Day 60: Las Illas to Col de l'Ouillat.

Waking up in Colin the tent for probably the last time this trip, eating a huge chocolate marble cake for brekkie, getting immediately bamboozled by the GR10 which had apparently been rerouted since the guide was published (and definitely since the map got printed- we somehow got sold a version printed in 1993 so it is pretty obselete. good thing its only for a small section!), heading up forest tracks where sheep roamed in a confused lost sort of way, past allotments where pumpkins of all shapes and sizes were piled high, blue skies and sandy paths, scents of lavender, thyme and and unknown herb that smelt like men's aftershave filling the air, passing ruins and a huge fortress, arriving at Col de Perthus, a weird Spanish bordertown full of discount outlet shops, duty free emporiums and vast supermarkets selling ginormous bottles of cheap booze and finding a cute café that made omelette sandwiches, heading out under a huge autoroute into the afternoon sun where the air had turned heavy and sticky and butterflies whirled about in frantic pairs, trudging up dry trails and rocky paths as the mountains behind bathed in a haze of cloudy mist, a bull blocking the way, cows ushering a teeny tiny new calf who was all legs off the path, turning into a slightly cooler woods and finding first a single four leaf clover that had been nibbled into lace by a hungry insect and then a patch of at least 11 more and many five leaf clovers too, the path careering madly uphill through scrubby bushes and yellow flowers, turning around to discover a magical cloud sea had been busy rolling in behind and below us, filling the valleys back west with thick white waves and turning mountain peaks into impossible hazy islands in the sky, a last jaunt through a beech wood, then a sweet chestnut wood where the floor was crunchy with leaves and arriving at the col where we are staying at a gîte d'étape and have roasted all the chestnuts we've been busy gathering the last couple of days...

Day 58: Resting in Arles-sur-Tech

Having our minds made up about whether or not to have a rest day by booming crashes of thunder ricocheting around the mountains waking us before our alarms went off, rain pouring heavily for hours to confirm our decision, popping into town for a last batch of supplies, the sun coming out to dry our laundry (hooray!), and we're off to do our usual two nights in a row in the only restaurant in town after exploring the pretty old streets.

Day 57: Refuge de Cortalets to Arles-sur-tech

 Leaving our prison outhouse (we realised as we left that it had prison bars on the window)/mountain "refuge" and setting off onto paths with spectacular views of the valleys below and snowy Canigou looking as awesome as a mountain ever has above, spending most of the day descending (2100m altogether) which, on the GR10 also means a lot of climbing because just like George Michael said "you gotta get up to get down", finding an old plane crash site where the wreckage has melded with the rockface, crossing many waterfalls and bouldery bits, a weirdo in a turtleneck following us for ages with a camera – no matter how slow or fast we went he was there right behind us like a freaky shadow –, the path switching between thoroughly reasonable underfoot to goblin paths of slippery rocky hell on and off all day, a kestrel hovering, choughs zooming by, a huge toad making me jump as he jumped, red leafy trees, another closed "refuge" where patou dogs literally surrounded us as we ate our lunch, a hippy telling us about a magical tipi around the corner but not having time to stop and investigate, the landscape changing dramatically over the day from wintry snow peaks to vivid damp multicoloured autumnal forests to Mediterraneanesque rocks of pale sandy colours, eggshell blue lichen, palest green shrubs, pink heath and pine trees, our knees and feet getting totally ruined by the incessant descent, a baffling amount of rain, a slap up dinner which was much needed as we have eaten all our food again and realising the end is in sight... but not yet here. We must march onwards! 

***

In Arles-sur-Tech we camped at the Camping du Riuferrer  which was very quiet – not that surprising given the fact that it was now October. There was a separate section for hikers in a little glade. The sanitaires were clean and the campsite peacefully situated near a river. It was about ten minutes walk into the small town of Arles.

In Arles we found another excellent local restaurant, Les Caves Mouragues where we feasted on huge homemade pizzas and treated ourselves to some well earned digestifs. If you are hiking the GR10 West to East I advise you to go and get yourselves a meal here. 

