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!

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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 36: L'etang d'Araing to Sentein

Waking up early for a refuge brekkie, lazing in the tent whilst the sun evaporated the raindrops, heading down the valley past a dam built in 1935, turning off the GR10 to take a local footpath through the vallée des Biros down to a village for supplies, jaggedy mountains glowing in the mountain sun, mounds of tiny mushrooms, foresty paths zig zagging down gently to a river as the sunlight glowed green all around, emerging onto a road where all the butterflies were dancing like crazy round buddleia bushes and pink flowers, arriving in Sentein (another deserted village) to find a shop selling all we need and an empty campsite all to ourselves to while away the afternoon hours watching the sun disappear behind the mountains as the dandelions glowed and the spiderwebs shone...

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We decided to turn off the GR10 at this point so that we could buy some much-needed supplies. The path down through the vallée des Biros was a beautiful diversion – cool, sunlit forest with well signposted paths, emerging into a valley that was full of butterflies fluttering in the hot sunshine.

 
There is a small epicerie in Sentein https://balacet.wordpress.com/2015/06/11/lepicerie-a-sentein/ which has everything you could need for hiking supplies. We bought a huge amount of food there!
 
The campsite in Sentein http://www.ariege-pyrenees-tourism.co.uk/camping-municipal-la-grange/sentein/tabid/22679/offreid/e05654d9-4292-4611-8593-fdf10428f046/more-information.aspx had already closed for the season when we got there, or rather, as the lady in the shop said, it was “closed, but not closed” – meaning that the sanitaires were open (hot water not guaranteed!) and we could pitch our tent if we wanted. We would have happily paid – it was peaceful, clean and worth the very nominal fee they were asking (about 3 euros according to the sign) – but there was nobody there whatsoever.
 
The vital statistics:
Total time hiking: 3h54
Peak: 1924m
Total Ascent: 13m
Total descent: 1144m

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...

 

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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 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...

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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 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 1: Hendaye to Olhette

First proper day of hiking: Hendaye to Olhette. Highlights include spying a tiny trembling shrew, tunnels of trees full of butterflies, views of the atlantic stretching for miles, rainshowers to cool off from the heat and a tent pitch at a gîte at the perfect time. Our feet are sore but we're happy in the basque hills...

The vital statistics:
Time spent hiking: 11.5 hours
Peak: 521m
Ascent: 1114m
Descent: 1032m