Bridge into Tavascan

Tuesday 2nd Oct Estaon to Tavascan 11.5 kms

An "easy" day. Good weather, in fact the warmest day we've had for weeks. We have a 600 mtr climb over the 1st 4 kms through mountain pasture. Its interesting to note how over the course of the walk the geology and ecology, even human architecture, have changed. We are now closer to the Mediterranean, a warmer, drier climate, and now pines predominate. The treeline closer to the Atlantic was about 1200 mts altitude, now we have forest up to 2000 mtrs. As we are walking we come across a herd of mountain horses. Strongly built, they race down steep slopes at impossible speeds. We reach the top with me soaked in perspiration as usual. Its always interesting to look down into the next valley and look eastwards towards the next mountain ranges we will have to face. From these high viewpoints I try to identify where the next day's challenge is, though it pays not to work it out, everything looks incredibly steep and high. After a brief rest we begin the descent. Quite steep, we drop 450mtrs in the 1st 2kms. The narrow path then edges around a high, vertical bluff for another 2 km. I don't look over the edge, just focus on where I am placing each foot. I'm glad the weather is fine. I would not like to be doing this section on a bad day. We then drop another 200 mtrs to Aineto, a tiny village, fill our water bottles from the village spring. The water from the mountain springs is generally clear, cold and delicious. The stream water usually looks clean but with so many animals around its not safe to drink. I carry a water sterilizer for this. We walk on a km more to Tavascan. We front up to Hotel Llacs de Cardo. The hotel people know our host from Estaon who told me to tell them to take care of us. They give us a discount and 2 nice rooms with a bathroom each. CB immediately claims a room to himself muttering about smelly boots and socks. CJ and self take umbrage but open windows.

Dorve church belltower

Monday 1st Oct Espot to Estaon 17.5 kms

Well we started this walk 1 month ago during which we have completed 25 walking days. Now that we are into October I am getting concerned about the weather and the shortening days. We have some big mountains to get across in a few days when we cross from Spain to Andorra and we dont want to get caught by snow again. The GR11 section we will do today is usually done over 2 days but the weather is good so we want to push on. A pleasant level walk out of Espot is soon followed by the usual uphill grind to gain altitude. Halfway up a bit of excitement when a large fallow stag erupts out of the forest above and thunders down the hill towards us. It jumps the stone wall beside CB and almost runs into CJ coming up a section of road below us. Quite amazing. We carry on climbing going through a couple of small mountain villages. Walking this way you really come to appreciate how isolated these villages were before roads existed. Most transport back then involved mules and a lot of the tracks we are walking on are the original mule tracks. What is even more astonishing is that mules only stopped being the mode to transport goods between these high mountain villages about 2 generations ago. Now most of the people have disappeared from these alpine valleys and the grazed land is reverting to forest, the old farm buildings are deteriorating, and the villages are being converted into weekend and summer retreats for city dwellers.
We arrive at La Guingueta d'Aneu at 10.30am and for the first time on the trip we have the opportunity to stop at a cafe and have a "morning tea". We order a sandwich each with the local sausage, botifarra. A cup of coffee and a glass of the best mineral water in the world, Vichy Catalan, and we are ready for the 2nd half of the day. A 2km climb lifts us 400 mtrs higher to the village of Dorve. It appears completely abandoned but road works have begun to push a road through so a couple of the old stone houses look like renovations have begun. The sun is out and we have a 4km climb out of Dorve which will lift us another 900 mtrs to the top of El Calvo and then a 3.5 km downhill to the village of Estaon 1000mtrs below. It is a village of 20 old stone houses and the only place to stay is in the house of Señora Rosa Feliu Torrent. I had called her from Espot and she was waiting for us. Her husband had converted the ground floor of their house into a self contained flat. She gave us 3 cold beers which disappeared immediately much to her astonishment so she brought 3 more. She and her husband had farmed these hills for 40 years. She told me that her son lived in Barcelona and her daughter had met an Australian and lived in Sydney, since 1975. We had a story in common. After we had a hot shower (bliss!!) she cooked us dinner, an excellent tortilla de patatas with botifarra and salad, all of the ingredients including the eggs out of her organic garden. Delicious. After a good nights sleep and an excellent breakfast we agree that it has been the best nights accommodation so far on the trip.