The vital statistics:
Total hiking time: 8h20
Peak: 2185m
Total ascent: 270m
Total descent: 2186m

Day 49: La vallée du Montiguillou to Ax-les-thermes (via Merens-les-vals)

Waking up cold to another frosty morning, feeling extra tired and sore from yesterday's bouldering episode, walking down what was effectively a waterfall before the valley finally turned nice (not that we'll forget its darker side any time soon), people gathering bilberries in the sunshine, the lake looking all pretty and reflective, stopping to cook spicy instant noodles and a herd of horses taking a keen interest - this was our 3rd ambush since we started hiking and the most invasive yet: bags were licked, clothes were nibbled and spatulas were whole-heartedly chewed before being discarded. At least 60% of our possessions have now been violated by horses! Marching towards Merens-les-vals, a town the guide had us believe was a thriving metropolis, discussing all the food we would buy there (supplies were down to just 3 cuppa soups and some plain couscous. No chocolate left whatsoever. Dire) only to discover that the only shop in this one street village closed for "winter" 11 days ago, despair, tears, and then putting our brilliant minds together to form a new plan: simply hop on a bus to the nearest actual town and camp there for two nights, resupplying and resting before coming back to the GR10 the day after tomorrow. So that's we are doing. The campsite here is perfect (a little peaceful hill for hikers so Colin feels right at home), we bought all the food in the supermarket, found an excellent pizzeria and a owl is hooting whilst the moon glows. Oh and it just so happens to be another thermal spa town so no complaints from me ;)

***

After the disappointment of Merens-les-Vals, Ax-les-Thermes did not disappoint. There are supermarkets, cafés and restaurants galore. We ventured to a campsite slightly out of the main town which was rather lovely indeed - Camping Le Malezou.

We found an absolutely amazing restaurant for dinner - la Trattoria, where we feasted like happy happy hikers

P.S. Unfortunately I don't seem to have recorded the vital statistics for this day
:(

Day 48: Inclès to la Vallée du Montiguillou

Waking up tired after a cold, wet and windy night, heading uphill to amazing views of Andorra, all yellow golds, reds and pine forests and epic mountain scenery, two hoppy frogs and then at long last seeing some marmots again, hopping over sunny rocks, yipping and showing us the way to the Refuge de Juclar, discovering the revelation that is omelette sandwiches (sooo tasty!), walking past the glistening Étanys de Juclar where the rocks had lines of quartz glistening through them and heading up to two cols which we passed over admiring a last glimpse of beautiful Andorra before descending back into France on the GR Transfrontalier where the path turned into piles of boulders that we spent the next 4+ hours clambering over, swearing and getting scraped, there were more beautiful étangs with a grey and red bird fluttering about like a treecreeper only on rocks, before we turned into the horrendous valley of Montiguillou where the boulders became bigger and even less enjoyable (!), finally reaching a flat space overlooking a lake and pitching the tent, watching the moonlight make the rockface glow as we ate dinner.

***

Adorable Andorran marmot

Andorra is so beautiful

Vital statistics:
Total hiking time: 8h51
Peak: 2521m
Total ascent: 784m
Total descent: 895m

Day 46: Col de Sasc to Angaka (plateau de Beille)

Feeling tired from yesterday's climbing and a night in the tent surrounded by cows (their bells kept waking us up then lulling us back to sleep!), meeting a friendly cowherd who asked if we had seen his cows (we had yesterday!), finding a cosy shepherd's hut with a serve yourself cheese shop - goat's cheese, mmmm - then today went down, up, down, up through sunny forests and cold lightless forests, mostly at an unreasonable gradient, there were cows eating leaves off the trees, an unmanned cabin in a sunny meadow for cooking our odd combination of food for lunch and an usual butterfly dancing around me and sunbathing on the rocks, a weirdo hiker in a mask, a friendly British hiker guy, a jay squawking in the forest, finally reaching the top of the last hill and stumbling upon a teepee/yurt haven where we are staying tonight - a cosy dream come true! An elvish lady has sold us bread, cheese and wine, let us shower in a tiny bath in the middle of her yurt and made us feel welcome in foresty paradise. Life is brilliant!

***

The serve-yourself cheese shop near Col de Sasc was yet another example of tiny gestures of kindness and trust that made our hike so amazing. It belongs to a shepherd who leaves his amazing wooden lodge home unlocked as he goes out to tend his flock, so that hikers can serve themselves to his handmade goats cheeses. There was a note with directions for where to find the cheeses and how much money to leave. We bought two goats cheeses – they were delicious!

