Day 25: Luz-St-Saveur to Pountou

Setting back out on our rambles after an excellent wedding weekend diversion, feeling the weight of restocking our bags and complaining about it a LOT(!), visiting a 12th century castle, noticing the leaves have started to turn yellow, steep paths, pretty villages, a blue butterfly trying to hitch a ride, the tiniest chapel I've ever seen perched atop a hill, following an art trail with panels of info teaching you how to sketch trees and mountains and flowers, meeting up with Nick and Katie in Barèges (the Pyrénées Hiking Society will be hiking with the full contingent for the next week!), setting off towards the Col du Tourmalet, turning up a valley along a river where a marmot welcomed us back to the mountains and setting up camp just in time for a huge thunderstorm to roll in, cooking fajitas in the most ridiculous conditions ever achieved – in the porch of our tent as the storm thundered and battered the tent! 

 
The vital statistics:
Total hiking time: 6h38
Peak: 1728m
Total ascent: 1398m
Total descent: 401m

Day 24: Gavarnie to Luz-Saint-Saveur.

 

Feasting for breakfast, wandering through Gavarnie, urban marmots on the outskirts to show us back into the hills, a red squirrel, a swallowtail butterfly, a cooling breeze making the golden grass dance and keeping us cool as we climbed up the side of a mushroom covered mountain, the Cirque de Gavarnie ever-present and ever-epic behind us, good coffees at a gîte, lunch in the shade before the path suddenly became a scratchy gauntlet with different thorns on either side and scarlet red grasshoppers leaping about, descending into a glorious forest with sunbeams dancing through the leaves then descending again into lightless, viewless, soulless, stony, awful goblin tunnels down to a D road that was as hot as it was long, terrifying scarecrows and posters advertising local cake (I've never been more terrified at the prospect of cake), songs to spur us on blasted out of my phone before finally arriving at a campsite where we are camped by a 12th century castle and have eaten like kings. A very long day!

 ***

We stayed in this campsite, the Camping Toy - very central with views of the castle across the river

This pizzeria, Che Coulet, in Luz-Saint-Saveur was so good we ate here twice.

The vital statistics:
Total hiking time: 9h30
Peak: 1825m
Total ascent: 866m
Total descent: 1475m

Day 23: Marmot hill to Gavarnie

 
Waking up to the unmistakeable squeak and yip! yap! of marmots and realising our tent was surrounded by marmot mounds (we had suspected as much!), watching them sunbathe and play and eat their breakfast and wrestle as we sipped coffee, setting off in the sunshine, admiring all the views that were obscured by yesterday's cloud including the huge glaciers on the back of Vignemale, kestrels hovering and choughs squawking above, more mountain mice scurrying about, even more marmots, vultures devouring a cow and squabbling with each other (very vicious), diverting off the GR10 to Gavarnie to check out the famous cirque which is seriously awesome, pizzas for lunch, and a lazy afternoon pitching our tent by a field of horses with an amazing view of the cirque...

One of the many marmots looking rathe regal by the thistles

***

 We pitched our tent at La Bergerie, an ‘aire naturelle’ in Gavarnie which was cheap, had an excellent breakfast, clean sanitaires and absolutely amazing views of the Cirque de Gavarnie....

The cirque rocks glowed pinky orange as the sun set and the moon emerged from behind the rocks.

Vital statistics: 
Total hiking time: 5h30 
Peak: 1898m 
Total ascent: 113m 
Total descent: 652m

Day 22: Lac de Gaube to La Cabane de Lourdes

Waking up to blue skies and epic views of Vignemale, climbing up the valley past two majestic isards - one chewing the leaves off a tree, the other bounding over rocks -, arriving at the Refuge des Oulettes de Gaube just in time to admire the north face of Vignemale and its glaciers before it was shrouded in the cloud that had followed us up the valley, chocolate brownies and coffee, marmots appearing everywhere all day long as if to show us the path - their little faces peeking out over rocks, their fluffy tails bounding behind them as they leapt about, their calls yip yip yipping out over the valley -, climbing rocky paths up into the cloud to the highest (and so far the coldest) part of the GR10, the Hourquette d'Ossoue (2734m) where we met anotheR British couple who took our photo and had pick axes and crampons for climbing up Vignemale tomorrow, scoffing cheese sarnies in the highest refuge in the Pyrenees and descending down steep, rocky paths, past a colony of mountain mice weaving in and out of their burrows, into a long gloomy valley which had a thick ceiling of cloud and many more marmots, over a dam and up again to a cloudy cold mountain side where we're huddling in our tent by a river hoping for sunshine...

