Waking up super cosy in our tent, marmots yipping outside, Gavin opening the door to reveal perfect mirrored reflections of the lake and the first frost (we were camping above 2000m), coffee then 2nd coffees at the refuge, back to the Gr10, views of the Lac d'Oô from above before the cloud swirled in, climbing up and over a horquette then down again and up again over a col, the temperature rising and falling repeatedly requiring many costume changes, finally some glimpses of nature after days of rain, flurries of black butterflies, flocks of choughs screeching overhead, a solitary raven, vultures and dung beetles galore, crumbly cheese sarnies with views of Spanish mountains, another depressing ski station (Super Bagnères), a weirdo man trying to stroke a cow and the cow not being at all impressed, descending gently through a beautiful forest, a shy deer bounding off, the rooftops of Luchon coming into view, and a peaceful campsite with a field almost entirely of our own to rest in tomorrow and a late night visit from a hedgehog who snuffled around outside our tent.
***
In Bagnères-de-Luchon we stayed in a lovely little campsite that is about ten minutes walk from the centre of town and very conveniently located if you intend to visit the Thermal spa (and you should!): Camping des Thermes They have a special separate field for tents that is set back from the rest of the campsite where the camping cars are parked. It’s peaceful and secluded and a great place to stay for a rest day. The sanitaires were tip-top and the woman who ran the campsite was very helpful when it came to using the laundry facilities.
The vital statistics:
Time 7h51
Peak: 2279m
Total ascent: 679m
Total descent: 1955m
No comments:
Post a Comment