2 hours. It was quite steep and loose to begin with, then it became very windy. Being in a National Park we wanted to follow the guidelines and only pitch our tent in the designated areas, so we continued onwards passing a couple of amazing glacial lakes and some very good looking camp sites. Apparently the camping rules don’t apply to climbers, as after we had pitched our tent near the Refuge three groups of climbers passed us and headed up the valley from where we had come. We are guessing that they needed the extra few hours actually doing the climbs tomorrow, rather than spend it lugging their gear.

Day 13 – Saturday 12th August
Ibon del Escalar – Refuge de Pombie, France
Time walking – 5½ hours + breaks
Distance – 16.5 Km approx
Ascent/Descent – 1300/820 approx

Another early rise to get first bit of climbing to the Col des Moines on the border, then it was back into France. We were quite excited as today we would see the jewel of the Atlantic-Pyrenees, Pic du Midi d’Ossau, and spend the night below it’s south-western face. The National Park changed dramatically in this area, both in landscape and amount of walkers. It was a weekend though, so what were we to expect! It was fairly level walking which quickly turned into a steep descent to the Cabane de Cap de Pount, situated in a vast valley.
Once we got to the bottom I realised that I had left my hat and sunglasses at our morning-tea stop. Extremely mad at myself considering the weather we were having, I turned around and walked back up to see if it was still there. As you imagine it was gone, could have been worse though, could have been the GPS! It was an extra 1 hour of hiking that I definitely didn’t need.
A long slog up a big hill was completed before lunch, which was consumed with pace at a cabin. The path continued to climb upwards towards a lake and the Col de Peyreget (2300m). The number of walkers continued to amaze us, especially as they all seemed quite light in the equipment area, and the weather was starting to come in early. The decent to Refuge Pombie was through mist, which soon turned into rain, thankfully after we pitched our tent. We retreated to the warmth of the refuge and watched the outlines of people struggle to erect their tents in the rain.
We though we had lost the view of the face forever until the rain stopped, and the mist suddenly cleared. We were able to cook and eat outside and watch the sun set behind the mountain. Many groups were still arriving at dusk, we counted 17 other tents in addition to the 48 people that the refuge sleeps.

Day 12 – Saturday 11th August
Refuge d’Arlet – Ibon del Escalar, Spain
Time walking – 8 hours + breaks
Distance – 24 Km approx
Ascent/Descent – 550/1000 approx

Woke this morning to find a light cover of frost on the ground, when added with the perfect sunrise it was a absolutely stunning 30 minutes. The track descended for much of the morning, taking us into a huge valley passing multiple fromages along the way. A very steep gravel road descent lead us to out lunch stop for the day. We followed the track fairly well on contour until we left the HRP and headed for the main road. Knowing that we would probably have to walk an extra two hours today, we though we could make up some time by taking the road.
We arrived at the Col du Somport, on the border, and had ice-cream and beer. Needing to re-supply we headed down to Candanchu, a large ski village on the Spanish side. There is a refuge in this town, which is expensive and has no space for tents. After re-stocking we headed back up to the border and another Spanish ski village called Astun.
The Lake that we were headed for was, as usual, at the top of a big hill, so we gritted our teeth and made for the lake. Thankfully the sun was beginning to set behind the mountains so the temperature was dropping. Just on sunset we were treated to quite a spectacle of nature. A kettle (new word of the day) of vultures circled us for about 5 minutes and then swooped down to nest on the steep rocky slop beside the track. It was quite frightening to begin with, as they were only about 15 meters from us. It is not until they are this close that you realise just how big they are.
We pitched the tent beside the lake and continued to watch the sun set over the mountains. Perfect!

Day 11 – Friday 10th August
Lescun – Refuge d’Arlet
Time walking – 6 ¾ hours + breaks
Distance – 20 Km approx
Ascent/Descent – 1300/200 approx

We were a little daunted by the 1300m of climbing that was on the cards for today, but it wasn’t too bad as most was completed before 10am while the sun was still hiding behind the mountains. The first part of the climb was on road, which was boring, but we soon found ourselves in the only French national park in the Pyrenees, the Parc National des Pyrenees Occidentales. This section was on bare rocky slopes but it was all beautiful.
We followed the border on the French side and swung eastward from the Col de Pau at which we encountered our first group of walkers that were accompanied by donkeys. Mountain donkeys would be the correct term, as they were carrying quite large loads and continued to climb of rocks and shale with little problem. We really need to get ourselves at least one of those next time!

Day 10 – Thursday 9th August
la Pierre-St-Martin - Lescun
Time walking – 8¼ hours + breaks
Distance – 25 Km approx
Ascent/Descent – 700/1200 approx

A little sad that we had missed a supposedly beautiful part of the walk, we were very surprised to see that the ski centre and slope were built around the same type of limestone formations that we missed. It was a little like the Tessellated pavement, only this was an entire valley of it. Quite impressive, although the walking was a little boring as it was all through the ski slopes.
We had lunch just before the pass and bumped into two guys from Holland that we had met at the refuge. A small scramble over the pass d’Azius and we were blown away by the view, the entire valley opened up and was surrounded by majestic mountains. It’s quite amazing how just on pass cane completely change the landscape. 2 hours were spent meandering though the valley before we started to descend towards our destination for the day, Lescun.
We had a beer with David and Joseph while we waited for the shop to re-open at 5pm. The campsite was packed with French tourists, but here was heaps of space for tents thankfully. And the view from the campground was magnificent!

Day 9 – Wednesday 8th August
Pista Ganekoa – la Pierre-St-Martin
Time walking – 6¼ hours + breaks
Distance – 19 Km approx
Ascent/Descent – 1200/1100 approx

The mist finally started to clear in the morning and after saying goodbye to our new friends we were off. We never actually found out what their names were! With the programmed GPS in hand we pushed up a very steep and slippery grass embankment towards a small farmers house. Thankfully the mist cleared as we continued higher, which was a great relief as it’s always nicer to be able to see where you are going!
The GPS came in very useful for the morning section, and once arriving at the ridge the path was much easier to follow. The guide book that were using said that a near-by refuge is worth stopping at, but once we got there we soon realised that it had been closed for a number of years. We were glad that we didn’t rely on it for accommodation. It came complete with a crazy horse whose foal had a broken leg!
The weather decided to get a little nastier in the afternoon, with more drizzly mist. Looking forward to a proper bed, shower and a food restock we left the HRP and headed towards la Pierre-St-Martin a ski centre on the French side of the border. We were greeted by a very enthusiastic Frenchman who made room for us in the refuge which turned out to be privately owned, which didn’t matter because the food was fantastic.