***

The vital statistics:
Total hiking time: 9h05
Peak: 2736m
Total ascent: 1171m
Total descent: 1012m

Day 21: Cauterets to the Lac de Gaube.

Listening to thunder roll around the valleys through the night, celebrating one year since we got married by eating all the pastries in the bakery, hiking up out of Cauterets along cascading waterfalls on the rocky forest path to the Pont d'Espagne, dipping in and out of the cloud, a crazy big yellow and black salamander crawling along the path, arriving at the Lac Gaube in time to catch the last warm rays of sunshine over the mountain side making it glow deep turquoise, sipping wine and admiring the view, setting up camp by the river and watching a dipper do its dippy dance over pebbles on the opposite bank as the evening sky clears and Vignemale looms in the distance... 

***

There is another GR10 variant out of Cauterets that takes you to Luz-Saint-Saveur in one day rather than 2 or 3, but we had decided from the very beginning that we wanted to take the longer route past Vignemale and Gavarnie and it was worth every single moment of the extra time it took. 

The vital statistics:
Total time hiking: 5h24
Peak: 1729m
Total ascent: 951m
Total descent: 164m

Day 20: Resting in Cauterets

Sleeeeeeeping, resting and napping whilst firecracker lightening boomed though the valley and rainbows appeared, lazing about after a long week of many mountains climbed and then enjoying a very very tasty pre-niversary meal and some fancy drinks.



 

***

The Camping Vignemale was a lovely peaceful campsite in the last week of August. Excellent pitches, only about 10 minutes walk into town and clean sanitaires where the radio was always playing a happy song.

We went to the Pizzeria Gril Giovanni both nights that we stayed in Cauterets. It was delicious – we tried an amazing buffalo mozzarella salad for starters and the pizza and the pasta were incredibly fresh and tasty. A special mention must also be made of their Kir à la myrtille which I very much enjoyed as an aperitif. Sadly, we didn’t manage to eat a dessert as we were so full – but they looked delicious. Lots of veggie options and super friendly staff.

Day 19: Estaing to Cauterets

Devouring local honey and homemade jam at breakfast, second coffees at a geranium/begonia filled restaurant terrace, climbing through dark quiet pine forests and into the hot sun, up, up, up surrounded by epic views and purple flowers, powered by mars bars, past waterfalls and more marmots (hooray!) to the col d'Ilhéou (2242m) where rows of ragged peaks appeared on the horizon, continuing down to the blue blue lac d'Ilhéou where the refuge people cooked us some damn tasty omelettes and proved once again that it is possible to procure wine in very remote places, finding baby lizards, descending more stony paths in the hot sun past wild raspberry bushes, ugly ski lifts and crazy big waterfalls into Cauterets, finding a pretty campsite to rest in, devouring pizza and marvelling at the madness of ultra runners who are halfway thru a 160km route...

The vital statistics:
Totak time hiking: 9h21
Peak: 2243m
Total ascent: 1245m
Total descent: 1368m

Day 18: Gourette to La Vallée d’Estaing

Breakfast feasting and pointless post office faffing at Gourette, buying the only shorts that fit in the shop - mens swimming trunk shorts (surprisingly comfy and snazzy), up and over a col out of ski station trauma, stupid paths thru farmland and unscenic lanes, walking along roads (boo!) but going through awesome cavelike tunnels (yay!), realising the cheese we bought was well past its sell by date and rather stinky, the pretty town of Arrens-Marsous, late afternoon sunshine making the mountains glow, camping by a gîte on a farm where bunnies hop about, the cows moo like banshees, a friendly cat snuggles up to me and an owl hoots as the stars come out to light up the valley...


The gîte d’étape, Les Viellettes http://www.gitelesviellettes.com/location-gite-etape-viellettes.php was very friendly and a great place to bivouac.

