Into the wilderness

Although today is Friday, there’s an undeniably Sunday-eveningish feel to it at the moment. After three days feeling pretty relaxed, it’s back to work tomorrow. We’ve managed a few hours by the pool today, but the time has come to start getting stuff ready for the next 10 days.

Most of the preparations have gone well, but there’s been the odd minor irritation. For example, I wouldn’t say €1.65 is a lot of money, but it’s a frustrating amount to have to pay for four fragranced pink toilet rolls, when you’d be quite happy with a single unfragranced white roll. Once again, I can’t help thinking these villages could cater better for walkers.

Things to do, people to see...

Although rest days give you a rest from walking, there’s a lot to do. Yesterday involved a bit of exploring the village, some shopping, kit-maintenance and an afternoon by the pool, while today we’ve had a trip into Vielha for some more serious shopping.

While the four of us were by the pool yesterday, Klaas and I went through the next section and worked out which route we’re going to take, primarily so we could calculate how much food to buy. We’ve adapted some days from my book to end in slightly different places and used the route from Klaas’s book towards the end of the section, which saves us a day. Unfortunately the only places we can get food are a single refuge and a restaurant near the end of one of the days, so we’re going to be carrying way more food than before.

Section Three - Complete

After his easier day yesterday, Klaas was back on top form for the final stage of section three, while Lucy, Ross and I were all nursing our injuries from yesterday’s beautiful but damaging walk along the lakeside. None of the injuries were serious enough to slow us down much though, so we made pretty good time apart from an unsheduled Compeed realignment stop.

There was only 600m of ascent in today’s route, which is comparatively little. We climbed up from Refugi de la Restanca past more amazing lakes and over three cols, then began the descent towards the stage end at Salardu. The first 400m or so were pretty tough, with some steep sections and some huge boulder fields to cross, but eventually we made it down to Refugi de Colomers, beside yet another beautiful lake. The guide said that our brief visit to the Parc Nacional d’Augüestortes would inspire us to return and it’s right - it’s an absolutely stunning place.

The Famous Four

Today was the first day of the walk that there’s been four of us - after a couple of days of trying, Ross and Lucy finally joined Klaas and me as we set off on a section of the GR11 from Hospital de Vielha, hoping for a drier day than yesterday. Some of the kit had dried out overnight, but my rucksack was still pretty wet so it was a relief to set off with a blue sky.

Half Way Storm

Today was a momentous day, for a couple of reasons. Firstly, I’ve now completed 23 stages and have 22 to go, so I’m counting down the days to Banyuls. Secondly, it was the fourth and final of the extreme grade days, so from here on things should be a little bit easier. Unfortunately, just as I was beginning to celebrate, nature stepped in and threw the biggest storm yet at us.

The High Point

Today began with a short sharp climb from the refuge up to Col Inférior des Literoles which, at 2,983m, is the highest that the HRP goes. We had a great climb up, both feeling pretty strong after our two half-days.

Reaching the high-point of the route felt great, but obviously we couldn’t leave it at that, so we climbed on up the remaining 17m and took a few photos at 3,000m.

Beaucoup de Vent

Two things happened after I wrote yesterday’s post. The first was that I did actually manage to swim (a single stroke) in our icy lake. The second was that the sun disappeared and we experienced the biggest storm we’ve seen so far. So don’t believe anything you read on this blog.

The storm had been forecast, and was one of the reasons we decided not to tackle the Col des Gourgs-Blancs - the guidebook says it’s dangerous in bad weather. Actually, if I’m being perfectly honest, we’d decided to have the two half-days before we found out about the weather, but the storm seems like a better excuse than being tired, so we’ll just pretend, ok?

Chilling at the Lac des Isclots

Mountain lakes can be a little chilly at times. Klaas and I are currently paused by one called Lac des Isclots, which is fed by a glacier and a large number of snowfields. When we decided to camp here we’d wondered about being able to wash or swim in the lake, but I’d only walked out far enough to cover my knees before my feet were so painfully cold that I had to go back to the shore. I tried swimming in a similar lake once and took one stroke away from the shore before realising I might just freeze solid and die - I’m not making that mistake again.

Goodbye waymarks...hello HRP

One of the most impressive things we’ve seen so far is the destruction caused by avalanches. Every now and again we’ve been walking along the side of a hill and have come to a stripe down the mountain where all the trees are broken off at the stumps, while down at the bottom of the slope there’s a big pile of rocks and trees and sometimes still some snow. It’s hard to imagine seeing it happen - watching a band of trees, sometimes several hundred metres wide, being wiped out in a matter of seconds.

Decision Day Looms

In the next 36 hours, Klaas and I need decide whether we’re going to tackle the toughest 3 days of the HRP or take a diversion onto the GR11, on the grounds that the current snow levels make the HRP too dangerous. I mentioned yesterday that I was trying to convince Klaas to join me on the HRP but, after I’d written that last night, we read his guidebook. Whereas mine says the route may be dangerous in bad weather, the Véron guide suggests a rope might come in handy and isn’t very positive about the chances of survival even then.

The Klaas and Jonny Show

After a couple of nights partying in Gavarnie, it was back to work today. The gang split up, with The Felice and Ryan Show heading south in search of the Odessa National Park, while the newly formed Anglo-Dutch partnership headed east.

It was quite sad last night saying goodbye to the other guys. From here on we reckon we’re less likely to meet again, though they’re hoping to end around the same time as me, so we may see each other in Banyuls.