Oooops. tech problem

Hi guys,
You will have noticed a lack of updating of the blog over the last week. Unfortunately, as the TV people used to say, this has been beyond my control. First of all, at the beginning of last week we were in a valley in the Pyrenees that did not have Vodafone coverage. Then we climbed over a high pass into the country of Andorra which of course is a separate state and appears to have a state monopoly on cellphone coverage. This has meant that I can receive calls to my cellphone but as I have no data contract with the Andorran cellphone company I cannot send emails. I update the blog by sending emails to the blogsite and no email means no blog updates.
I am writing this from a cyber cafe so you will have to wait until we get back into Spain before I can continue with the blog.
We crossed into Andorra in the northwest of the country through a high pass called the Port de Baiau (2757 mtrs). We had to wait two days for the weather to be right and even then we almost froze and got caught in a wild hail storm but managed to overnight in an emergency refuge up near the pass.
We have been 2 days in Andorra (in Arinsal and today Ordino). Tomorrow we make the climb through to the town of Encamp and then we will go overland for 2 days without seeing any civilisation until the town of Puigcerda in Catalonia. We will be meeting up with friends, Olga and Albert who have a house near there and staying the weekend of the 12th Friday / 13th Saturday with them. From there it will be 10 more days of walking to the end, Cap de Creus. I think that by now we have had enough of struggling up vertical climbs of mountains only to get to the top and see...more mountains that we have to climb. All 3 of us are looking forward to sweating our way up to the top of a mountain and seeing...the sea. We have been at it since the 1st of September and it has been bloody hard work. Fantastic views, great experiences, but we are all looking forward now to the end. We still have many more hard days to go and the weather could still close us out with winter coming on, especially in the higher altitudes. But we are now determined to finish the damn thing.

Yet another mountain

Estany de Sant Maurici

Sunday 30th Sept Refugi d'Amitges to Espot 10.5 kms

After the last 2 hell days we awoke early hoping for good weather. We had an easy day ahead, a gentle downhill all the way to Espot, a small village but with some shops and a bar or 2. The dawn sky was cloud free and the surrounding high peaks reflected the early morning sun. The night before we were absolutely exhausted. A hot shower and dinner was all i could manage. I was unconscious by 8.30. We would not be able to stay at refuges any more, at least the ones that provide food and bunks with mattresses, as the season was over and they all close. So from now on overnighting in the mountains will be in the tent or in the "free" refuges which generally amount to little more tham a stone shack with a wooden platform on which to sleep with no other facilities. To make it worse, most of them have been vandalised. We wandered down past Sant Maurici, a lake after which the national park in which we are, was named. Very pretty but it was sunday and there were lots of "domingueros" (sunday visitors) about and, as we had become used to having all of the scenery to ourselves, we pushed on. We arrived in Espot a little after midday, had a couple of beers at a cafe, walked out to the edge of town and set up the tents at a camping ground. After doing all the domestic stuff (laundry, shower, gear repairs, etc.) we shouted ourselves a restaurant meal then wandered back over the ancient street beside the rushing river in the darkness to our sleeping bags.

The start of the hardest day.

Saturday 29th Sept Restanca to Refugio d'Amitges 17 kms

Early start at dawn. Straight into an uphill slog. Clear skies but very cold which means the snow has not disappeared. I for one am regretting the party last night and I notice the other 2 are quiet as well. Due to the fact that the refuge at Colomers is closed and the weather is freezing we have to climb through 3 high mountain passes today to get to the next refuge on our route. We climb to 2500 mtrs to cross the Port d'Oelhacrestada and drop into an alpine valley with some magnificent lakes. It is full of deep snow and dark cloud is starting to blanket the sky. As usual in many parts of the GR11, the waymarks are few and we spend an hour and a half walking through the snow up hills and down to lakes in a frustrating waste of time and energy looking for the route. We regroup and decide on 1 last attempt. The weather is really starting to look bad now and if we dont find the way in the next half an hour we will have to turn back. Unbelievably we almost immediately stumble on a track marker. We cross behind a lake and begina grind up to a pass, the snow obscures the boulders we are trying to walk over, feet slipping and at times plunging down into the gaps. As we get near the gap in the mountains the wind is building and the temperature drops. Suddenly, as we reach the pass, we are bombarded by a driving snow storm. We hide behind a boulder and pull on more gear. It was 12 midday. We had been going since before 8am and had completed only 4 kilometres. We literally slid off the top of the pass, skidding and at times floundering in the deep snow. As we dropped in altitude the snow turned to rain. 2 hours later we arrived at Colomers, a lake with the closed refuge. We still had another 10 kms to get to D'Amitges so after a 15 minute pause to eat a muesli bar and a bit of orange we pushed on through the drizzle. We were in the National Park of Aiguas Tortes which is a region of beautiful lakes. Our path wound past dark green meres fringed with mountain pines. We still had one more high pass to get through and now we were slogging uphill in heavy rain. As usual CB was leading the charge with Mr Jackson on his heels. I followed a very distant 3rd. We had been going for over 8 hours in bad conditions with barely a break and I was just focusing on putting 1 foot in front of another following the footprints in the snow and pulling myself up from 1 boulder to the next. Up ahead CB was struggling to breathe through a full on cold. Chris J, in a moment of literary inspiration, describes the pass we were sweating our way up to, as "El Collado (the pass) of Mental Fortitude". The pass, when we got there, was shrouded in mist. We were only 2 kilometres from the refuge. It took us an hour and a quarter to get there walking along a narrow, snow covered track cut into the side of a steep mountain side 60 metres above another lake. We arrive finally at the refuge sopping wet, 11 hours after we set out. As we approach I ask CB what time it is, "Dinnertime" he answers. Never better put.

