SH Day 4 (Day 13-Pyranean Haute Route)
Caillou de Soques to Laribet. Adrian and Bruce are very keen to get us walking again by 8am. It’s great to be encouraged along like this. I think the back-up team is kind of essential for this kind of walk. But it can be done unsupported but for a few days at a time if you attempt the whole route.
We rejoin the Route at the Caillou de Soques and start a long descent up the Val d’Arrious. I’m glad we are not starting from Pombie. We have a couple of hours in hand today and I bet we need them. Half way up I have to stop for a Muesli breakfast bar or two. The French breakfast is just not enough to sustain this kind of activity. I really need a serious bowl of porridge! Anyway we make good time to the top of Col D’Arrious 2500m (7400ft) and a great view to the east. The clouds are building up today and rain was forecast. It’s better up here than down in the valley though. It’s time to check out the Passage d’Orteig, the ledge with the wire! I stay put and James goes on a recky. I’m sure I will see him half way across! The swine.. But he does return and we agree to go the long way round. Anyway it’s nearly a year since I fell off the ladder so I don’t really want them all to say ‘Oh yes and then he went to the Pyranees and fell off a mountain-didn’t survive that one though’. Our diversion means a descent near to a reservoir Lac d’Artouste and then up again to the Refuge d’Arremoulit. It’s a zig-zag down and a zig-zag up. Not very exciting.
On arrival at the refuge, which looks quite cosy, it is very misty and Nick, our fellow traveller from the UK, is busy cooking up his lunch by the little lake. He has often overtaken us and is walking alone. He has done it the ‘extreme’ way across the ledge! James takes a few pictures of him. We press on because we have the tricky bits ahead. On up to the Col du Palas (2500m) it is now a mass of rocks and boulders with a small snow field which we can avoid, but have to venture onto it to see what walking is like without crampons (not good!). On reaching the top we can see, just about, where we are heading. It is a traverse across a jumble of rocks with cairns to guide. They are difficult to spot but you soon get used to it. Every step matters here, you do not want to fall and the sticks are essential. I find the rubber tips really useful. This is a very hard traverse definitely the most difficult part of the HRP walk so far. And it’s quite slow work too. Every step is tricky and extreme concentration required here. Finally we reach the Port du Lavadan (2615m), a tiny gap in the rocks which leads up through a col. This is now a scramble up through. On the other side it is now very misty and visibility down to about 20meters. Follow the cairns and thank God for them. We check the compass a lot during this next stretch as it is easy to go off course. Now we can hear bells so there must be animals and flatish ground somewhere but it is someway down to our left-I like that idea right now-flat ground! On we go thinking it cannot be too far now to refuge Laribet but it goes on for about an hour and we hear a waterfall to our left as well. Finally on arrival at what we think is the way, the track goes off South East which doesn’t seem right. We are tired and you do get a bit dissorented in the mist. Anyway who should appear out of the mist above us but Nick again. After much discussion we decide it must be just below us so we brave it and take the path. We are indeed right above the Refuge. This one is at 2000m and has solar power to run the electricity. No showers and we are the only ones apart from 2 guys who have been fishing in a nearby lake. Cedric the guardian whips up a good meal and that warms us up. The ‘bells’ arrive and his girl friend Julie is running around in the swirling mist outside taking pictures with of a herd of sheep as they pass the Refuge. It all looks very surreal.. She has a similar camera to james about half the weight! But where are Adrian and Bruce? Finally they arrive and after a very busy day and then a 2 hour hike up through the mist, they are very tired. I bet it was that lunch! We plan the next day and then head for bed. I don’t get much sleep at all. The snoring is awesome…
SH Day 5 (Day 13-Pyranean Haute Route)
Laribet to Refuge Wallon This is my last day walking with James. Yesterday was quite brilliant and although extreme hiking not as bad as I thought it would be. It’s a beautiful morning but just as we start out we can see the mist rolling in up the valley. We, all four of us, set off down to the valley. As we get lower down I realise that the sides of the valley are covered in Azaleas. This must be a wonderful sight in the Spring. We cross a very clear stream which runs over smallish stones and stop to take photos.
It’s a 2 hour hike down to about 1500m (4900ft approx) and then we part with Nick and Adrian who run off to do back up chores from their nice warm Landrover and of course we mustn’t forget another lovely lunch! Today we are heading for the Pic de Cambales. It’s about 10km to a junction where we turn left up the final stretch. I really run out of steam up this long climb but I find a rhythm and keep going. James is going at quite a pace today and seems full of beans. Nick joins us and becomes a walking companion for the day. For the first time my energy levels are way down and I am wondering whether I really am that tired, after not much sleep, or whether it’s because I know it’s my last day. Anyway we stop for lunch and a bite not far from the top because I am really in need of sustainance. We have come out of the mist now and it’s warm and sunny as we climb over enormous rocks towards the final zig zag to the top at about 2500m (8200ft). Absolutely great view and so we take pictures of James on top of the mountain. I must say that whenever we have stopped we always seemed to laugh a lot. Sometimes it’s uncontrollable and difficult to get enough air after hiking! At the top there are a posse of Dutchmen cooking up a storm, very funny. They seem to have the whole kitchen with them and various types of bread the only thing they haven’t got is beer. They have drunk it all and a good thing too, you really don’t want to be carrying that too!
And so we begin our descent. Quite tricky over some really big rocks but there is a way to a track and we quickly get through. We go past the beautiful Lacs de Cambales which look very inviting for a swim. We crack on and our final descent to Refuge Wallon is through a sparse but rather interesting landscape of big pines some with odd shapes. At the Refuge it is absolutely humming with activity. We are allocated our ‘dorm’ and it’s just us so we can talk after lights out! The refuges are very strict about noise after 10pm.
Well, I did it. Amazing. It’s been absolutely extraordinary and I’m so glad I signed up. Adrian has bought some little bottles of very nice Whisky, a 10, 15 and 20 year old malt so we have a sip of those each and toast my hike. Thanks guys.. I sleep much better.
As a novice of the Haute Route des Pyranees I think this is enough for now and I would love to come back again. I know I have just done 5 of the greatest walks on the planet and there are so many more around here. James is doing 45 and the stamina needed for that is without question immense. He will have earned every step of this journey.
Day 14-Pyranean Haute Route.
I say goodbye to James who is now accompanied by Bruce. They set off at a good pace on a beautiful day at 8am. I think the weather is going to be hot and sunny for the next few days. Adrian and myself set off on a splendid walk down the Vallee du Marcadau to Cauterets.