This very unusual butterfly fluttered around us as we ate our lunch outside another empty shepherd's hut down in a sun filled valley.

Angaka, the tipi/yurt place which we stumbled upon was a little dream come true for me. Our map for this section of the GR10 was brand new and there was a campsite sign on Plateau de la Beille but no mention of anything in the guide which is a few years older. So we were not really expecting there to be anything there and we were happy enough to find a suitable place to wild camp near a water source. But then we saw a couple of signs pointing towards “Angaka village nordique” and mentions of “GR10 bivouac” and were intrigued enough to follow. What we discovered was a delightful little settlement of tipis that are fenced off in a clearing amongst pine trees and decorated with peace flags, garlands and hand painted signs. I think I'm right in saying that they will let you just pitch your tent and use the compost toilet facilities but we certainly weren't going to turn down the opportunity to sleep inside a cosy little yurt instead! As we were the only people staying there, we had a yurt all to ourselves for just 15 euros each. There was a huge supply of free firewood for the wood burner and the lovely lady in charge let us use the solar powered shower in the staff quarters. It was without a doubt the cutest shower I have ever used, suspended over a tiny bathtub in the middle of a yurt (it doubles up as a table when not in use). She also sold us some extra supplies (if you book in advance they will cook you a meal ) including bread, cheese, a bottle of wine and plenty of breakfast supplies. The yurt was incredibly cosy once we got the fire burning – there were matresses for sleeping on and warm woolly blankets.

The vital statistics:
Total hiking time: 8h30
Peak: 1890m
Total ascent: 1223m
Total descent: 1201m

Day 44: L'Etang de Bassiès to Auzat

Letting the sun warm us and dry the tent before we emerged into the day, thousands of tiny crystal rainbows shimmering as the breeze blew through sunny dew drops on the long grass, the lakes below bathing in misty clouds, huge banks of soft pink heather spilling out between the giant silver boulders and soft yellow grass, dark green pine trees lined up like a Christmas tree parade, clouds dancing around distant peaks as I wandered and pondered it all trying to imprint the colours and light onto my mind's eye to keep forever and always, stumbling down dusty stone paths, leaving the GR10 and its weird North-South ways to go East, chasing speckled woods and red admirals and other pretties, a stupid bee flying into Gavin's boot and stinging his leg, a pretty floral village where Gavin had a close encounter with a kingfisher that flew off before I could spy it, wagtails wagging, dippers dipping, so many pumpkin patches, a peaceful campsite with a friendly dog, an absolutely amazing bottle of wine and dinner in the village which included a cheese course where the waitress just brought out half a huge cheese and let me slice as much I wanted... 

***

The GR10 does weird things in the Arriège region: it has several confusing branches; it spends entire days taking you North and South rather than head East; it leads you through several ghost towns. After waking up to our tent freezing (again) we wanted to make some sort of progress before winter arrived, so we opted out of a huge North-South loop and followed a local path instead. This led us to a town called Auzat, where we set up camp in a very quiet campsite, Camping La Vernière and went out for a lovely meal in a restaurant in the village: La Tabled'Arconac. It had an entirely meaty menu and The restaurant were a little hesitant when it came to veggie options, but we managed to negotiate a rather tasty salad (I think it involved requesting that it came without ham, and the waitress offered to replace it with cheese or eggs). The noteworthy thing was the cheese course tho. Seriously, this is what I was presented with….

So good.

The vital statistics:
Total hiking time: 5h17
Peak: 1638m
Total ascent: 75m
Total descent: 984m

Day 41: St-Lizier to Aulus-les-bains

Waking up to the horrendous sounds of a jay screeching bloody murder right outside our tent (these birds do NOT know how to sing), going back to sleep when it flew off and thus oversleeping, eating huge amounts of cake for brekkie then setting off into the wind - the weirdest wind we've ever known - it whipped around, changing direction, singling out single trees at a time then died right down, luckily we were sheltered in a typical goblin path straight up the valley for much of the morning, then there was a col covered in cows, then more wind so strong that we diverted off the GR10 to the more sheltered ski slopes on the other side of the mountain, descending down a long rocky path along one side of a valley, over a ridiculous broken bridge, then right back all the way along the other side of the valley, getting blown over by a ridiculous gust of wind, then reaching shelter again in the woods where three mad frogs hopped into Gavin's legs. We ignored the GR10's suggestion to spend three more hours pointlessly walking along another valley and back and headed straight for the lovely thermal spa town of Aulus-les-bains. Guess what my plans are for tomorrow?!