The Vital Statistics:
Total time hiking: 8h35
Peak: 1830m
Total ascent: 1203m
Total descent: 1538m

Day 17: Soussouéou to Gourette

Lingering in our beautiful valley in the morning sun, a kingfisher whizzing past whilst we sipped our coffee, a giant hawk moth drinking crocus nectar, flurries of blue butterflies, a mean looking snake skulking into the bushes, loud red crickets clattering around, hot sunshine and blue skies, lots of climbing, refreshing waterfalls, a patch of snow/glacier, the Pic du Midi d'Ossau peeking out behind us, pink granite mountains ahead, more marmots right before the last climb up the rocky path to the Hourquette d'Arre, our highest col so far (2465m), so many flowers growing in the rocks, thick cloud on the way down past the turquoise Lac d'Anglas on painfully rocky paths with hungry tummies, arriving in another ugly ski station but finding refuge in a yummy crêperie and a hotel. Time to get properly clean again...

 

***

I have never seen so many butterflies dancing together in the sunshine as I saw that morning as we climbed up and out the valley of Soussouéou. .

magic fluttery swarms of delicate blue butterfflies

Heading down from remote places like this into another bleak ski station makes for a weird stilting clash of nature and civilization. No question which one we prefer....
 
That being said, the hotel we stayed at in Gourette, Le Glacier was super friendly, very cosy and did an outstanding breakfast.

The vital statistics:
Total time hiking: 6h05
Peak: 2444m
Total ascent: 1060m
Total descent: 1126m

Day 16: Lac Roumassot to la Plaine du Soussouéou

A chilly night by the lake, waking up to perfect lake reflections, so many cows with bells grazing that it sounded like churchbells ringing out over the mountains, forest paths down to the lac de Bious Artigous, coffee and route plotting, watching helicopters fly in to deliver supplies to the high up refuges, a tasty lunch but no room at the inn in Gabas, more forest paths so steep and mossy it was like climbing a giant green staircase thru the trees, a friendly robin, diverting off the GR10 to the Plaine de Soussouéou to camp, emerging out of the forest to realise its a golden paradise valley seated high up in the clouds, a kestrel hovering over as we pitched our tent amidst a carpet of purple crocuses next to the river, a boisterous fire and a brebis feast.

The Vital Statistics:
Total time hiking: 8h55
Peak: 2164m
Total ascent: 1675m
Total descent: 504m  

Day 15: Borce (vallée d'aspe) to Lac Roumassot

Restocking our supplies at the gîte shop, climbing up along the dramatic Chemin de la Mâture, steep forest paths and waterfalls, a cloudy valley, brebis sarnies, marmots leaping about everywhere, a stoat bounding over the rocks, wheatears fluttering around, birds of prey appearing elusively in the mist, sunshine breaking thru the cloud to light up the valley below, a close encounter with an over-friendly pony that tried to eat my pants at the Col d'Ayous, the Pic de Midi d'Ossau looking unreal as it floated in the clouds above us as we descended to the lac d'ayous, a grazed knee, restorative wine at the refuge then wild camping in the clouds by the lac Roumassot with a jolly good fire to keep us warm...

Oh tell me why, do we build castles in the sky...

The Vital Statistics:

Total hiking time: 8h55

Peak: 2164m

Total ascent: 1675m

Total descent: 504m

Day 14: Valley above the bois du Braca d'Azuns to Borce via Lescun

Waking up in a sunfilled paradise valley, washing in a freezing mountain stream, wandering down through peaceful woods, kids getting donkey rides (I wanted one), coffees and epic views at a refuge, battling through sticky mud patches, emerging into sunny meadows, a giant cicada, cheese and chips & crème brulée & rosé in the quirky town of Lescun (good bunting and arty signs everywhere) up over the col de Barracq through woods and past angry patou dogs defending their flock of sheep, all the way down to Borce where we've pitched our tent at an awesome gîte where there is a veggie falafel van and much real ale for Gavin and an owl hooting us to sleep.

 ***

The Refuge de l’Abérouat were more than happy to serve us huge bowls of coffee mid-morning. We sat and sipped them in the hot sun, marvelling at the incredible views of rocky mountains that could be seen from the terrace.

We managed to find an excellent vegetarian lunch at a very friendly restaurant in Lescun (the name of which completely escapes me now), despite there being nothing advertised on the menu. It’s always worth asking restaurants if they can prepare an “assiette vegetarian”, even in tiny villages. The usual response is a dramatic gasp, a series of “ooh la la!” exclamations, a look of horror and then a perfectly lovely sounding suggestion. Make sure to emphasize that vegetarian does not mean you eat fish, or indeed ham.

