This year’s trip to the Pyrenees turned out
to be just as enjoyable and interesting as my previous visits with unexpected
weather leading to some rapid re-planning en
route! Still, it was a great week
and once again, the stunning scenery did its bit to ensure smiles all round. Dave and Sue had been planning this visit for
a couple of years now so they were delighted to have finally made it here!
Cirque de Gavarnie
Following a most agreeable evening meal and
morning stroll around Toulouse, the hire car brought us to Gavarnie in under 2½hrs. Due to the seasonal closure of the Sarradets
Hut, we opted for a circular walk along the Gavarnie Valley for Day 1. This gave us the opportunity to explore at
close quarters, the imposing cliff amphitheatre of the Cirque de Gavarnie and Europe’s highest waterfall, La Grande Cascade. An hour’s walk up the mule track from the
village got us to the Hôtellerie du
Cirque and into the upper reaches
of this great semi-circle of rock wall.
Here, we were able to spend a good hour getting up close and personal to
the vertiginous cliffs of the Cirque and the tumbling waters of the
Cascade. This is a place to linger.
Cirque de Gavarnie & La Grande Cascade
Returning to the
Hôtellerie, we took the signposted path that leads behind it and climbs the E
side of the Gavarnie Valley to the Plateau
de Pailla. This entertaining path
leads through the woods and beneath overhanging cliffs as it climbs steadily to
the grassy alp of the plateau. Another
advantage of choosing this route for Day 1 was that it gave us excellent views
across the valley to the first part of tomorrow’s trek. From the plateau, it’s an easy descent back
down to Gavarnie on a path that gently zig-zags down through the pines.
Our trek proper started on
Day 2 with a 400m climb from Gavarnie up on to the beautiful Plateau de Bellevue (1720m). Today we shared this great vantage point with
countless sheep and cattle whose clanging bells echoed around the place like a
clarion call to prayer. We left the
cacophony behind to climb up into the equally beautiful grassy folds of the Vallée des Pouey d’Aspé with the bells
being replaced by the shrieking alarm
calls of marmots.
Vallée des Pouey d’Aspé
This valley climb led us
to the French/Spanish border at the windswept col of the Port de Boucharo (2270m).
Here we bade farewell to France, as well as the forlorn hope of a warm
and sunny picnic spot, and descended immediately into the scenic Lapazosa valley. This leads gently at first, but later more
steeply, down into the Valle de Bujaruelo
at San Nicolás where a perfect stone
bridge crosses the Rio Ara. From here, a 40-min stroll down a vehicle
track brought us to the excellent hostel that was to be our first night’s
accommodation.
The Bridge at San Nicolás in the Valle de Bujaruelo
Day 2 of the trek saw us
continuing down the track for an hour alongside the turbulent Ara until we stood at the gateway of
today’s main objective: the stunning Ordesa
Canyon. Here, we picked up the GR11
long-distance footpath and followed it eastwards through the pines and
alongside the Rio Arazas beneath
increasingly imposing limestone walls. A fleeting distant view of the Spanish village of Torla seemed to emphasise we were heading into remote country.
Torla
An hour’s walk brought us to the road-end and café at the Pradera de Ordesa where we bade farewell
to ‘civilisation’ for a couple of days (or so we thought) with a sneaky coffee
and comfort break!
We spent the next 4hrs
walking up the floor of the canyon, climbing steadily through the trees as the Arazas tumbled over a series of
photogenic cataracts - at times alongside us, and at others, far below in deep
gorges. Altogether, it was a wonderful
way to spend an afternoon, the canyon rim slowly appearing to draw evermore
closer as our track continued to climb.
Eventually, the trees gave
way to an open grassy plain and the head of the canyon lay before us. We still had over 400m of climbing remaining,
but this came all at once as a clear, if rough, path led us up through the
encircling cliffs and out of the canyon.
The cliffs gave way to grassy slopes and after one final rise, our
destination lay before us: the Goriz Hut
(2165m).
A major re-build of this
strategic and popular refuge is still on hold although the shell of the new
extension is complete. A new ablution
block, together with most welcome porcelain facilities, has been added though
so the old place is not quite as austere as it used to be to stay!
Day 3’s plan had been to
climb Mt Perdido (3355m), the 3rd
highest mountain in the Pyrenees. However, the sound of heavy rain lashing
against the hut’s windows early the following morning did not bode well. The rain continued well into the morning and
once reports of thunder were added to the mix, we knew we’d lost our peak. My current success rate for Perdido stands at 33.3%. Mmmmh….
Content to sit out the day
at the Goriz and return to Gavarnie on
Day 4, as planned, the plot was further upset when the hut guardian came in and
announced that heavy thunderstorms were forecast for the following day! This had now become a no-brainer and it was
obvious we would now have to pack up and depart for Gavarnie post-haste. This we did, together with Xavi and Louis who
had regaled us over supper the previous evening with their optimism, nay
expectation, of a soon-to-be independent Catalonia!
Our progress was good at
first as we headed westwards along the Faja Luenga and over 2 saddles, the Cuello de Millaris (2454m) and Cuello del Descargador (2495m). We even got close to a friendly izard, the Pyrenean chamois. However, by the time we reached the 2nd
col, the cloud was down on the deck and things were looking decidedly
bleak. The general deterioration in
conditions was not helped by the increasingly rocky moonscape that the terrain
assumes in these parts.
Rather skilfully I
thought, I interrupted our steady progress for 15mins of position-reorientation
practice on non-descript ground in thick mist.
I’m sure no-one noticed…. Eventually
though, normal service was restored and we located the cunningly disguised
entrance to the broad gulley that leads over tumbledown rock-piles, the odd
snowfield and steep scree slopes to the Brèche
de Roland (2807m).
Brèche de Roland - on the day!
This massive cleft has
created a toothless gap in the thin wall of rock that hereabouts forms the
Pyrenean watershed and French/Spanish border.
It’s an impressive enough place on a fine day, but today we hardly saw
it – just a brief glimpse through the clouds a mile away. Today’s passage was more to do with relief,
braving a fierce wind and navigation rather than enjoying the view! It was more like passing ships in a sea fog
than stepping through a magic gateway! A
perennial snowfield lies on the N side of the Brèche and although it is generally soft at this time of year, we briefly
donned crampons for the short 5min transit.
We had brought them for Mt Perdido!
Brèche de Roland - and on a better day!
Suddenly though, things
improved markedly. The clouds lifted,
the snow disappeared and the path became clear down to the Sarradets Hut just
below us. Beyond, we were treated to
sunlit views of the Gavarnie Valley and the distant foothills of the French
Pyrenees.
One final sting in the
tail – a thought-provoking, but ultimately successful crossing of a
rain-swelled glacial outflow stream that barred the way down. After this, it was all plain sailing as we
traversed down to the Port de Boucharo and picked up the remnants of
the access road to Xavi’s very welcome waiting campervan at the Col de Tentes (2208m). We were celebrating in the hotel bar 30mins
later!
Port de Boucharo
As a postscript, we did
indeed get thunderstorms the following day – very dark, ferocious and powerful ones
that brought vicious hail storms and hours of heavy rain. The thought of being caught out in such
conditions, or of trying to get back from Goriz
as we had originally planned for that day, was a sobering one indeed!
It was a great trek though
and thanks to Dave, Sue, Xavi and Louis for great company and ready
flexibility when our plans – and the weather – changed!
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