A walk into the Pyrenees
Day 1 of 3
After an excellent nights rest at the Hôtel Le Bois Joli in Cauterets, my friend Cesar and I managed to hitch hike to the Pont d’Espagne, the nearest entry point to the Pyrenees. We were planning to spend three days walking in the mountains that separate France and Spain. For day one, we plotted an 8 hour circular hike down the Vallée du Marcadau that would return us to the Pont d’Espagne in the late afternoon.
We had hoped to walk to a refuge in the mountains and rest there before continuing on but by this point in October almost no refuges remained open so we would need to return to Cauterets and rest there. Given how comfortable and welcoming the hotel was - a charming 1980s era wood panelled chalet - I was not so disappointed.
As we set off the sky was cloudless. Early on, we spotted a Pyrenean chamois (a goat antelope) taking a drink from a valley river. We stood and watched in awe as this majestic animal bounded away from us up the mountain at speed. I wasn’t able to take a photo of it but I will not forget the scene. One that has perhaps remained unchanged for thousands of years. The Pyrenean chamois - coveted for its fine leather - was almost hunted to extinction but thanks to conservation efforts there are about 25,000 of them now roaming these mountains.
Day 2
After an early rise, we again hitched a ride to the Pont d’Espagne to start a two day hike. The hiking season was almost over and we were headed for the only refuge that still remained open.
It would take about 7-8 hours to reach the Refuge des Oulettes de Gaube, all up hill. Cesar, a much more experienced hiker / mountain climber than I, was desperate to also climb to the summit of the 3,032 metre Petit Vignemale which would take an additional hour of steep climbing at the end of a long day. This did not particularly appeal to me. However, after several hours of him talking it up, I was on board. There’s no doubt it was worth it. Pushing through a physical barrier gave me a huge sense of achievement and the panorama at the summit - looking over the mountains into Spain - will live long in the memory. A bottle of wine or two and the hearty venison-stew at the refuge undoubtably tasted that much better because of our heroic achievement!
Day 3
After an awful night sleep in a dormitory with 15 other hikers (tip: go to bed early and get up early, rather than attempt the other way around), we set off on our final day’s hike. We had given ourselves about seven hours to reach the Hôtellerie de la Fruitière which marked the entrance to the Pyrenees in the Vallée de Lutour and where we had arranged for a taxi to pick us up at 2pm. There is no phone reception in the mountains - we had made the request of the driver when we arrived in Cauterets - so we were just hoping he would be true to his word. Or else catching my 5pm flight was going to be a nightmare!
Without consulting our map - not recommended - we ended up taking a much longer and more difficult route to reach the Vallée de Lutour. This meant negotiating a massive boulder field to reach the pass between the mountains that would lead to the vallée. My eyes remained locked on the ground almost all the time to avoid twisting an ankle or cutting my legs on the sharp rocks. We hoped the boulders would only feature on one side of the mountain pass but alas once we reached the pass a further 4km of boulders lay out in front of us. It was hard going.
Once we reached the Lac d’Estom, it was plain-sailing from there and we arrived at our destination at exactly 2pm. Thankfully, our taxi driver was there waiting for us. A few hours later, I was taking off from Tarbes–Lourdes Airport and Cesar was Paris bound. In three days we’d walked 60km, climbed 4,000 metres and summited the 3,032 metres Petit Vignemale! In perfect conditions like this and in great company, I’d be hard-pressed to recommend a better three days spent anywhere.
A dronie from the ridge