The gîte d’étape in Borce, Le Communal has gone down in legend in our cross-pyrennean hike. The staff were really friendly, they charged us just 2 euros to bivouac in their back garden, the bar featured an extensive range of beers and ales, the shop had a huge amount of useful supplies and was open the whole time the bar was so you could turn up late/early and still get food. The best bit was the Falafel van that was parked outside – it was, quite simply, one of the best veggie meals we ate for the whole two months. The guy even had a vegan burger on the menu! We had one of those and some falafel, with tasty potatoes chips drizzled in his homemade garlic mayo and it was seriously delicious. All made with local, homegrown produce and served with a smile. He was there for one month this year (2015) - if you’re luckily enough to catch the Falafelo man in his falafel van in the future, consider yourself a lucky hiker indeed...

The vital statistics:
Total hiking time:9h39
Peak: 1611m
Total ascent: 1909m
Total descent: 1806m
 

Day 13: Saint Engrâce to a valley after the Pas d'Azuns.

Gaining 1km of altitude before lunch through steep green forests and bleak farm trails, flocks of friendly wheatears and black redstarts fluttering about, 2 pigs atop the mountain, the grey grey stones of La Pierre Saint Martin in the clouds, tasty omelettes and wine at the refuge Jeandel, remembering there's nowhere bleaker than ski resorts in summer, climbing up into the wilderness where the marmots roam and spying them aplenty (I've been grinning from ear to ear ever since!), blue thistles and yellow and purple flowers sprouting in all the rock cracks, reaching a high of 1922m and scrambling over the pas de l'Osque (scariest bit so far), spying a majestic isard who rewarded us for our bravery, coming down over the pas d'Azuns and setting up camp in the glorious valley below right before the rain came in.

***

 
I had only ever seen one marmot before this, scampering along a mountain path in a valley near the Lac bleu. It was a pretty special moment, as we had seen so many of them on postcards and tacky souvenirs and were starting to wonder if they were avoiding us! After that, I became a teeny tiny bit obsessed with these intriguing creatures and was very much hoping to see them again as we hiked our way across the Pyrénées. I needn’t have worried – we saw hundreds and hundreds of them by the time we were finished (and heard plenty more yipping their alarm signals around deserted valleys).

The Vital Statistics:
Time hiking: 10h
Peak: 1909m
Total ascent: 1730m
Total descent: 810m

Day 12: Larrau to Saint Engrâce via the passerelle d'Holzarté.

Sleepy starts, coffee at Logibar with chaffinches fluttering by, climbing up into the gorge, 6 perfect miniature snails, crossing the epic bridge suspended 150m above the ground (swaying above the vide), watching a hardy old Basque man chainsaw a fallen tree, waterfalls galore, climbing out of the gorge into the clouds, getting 2 free croissants from another old Basque man, vultures swooping low, a kestrel spied from above, climbing literal mounds of sheep shit, accidentally getting the hokeycokey stuck in my head, lots of downhills on slippery pointless paths, blackberries galore, huge spiders lurking in the brambles, long road sections (boo), goldfinches and a field to ourselves to camp in at a gîte d'étape :)

The vital statistics:
Total time hiking: 9h30
Peak: 1381m
Total ascent 1233m
Total descent: 1219m

Day 11: Resting in Larrau.

Waking up to two bouts of thunder booming down the valley, resting our legs, another friendly nuthatch, admiring all the campsite flowers, reading hiking magazines from the last 4 decades and a stroll around the village before another storm hit.

Day 10: Col de Bagargiak to Larrau (via Logibar).

Waking up above the clouds and climbing up to indescribably beautiful views of peaks poking up through a cloud ocean, stopping to stare for a while on a purple pink heather path as cowbells rang out amidst the peacefulness, descending onto the crête Ugatzé and following the contours round as the clouds retreated to reveal green forest covered valleys, the Pic d'Orhy appearing on our right, butterflies waking up and getting busy (lots of marbled whites & swallowtails & blues today), gauntlets of brambles and nettles, navigating squelchy mud patches, mountains beyond mountains ahead, lion bars for snacking, occasional delightful breezes and hardly any shade from the cursed yellowface, the sky filling with screeching red kites, a pair of cows licking each other, blue and purple thistles everywhere, steep stony paths down to Logibar for cold beers & ice cream then onwards/upwards/back on ourselves to the camping Ixtila...

***

If ever you see me with a distant look in my eye, chances are I’ll be back somewhere in this moment, gazing in wonder at cloud visions.