***

The campsite, Le Coulédous in Aulus les bains was excellent and still rather busy in mid-September – perhaps because of the thermal spa in the town. We had a nice quiet pitch – albeit covered in conkers! The sanitaires are very clean and the campsite is conveniently located 5 minutes walk from the town where there are a couple of shops (excellent for buying food supplies), restaurants and the spa.

Despite the fact that there are a few restaurants in Aulus-les-bains, only one of them was open mid-September: La Grange de l’Agouadis. Luckily, one was enough – we ate there both nights that we stayedin Aulus-les-bain, sampling their pizza and their goats cheese salad. Both nights the food was excellent – the pizza was such a generous size that we couldn’t manage to finish even with our hiking appetites, but the owner happily packaged it up for us. Very friendly service and great veggie options!

The vital statistics:
Total hiking time: 6h
Peak: 1725m
Total ascent: 1382m
Total descent: 1376m

Day 40: Rouze to St-Lizier

 

Lingering in paradise with a jug of coffee and fresh eggs from the farm, sore heads from slightly over-indulging in boozy Rouze but luckily it was just a short hike today to the next valley, past the farm's goats who were climbing trees to get at the leaves, up unexpectedly steep foresty paths, stopping for a moment and getting surrounded by cute kittens who were very interested in Gavin's bag, a nuthatch chirping, emerging to a col with panoramic views, heading back down the other side, a small snake on the path watching us with beady eyes, and arriving in a pretty campsite where two friendly robins fluttered around us as we pitched the tent.

***

The campsite in Saint-Lizier had an excellent shop in it – perfect for buying more hiking supplies! It was an excellent campsite with great, flat grassy pitches, clean sanitaires and even a big room that hikers can use in inclement weather for preparing food/sheltering.

The vital statistics:
Total time hiking: 3h21
Peak: 1551m
Total ascent: 598m
Total descent: 793m

Day 31: Lac de Saussat to Bagnères-de-Luchon

 

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

Day 27: Lac d'Orédon to Vielle-Aure (near Saint-Lary-Soulan)

Fending off an attack from two marauding grey ponies before we had even made coffee, admiring the Goldeneye dam and mirrored mountains on the lake, climbing up through an enchanted forest past a fluttery coal tit, toadstools and purple pompom flowers and emerging to amazing views of cloud filled valleys below, descending through golden plains and raspberry woods to the lac d'Oule where even tinier frogs than yesterday hopped underfoot kamikaze-style, a 3 course lunch at the fanciest refuge yet, detouring off the GR10 to climb steep ski slopes where fat marmots sunbathed and lazed, the sounds of a rumpus rave turning out to be a huge herd of cows getting directed our way, veering off the path and getting followed by one lonely/angry cow to the mud bath of a rival herd the cloud closing in and offering only the briefest teasing glimpses of epic neighbouring mountains either side, a red kite swooping overhead, finding a tiny black and white magpie feather, descending hundreds of metres through a kneecap-eroding forest, wild thyme growing by the path, long tailed tits whizzing over very tired hikers, getting driven to the nearest pizzeria by an excellent taxi man and now the goodnight hoots of a tawny owl. Twoo-oooh-oooh!

That cloud river

***

Teeny tiny frog!

Despite the gardien’s initial horror at learning that two of us were vegetarian (he actually reacted with “Oooh la la la la !”) the Refuge de l’Oule served us an excellent meal of grilled vegetables , freshly cooked on the plancha.

The campsite we stayed in Vielle-Aure wins the award for least friendly welcome of the entire hike (so I won’t link to it)

We had an excellent feeding in Saint-Lary-Soulan at the Pizzeria La Main à la Pâte

The vital statistics:
Total hiking time: 10h22m
Peak: 2284m
Total ascent: 677m
Total descent: 813m

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 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.