Merci beaucoups les françaises de Restanca

On the way to Restanca

Last look back at Aragon

Pico del Mich de la Tallada

How can u lose weight with food like this? (Fortunately its not so good in other refuges)

Elena, la cocinera de Conangles, can cook up a storm. Chris Jackson wants to marry her.

Bart and Rene

Two good evenings waiting at Conangles having dinner with new friends from the Netherlands (not Holland!). Thank you both for your company and generosity.

The Conangles dog

Waiting at the refuge for the storm to pass was helped by the good people at Conangles, Genìs, Elena and fun with their dog, Cana, a Gos d'atura (catalan sheep dog).

Snow at Conangles

Friday 28 Sept Conangles to Restanca 13 km

Cold but sunny. The thermometer shows 3 degrees outside at 8am. It is not a long day today, or so we think. We say farewell to Rene and Bart from the Netherlands. We have had a good time at Refugio de Conangles for the last 2 days while the weather has shown us what it can do and we have enjoyed the hospitality of Genis and Elena. We have eaten very well, too well in fact because Elena's cooking is amazing. I think i have added the 3 kgs i thought i had lost. We walk in the sun and it lifts our spirits. After we climb out of the forest we hit the snow that has fallen over the last 2 days. We climb 900 mtrs to the pass the snow getting deeper. At times we are sinking up to our thighs in powdery snow. The views are amazing but the going is slow and hard because of the snow. En route to the refuge we look down from the tops into a valley that Anna and i once camped in many years ago. Then its a final slog up the steep, rocky side of a mountain, traversing around to the east and the Restanca refuge comes into sight just above a large lake. It has taken us 6 hours. We arrive at the refuge to find it populated with french real estate agents on a team building thing. Immediately the talk turns to the rugby world cup. They are convinced that the french have it in the bag. How wrong could they be, but no amount of cheap red wine and argument could convince them otherwise. Tomorrow is going to be a long, hard day so we should go to bed early, but we dont.

Snow at Conangles 1550mtrs

Thursday 27th Sept. Refugio de Conangles

Woke up at dawn this moring to find heavy snow falling all around the refuge we are staying at. The mountains we want to climb up to were completely invisible in the white out. So no walking today. The forecast is for it too improve in the next day or two. We can only hope so. The owner of the refuge where we are staying, Génis Roca, gave us a lift in his car to Viella, the nearest town, so we could do some shopping and other jobs.
Its a bit frustrating because we want to get on but common sense must prevail.
Fortunately the food is great where we are staying and they have a nice fire to warm up around.

www.refugiconangles.com

"Far From Home" by Chris Bennett

We are halfway through our journey now and a lot of the time we are completely isolated from the world. At times we walk together, at times alone and we think about those we miss. Chris Jackson worries about his dad, I miss my family, and Chris Bennett misses his family and new arrival to this world, Eve. He wrote this poem about it.

"The way is steep; up through angled mountain peaks,
I sip my water, replacing sweat from weeks and weeks,
Of,
Climbing and descending and climbing again in the rain and the sun.
Awesome, beautiful, majestic peaks off which cascading waters run,
We are rewarded by our day's efforts to gain Pirineos lofty peaks and passes,
Picturesque yet mighty landscapes forced up during earth's past is,
Inspirational and calming for our bodies and soles,
But the ones on our boots are getting worn and ripping holes!
We are happy to be here amongst nature's most rugged,
At times whining when we feel a bit buggered.
But mostly we are happy to continue along the path,
Of the GR11 whilst we talk, and sing, and laugh,
But sometimes we are brooding quiet as we wander, seek and roam,
When remembering loved ones and the comfort of our homes.¨

Chris Bennett. Refugio de Pescadores. 24/9/2007

Wednesday 26th Sept Beaten by the weather.