I've looked at clouds from both sides now...

At Logibar we acquired much needed refreshments at the Auberge before heading off up a rather long twisting D road (with space to walk on the verge safely) towards Larrau to one of our other favourite campsites in the Pays Basque – Camping Ixtila. The pitches are flat and grassy and neatly divided up with high hedges. There are lots of shady spots, gorgeous flowers beds and hydrangea bushes, amazing views of the mountain ridge, clean sanitaires, free wifi, a room to sit in with an excellent array of books and vintage Pyrénées magazines and it is run by a lovely friendly couple who will also serve you tea, coffee and beer with a smile. All in all it makes for blissful happy camping.

The vital statistics:
Time hiking: 8h26
Peak: 1419m
Total ascent: 871m
Total descent: 1551m

Day 9: Our little forest glade before the Col d'Irau to the Col Bagargiak.

Accidently oversleeping as the river lulled us back to sleep, juicy brambles for second breakfast, a tiny frog, a lizard with a forked tail, climbing golden hills with a lovely breeze, a baby donkey, climbing another mountain in the baking sun past stone circles, a ssssnake slithering past, descending into the forest d'Iraty wirh purple heather carpeting the floor, the most necessary salade de chèvre chaud ever, more climbing in forests to a ski lodge with such a badly signposted campsite that we're staying in a crappy gîte d'etape instead...

***

Despite spending the day walking through the famous Ossau Iraty region and passing several farmhouses with signs advertising cheese for sale, we failed to acquire any brebis. Just because a fromagerie/shop/restaurant proudly displays a sign that clearly says it is open, that does not mean it is actually open. Such is the logic of France.

There were awesome ancient cromlechs atop one of the golden grass mountains. Worth diverting 20m off the path to inspect and admire up close.

Ancient cromlechy goodness

This is the restaurant that fed us large amounts of goats cheese and a huge pichet of wine. It helped with the hunger but made us super sleepy for the afternoon climb. Oops. Anyway, well worth a visit if you can resist the lure of a cheap pichet ;)

It was our first night sleeping inside again after a glorious unbroken stretch of sleeping in Colin the tent. We were not very pleased about it at all, but there really didn’t wasn't anywhere to bivouac around the Col de Bagargiak, as it has been entirely colonised by the Chalets d’Iraty ski resort/chalet holiday village. We didn’t realise until too late that the campsite mentioned in the guide and on the map is not actually on the GR10, but on a parallel route (on a road) and its situated way before you reach the main part of the resort. So we would have had to go back on ourselves a fair few kilometres to get there and we were not at all interested in doing that after a long day involving lots of steep hills. I asked about bivouacing next to the gîte d’étape and the man who ran it told me in no uncertain terms that this was not allowed. We realised when we were cooking that we were far too obedient and should have just ignored him like the people in three other tents had done. Instead we spent an uncomfortable night in bunk beds in an overpriced room with a radiator blasting out heat – despite it being the middle of August no amount of turning dials or pressing switches could convince it to turn off. Added to this I was terrified about bed bugs after hearing nasty rumours about them devouring unsuspecting hikers whilst they were sleeping. There was no sign of them whatsoever in this place after all but I certainly did not get a good night’s sleep…

Despite not enjoying our stay in the gîte, and finding the whole ski resort area of Chalets d’Iraty massively over-populated, it is worth mentioning that the people who ran the shop opened it up especially for us and another couple of hikers, allowing us to buy precious resupplies. It was expensive, sure, but a feast is a feast.

The vital statistics:
Time hiking: 8h35
Peak: 1433m
Total Ascent: 1214m
Total Descent: 607m

Day 8: St-Jean-Pied-de-Port to a woodland glade near the col d'Irau

Escape from pilgrim central, red kites and buzzards soaring overhead, amazing views of where we've been and where we're going, unreasonable gradients up and down, etorki sandwiches, more climbing, cold beers at a gîte, winding tracks, a close encounter with a herd of huge basque cows, so many butterflies including peacock and painted ladies and a whirlwind of little blues, brambles by the handfuĺ for snacking and the perfect woodland glade to camp in with a little river running through it, eating a dinner cooked on the fire… 

***

I found my first five leaved clover! In fact I found two on the same day in totally different patches of grass.

