Haute Route Pyrenees - Day 8 (33km / 20 miles)
I woke up to the wind howling above me. A few minutes later it changed angles enough to smash into my tarp. It ripped my only shepherds hook stake out of the ground, and flung it into the distance.
The windstorm lasted for only 5 minutes but caused some havoc. I was up searching for that damn stake but could not find it. I now wish I had remembered to pick up a groundhog before I left as they held.
I gave up and went back to bed, but an hour later it started to rain. I skirted up to tge head end and against the solid wall and managed to remain dry even with a corner stake missing.
The rain continued all morning and for the majority of the time it bucketed down with some of the heaviest sustained rain I have ever seen. All we could do was put our heads down and march forward.
At 11.30 I had wrinkly hands like I was swimming in a pool for an hour. We arrived at a ski resort and found some great protection from the elements. I see why people live in houses... We had finally settled in for an extended lunch to wait out the storm (lightning that had gotten within a mile of us), when the sky parted and the 7 hour storm broke.
GQ and I were surprised but packed up quickly to make the most of our change of fortune.
It turned into an amazing afternoon. Just enough cloud remained that it created a continually changing landscape as the clounds and sun highlighted small sections of the surrounding mountains, forests or meadows.
It was also an afternoon of climbing with over 2000m (6600ft) gain. This trail does not know about an easy time! It constantly goes straight up, hits the pass and then plunges back down to the river valley. The HRP will repeat this a few times each day. Tough world but these mountains are special and the extra effort is so worth it.
It was 8pm and I saw this wonderfull grassed area with some natural rock wind breaks. I was only 100m gain from our designated camp spot but this was to good to be true. I pitched my tarp (rocks instead of that shepherds hook) and ate dinner as I waited for GQ to arrive. I helped GQ set up and then went to bed.
Haute Route Pyrenees - Day 7 (27km / 17 miles)
I rolled over in a comfy hotel bed. Sluggishly I got up, got dressed and headed down to the dinning room for breakfast.
I jumped back in bed for slightly more RnR before our 10am train back to the HRP. These opportunities present a good time to catch up on these journals.
At 10 we junped on a train, then a bus and a final hitch was needed to reach Lescun again.
We set off up the hill just after 11am for our 1250m (4100ft) climb back up into the crags and spires of the high ridges.
After 24 hours rest my body felt amazing, and I really noticed the that my body has quickly adapted. A week ago this would have been a long, tough slog, but today I fell into a steady groove and climbed without loosing my breath.
We stopped for lunch at the top. My hiker hunger is starting to show its endless appetite, and I found myself hiking again still hungry after my allotment of food.
Oh, we reached our first alpine lake today! It was right next to a refuge so we made a quick diversion for a celebratory beer (it was also our first manned hut that are basically hiker hostels). I left GQ behind during the next section as he ducked of for a toilet break. I continued along the ridge and started a long decent into a striking valley. The clouds were blowing around and there was soft afternoon light spilling on small sections of forest, meadow or crag just to add another layer of depth. I was trying to watch this changing scene and also pay attention to where my feet. It is a tough life sometimes... I stopped for water and food before pushing up the last climb of the day. It looked so intimidating at 450m (1500ft) in 1.5km (1 mile), but my improving fitness let me get to the top without needing to stop. I certainly was not fast but it further highlights how adaptable the human body is.
I waited at the lip for GQ to catch up and then we wandered around a lake looking for a camp site. It was the only flat spot around and there were Spanish people throwing a party, cow's and their bells everywhere, and the potential for a lot of dew right near the lake. We managed to set up camp only 50m up the slope. It was not ideal, but at leas
Haute Route Pyrenees - Day 6 (9km / 6 miles)
GQ and I woke up early and packed up quickly. We needed to get into town early in order to hitch to a large enough city to get GQ a new sleeping pad.
I woke up refreshed and recharged for the first time on trail. No cow bells keeping me awake and no earwigs visiting me in the night probably helped.
We both raced down the hill as the the sun rose above the steep canyon walls. The air was crisp and the golden light lit up the crags above. It was beautiful, and a perfect morning in the mountains.
At the bottom we took a quick detour to eat breakfast and destink our cloths and ourselves at the base of this epic waterfall. The water cascaded down around the 2000ft of shear rock. Even the water was that pristine alpine blue hues that can only be found in the mountain.
