Day 61: Col de l'Ouillat to Banyuls-sur-mer

Waking up before sunrise as excited as if it were Christmas for one last day of hiking and hoping to beat the storm that was due in the afternoon, packing up our bags and heading out into glorious views of the mountains still mantled in the clouds that slunk in last night, heading into sunny woods and up through a forest to a ridge which we went up and down and up and down repeatedly over the morning, the mountains lining up behind us like a goodbye salute, feeling so lucky for such a good last day but then dealing with the usual crappy stony paths that trip you and make you slide and being glad the end was almost in sight, meeting a friendly NZ couple who just set off from East to West (good luck!), persistent cloud due east that veiled the views of the Mediterranean until the last col when suddenly it appeared below in the blue haze, one last tiny frog, a huge furry caterpillar, a fly by raven and a hot and long descent that went up far too many times through aromatic herbs, cacti, vineyards and olive trees with Banyuls growing bigger all the time, finally arriving at sea level, passing a ceramic tile painting that celebrates the path, dipping our toes in the med, and checking into our hotel just as the first claps of thunder erupted and the storm to end all storms got started (an epic end to an epic journey ), sipping champagne and reflecting on our adventures... so it's goodbye GR10 - you were tricksy, sometimes a bit too steep, always full of surprises and ultimately a beautiful path through an awesome mountain range. Pyrénées forever!! And for this adventure at least... The End.

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 56: Py to the Refuge des Cortalets

Setting off under blue skies and an autumnal wonderland, speeding up excellent hillpaths through a forest where a tiny leat ran parallel to the path, reaching a closed refuge and heading on through forest with views of mount Canigou who is already wearing his snowy winter coat at the peak, arriving at a river and meeting a lovely Polish lady who pointed out that the path crossed the river only there was no bridge or stepping stones and it was ten metres wide and quite deep so taking off our boots and wading across, the rain starting as soon as we parted ways with our new friend, turning to hail, the path getting wetter and leading us over bouldery avanlanche paths that the guide described as chaos (an apt choice of words), three isards leaping about majestically, a late lunch then absolutely storming up to one last col – our last jaunt over 2000m and thank goodness for that because it actually started snowing –, heading down past a lake to the refuge where we were "welcomed" by being put in the outhouse rather than the main bit with all the other hikers (really unsure why-official reason is because we are cooking our own food. Questionable reasoning) but actually it's better in here (albeit a bit reminiscent of Father Ted) because we have our own fire place and it is blazing. Only a few crappy photos for this update because my phone has decided to corrupt almost all the ones i took today (so many epic pics of snowy peaks, one of us taken together by the nice Polish woman and so many glorious autumn leaves. and such a cute tiny baby cow. booo hiss. Please imagine gloriousness and hope the phone gods fix things...)

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Glorious snowy Canigou

We stayed in the Refuge de Cortalets which was the worst experience of hospitality that we had along the GR10 - the gardien was downright rude, unprofessional and irresponsible. If you can avoid staying there, then I’d really advise it. 

The gardien claimed that we had to stay in the outhouse/prison because we wanted to cook with a gas cooker. This did not make sense. We could have cooked in the outhouse and stayed in the main building with everybody else. I don’t know about you, but for me the word “refuge” suggests a welcoming, friendly shelter from the elements, not a freezing cold outhouse, a rude “welcome” and basically being treated like a second-class citizen just because you’re not one of the gardien’s mates.

Anyway, all’s well that ends well… we lit a huge fire, feasted, eventually got some sleep huddled up in the weird dank building and the next day we were on our way. I hope never to return to refuge "prison"!
 

Refuge prison

The vital statistics:
Total hiking time: 9h21
Peak: 2269m
Total ascent: 1852m
Total descent: 730m

Day 47: Angaka to Andorra (a river valley near Inclès)

Waking up in our cosy yurt, emerging to misty cloud, breakfasting and leaving origami birds for the yurt lady, making good progress on the plateau de Beille where the paths are cross country ski slopes in the winter, mountains of all shapes and sizes peaking out from the sea of clouds below, a raven perched on a post, etorki sarnies for first lunch, clambering over bouldery paths, up golden sandy coloured grass banks that were dotted with the red autumn foliage of myrtille bushes, heading up and along a crête that gave amazing views either side of jagged teethlike ridges and lakes and their wiggly inlets impossibly far below, choughs squawking as they flew by, vertigo related panicking from me when the path did stupid things and much reassurance from Gavin, heading down to the refuge de Ruhle where the cloudsea tide came in fully overhead shutting off all views, second lunch cooked by the sleepy gardien who had been napping -omelettes, mmm! - then out into the mist for a wee diversion off the GR10 to Andorra, passing two lakes but seeing nothing but cloud until we peaked over the Port to Andorra where a marmot yipped but stayed hidden and the sun shone down on a beautiful valley where the tent is pitched, a fire is lit and the sky glowed pink as it disappeared…
 

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Our golden Andorran valley

Before heading into Andorra we popped into the Refuge de Ruhle for a late lunch. We managed to procure some very tasty omelettes and wine once the gardien had woken up from his nap! At this point we were still uncertain about whether to bivouac near the refuge or press on to Andorra, but our decision was confirmed when the gardien told us that there was a snow warning in place for places over 2100m – which included the refuge itself. We could see from the map that it would be possible to descend much lower to wild camp in Andorra, and that's what we did. It was a very windy night, but no signs of snow whatsoever – and we kept ourselves warm in the evening with a wee campfire. If weather conditions are better and you're not interested in diverting off the GR10, it is possible to bivouac near the refuge.

The Vital Statistics:
Total hiking time: 8h45
Peak: 2400m
Total ascent: 1095m
Total descent: 880m

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

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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 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...

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

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 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