Nature is weird and wonderful

The gîte d’étape Kaskoleta was a very tempting place to bivouac at – there was a friendly welcome, cold beer and beautiful 360 degree views all around. But we still had energy left in our legs so we carried on to find a spot to wild camp. The spot we found was in a lovely secluded woodland glade. It was peaceful, right by running water and perfectly situated by huge banks of blackberry bushes for feasting on the next morning.


The Vital Statistics:
Total hiking time: 9h30ish
Peak: 867m
Total ascent: 1177m
Total descent: 650m

Day 7: Saint-Etienne-de-Baïgorry to St-Jean-Pied-de-Port.

An early soggy start, climbing up ridiculously steep paths, sheltering from the rain for cuppa soups, pretty paths, views of sunnier valleys below like pretty patchwork quilts, vultures and red kites circling, descending though pretty Basque villages and pitching our soaked tent to dry... next up we seek pizza!

***

The Vital Statistics: 
Total hiking time: 8h 
Peak: 1017m 
Total ascent: 972m 
Total descent: 950m

Day 6: Resting in Saint-Etienne-de-Baigorry

A lazing in the tent watching nuthatches and listening to the pitter patter of the rain kind of day :)
 

Day 5: Col de Lacho to Saint-Etienne-de-Baïgorry

Waking up in blustery clouds, climbing uphill to the crête d'Iparla, glimpsing intermittent views as the clouds parted and joined, vultures catching an early morning updraft, vultures lurking and perching, bright blooming heather, the green valley below, scrambling, a big green lizard, choughs screeching, ponies galore, down down down to our favourite campsite, a pitch by the river where the pied wagtails flutter, cheese and wine.

***

Magic.

There is a water source about halfway along the ridge at the Col d'Harrieta although you have to divert off the GR10 for about 500m to get to it. This time, the source had almost stopped dripping - we had to leave our bottles under the pipe for a while to get them all filled up, so it's not really a good idea to rely on it being there. We decided to take a different route down to Saint-Etienne de Baigorry (via Urdos) from this point rather than following the GR10 along the ridge as we had done at least twice before because the weather was getting worse quickly...

The campsite we stayed in is the Camping Irouleguy (named after a local village which also gives it name to the local, delicious wine). It is an absolute gem of a campsite: small, friendly, with excellent sanitaires, situated right by the river so that you get lulled to sleep by the sound of running water (I know of no more relaxing sound). Although they were fully booked at the start of August, the woman who runs the campsite assured me on the phone that they always have space for hikers who turn up on foot. It also has a huge Intermarché supermarket right next to it which is useful for restocking on supplies.

The vital statistics:
Time hiking: 7h03
Peak: 1026m
Total ascent: 490m
Todat descent: 995m

Day 4: Ainhoa to Bidarray and beyond.

Setting off up quiet country roads, Basque bunting decorating the town all pointy and green and red, crucifix-lined path into the clouds, a ferny aroma filling the air, a sleeping snake, basque cows, horses and sheep lined up along the path, an awesome brebis sandwich whilst being serenaded by a cockerel and collie pups saying hi, blazing sunshine, scrambling down a bit, seeing the Iparla ridge from behind, a long butterfly filled road, a visit to our beloved Bidarray for supplies and then up and up and up into the hills to camp, accompanied by a glorious sunset. In a word: EPIC!

The Vital Statistics:
Hours hiking: 13h21
Peak: 990m
Total Ascent: 1591m
Total Descent: 990m

Day 3: Resting in Dantxarinea

Resting and doing laundry in our sunny campsite in Dantxarinea which connects to Spain via a rickety old bridge over the river. We cooled our feet in the river and a huge frog bigger than my hand swam past - hooray for days lying on the grass under leafy trees!

Day 2: Olhette to Ainhoa via Sara.

Setting off into the clouds getting thoroughly soaked, a delicious lunch in my namesake town, walking along a river under a leafy green canopy, more butterflies, a field of pygmy goats, a lucky four-leaved clover by the roadside, more aches and pains and a lovely campsite by a river right on the border with Spain ♡
 

A town called Sara :)

***

The campsite that we stayed in (Camping Xokoan) was actually quite a diversion– we turned off the GR10 quite a while before Ainhoa. It was well signposted, along a rather hilly stretch of quiet local roads and well worth the diversion.

The Vital Statistics:
Total time hiking: 8h40
Peak: 576m
Total ascent: 823m
Total descent: 831km