GQ jumped in and I sheepishly dipped my toes in the frigid water, and we washed the sweat away. It has to be one of the best swimming holes ever. I'm sure whoever gave us an hour hitch would appreciate slightly less smelly hikers.
We got dry, said goodbye to the family also taking a dip and began road walked to Lescun. In town we stuck out our thumbs and within minute someone's grandfather picked us up. He did not speak a word of English and did not slow his speech down for us to understand. It took a while and a few laughs as not understanding, but we somehow arrived at where we wanted to go! He was so sweet, and we suspect he went out of his way to help us.
We got a hotel, lunch and then set off to the sports store for a new pad. It was then time for a short nap before dinner.
We decided to try a homely place with a set menu. Dinner was such a surprise, but only delicious. The main highlight was the cold veggie soup with ice cream for an entree. I wouldn't suspect it to work but it did.
It was then time for a movie before bed. I have started watching Stranger Things and getting addicted.
Haute Route Pyrenees - Day 5 (36km / 23 miles)
Just before dawn the wind switched direction and started coming from the mainland. It was so strong that it ravaged my now unsheltered tarp, but it did blow all the clounds away.
We woke up as the sun rose and it was a fantastic to watch the golden rays light up our first summit for the trip that we would be climbing that morning, Pic Orly.
I had finished packing up and heard GQ swear. It was justifiable as I looked down at an inch long cut in his inflatable pad that had just popped around the inlet. That's going to suck! We were still one sleep from a tiny mountain town and started making arrangements to head out of the mountains and find a camping store.
We skirted around the bowl towards Orly and it brought flashbacks of Washington's PCT section. We were in this steep, grassy bowl with groves of trees or islands of rock everywhere. It was stunning!
Once around the bowl we started the 700m climb to the summit. This route just points you straight up any hill it comes across, and this one was steep.
We approached a knife-edge ridge section with a couple of hikers already turning back because of the extreme wind. We continued on to see for ourselves and found that the actual passage through was easier than it appeared from the distance.
With one last push we summited our first 2000m peak to find a bunch of day hikers that had come up the other side. I see why as we got our first stunning views of the high Pyrenees' rock spires in the distance.
The rest of the afternoon was a flatish walk where I started to get in the groove and feel like a thru hiker again. And the dry change of wind has meant that I was pain free without chaffing, and enjoying life.
By 6pm we still had our first pass ahead of us and we knew it was going to be a late day. I pushed ahead of GQ and was in awe as the exposed rock grew around us until 90% of the landscape was solid rock. I was in love and starting to get seriously dehydrated.
I got to the pass at sunset and bee lined straight to the most delicious, cold spring of the trail so far. GQ was close on my heals and we drank over a liter of water, eat dinner and went to sleep.
Haute Route Pyrenees - Day 3 (32km / 20 miles)
The day began with bells and whisles - cows decided to visit our camp spot for a late night party and they brought their bells. It was loud and I was the one doing the whistling and yelling to try and scared them off to no avail.
I broke camp around 7am, and GQ and I hit the trail. It was a misty morning like the previous 2 days. I began to contemplate if the mountains around us were even real or we lived in a world of clouds. There had been no sign of the sun since leaving the beach at the beginning of our climb into the Pyrenees.
Both of us were a bit stiff and sore from yesterday's efforts, and it took us a couple of miles to get our groove on.
The first quarter of the day was interesting with nothing special, until we ran into a couple of Poms that had hiked the PCT last year. It is always fun hearing other people's trail stories, and finding out how their experiences differ from my own.
It was then time to climb a mountain and take the wrong path... we got to a breathtaking pass that was above the clouds. Did you know that the sky is blue? I almost forgot. We were halfway down the other side before we realised that the HRP turns off the GR11 about a mile back. It is too easy to follow signs sometimes and I forgot that we are not actually hiking that trail.
It was a bummer that we had to climb back up, but we started making progress in the right direction.
The rest of the day was either steep up or down with an occasional difference of an extremely steep section. My legs burnt on every up and eventually welted. There is a lack of relaxing ridge walks on this trail, and I have yet to see a switchback.
We pulled the pin on the day a couple of miles early in order to not grind us into the ground so early into this adventure. There will be time to catch up once our bodies have adjusted.
It was an amazing campsite anyway. It was flat, green, sheltered and gorgeous. At least the gorgeous remained for dinner. The wind pick up and switched direction and buffeted our sanctury. There was no way that I was packing up and walking into the night so we battened down the hatches for the night.
