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.
The Pyrenees Haute Route (or HRP for Haute Randonnée Pyrénéenne) is an approximately 800 km (497 mi) traverse of one of Europe’s most beautiful mountain ranges. Stretching from the Atlantic ocean to the Mediterranean sea, it criss-crosses the natural boundary between Spain and France, staying close to its watershed throughout most of its undulating course. .
The Pyrenean Combo Deal: The Pyrenean Haute Route offers a unique fusion of natural, historical, culinary, libational and cultural features. My advice is to embrace all of these elements with equal gusto! When you wake up in the morning, greet the sun as an old friend and give thanks for all that you have. When you set up camp at day’s end be sure to catch the last rays of sunset, and once again take a moment to appreciate what a gift it is to be hiking in such a beautiful part of the world. When you are sitting down in the refuges for the occasional evening meal with other trekkers, eat and drink and laugh and share stories until the hut warden asks you to call it a night. And when you are passing through the centuries old villages along the way, learn about their history, practice your French and Spanish with locals (no matter how dodgy your language skills may be), try as many of the local dishes and drinks that you can. Embrace the Pyrenees with all that you have, and by hike’s end you may just find you have had an experience you will never forget.
.
Distance : 800 km (497 miles) approx.
Avg.Time : 45 days. The time needed to complete the HRP can vary a great deal.
Season : Late June to September.
Difficulty: Moderate to challenging
Highest Point: Col Inferieur de Literole – 2983m (9787 ft)
Lowest Point: Atlantic / Mediterranean
Approx. Overall Elevation Gain: 42,350 meters (139,000 feet)
Countries visited: 3 – France, Spain and Andorra
All the above is from @thehikinglife excellent "quick and dirty guide" series. He has one of the best hiking websites that I constantly utilise. Check out the full guide by following the link in my bio.
Photo: Wikipedia