Rain this morning and a bad forecast. We set out with wet weather gear on and follow the track through the drizzle for an hour reaching 1800mtrs. At this stage the rain turns to snow and looking up we can see nothing. A complete white out. The temperature has dropped below freezing. We huddle for a conference. We had planned to climb to 2350mtrs and set off across country to the next refugio, Restanca but with freezing temperatures, snow and low visibility we decide to abort the attempt. We have returned to Refugio Conangles. The forecast is no better for tomorrow but so many times the forecast has been wrong. For sure tho, winter in the Pyrenees is arriving and we still have 22 more walking days to go. They are going to be cold ones.

Chris Bennett and Chris Jackson at Ballibierna pass 2710mtrs

Last day in Aragon

Glacial lake at 2440mtrs. After this we climbed to 2710mtrs and crossed over the Collada Ballibierna.

Tuesday 25th Sept Puente de Coronas to Refugio de Conangles 17.5 k ms

The weather has definitely chilled. We woke early, it was still dark. Breakfast and off. We were below the peak of Aneto, 3404mtrs, the highest in the Pyrenees. Unfortunately the grey clouds obscured the summit. CB and J surged ahead but for some reason it wasnt my day and the higher we climbed the slower I went. We had to cross the Ballibierna pass at 2710mtrs and it was a struggle to the top with cold wind at our backs. We climbed down into a valley of lakes and tussock with fairly easy walking for an hour or so. Then the landsape changed and we had a 700mtr steep fall through forest down to the Salenque river. After that we had a fast walk through beech forest finally reaching the Noguera Ribagorça river, the boundary between Aragon and Catalonia. We stayed at the Refugi de Conangles and had without doubt the best food of any refugio. Our hosts, Ginès y Elena, were great. Ginès Roca had been in the first spanish climbing expedition to the Himalayas in the 70s.

refugio de estós

Early morning.

Sunday 23 Sept Biados to Estós 11.5 km

What should have been an interesting day amongst high peaks turned out to be a dreary, cold damp hard climb up to the Estos pass with the cloud level at 2200mtrs which meant that since we were above that level we walked in the mist with views of nothing. We were going to push on further than the refugio but we arrived there cold and the thought of trudging on in that weather was not appealing. A shame as the Estós valley has a lot to offer in the way of scenery.

Monday 24 Sept Estós to Puente de las Coronas 19kms

Today is an object lesson in how high mountain forecasts can be wrong. We are up before dawn and the stars are twinkling without a cloud in site. A quick breakfast and we are away shortly after sunrise. It is amazing the difference blue sky makes. Spirits lifted and yesterdays dreariness forgotten we march down the valley. An "easy" day today, we only have a climb of 700 mtrs to our destination, Refugio de Pescadores, a simple hut beside the Vallibierna river with no facilities. We arrived late afternoon with the sun still shining but a cold wind blowing. Wash some clothes in the river, collect firewood. We have the place to ourselves. By tomorrow night we will have finished the section of the walk that goes thru Aragon, and we will have arrived in Catalonia.

Ainsa at night

Sunset at Ainsa

Sat 22nd Parzan to Refugio de Biados 20 kms

Bad weather. One of the most boring days of the trip. It rained on and off and was quite cold. We were up close to the solid layer of cloud so had no views. It was, as always, an uphill climb to a high pass, Paso de los Caballos 2326 mtrs. Basically we are moving through the Pyrenees using the ancient pathways used by the local peoples for thousands of years before the advent of the car. This involves moving from one mountain valley to the next, climbing to the head of each valley and then over the ridge between the mountains and down into the next valley. Up until very recently these valleys were very isolated with each valley speaking their own dialect of whatever the regional language was. Still today some of the older folk speak the original dialects but they are fast disappearing. We notice that as we move from valley to valley even the types of trees and other flora change. Earlier in the walk we were surrounded by green pastures and forests of beech and oak. Now the ground has become drier and stony with black pines and other conifers. We have moved into the mediterranean zone. Back to the walk, the excitement for the day was, as we stopped for lunch, after climbing 1200 mtrs over 10 kms, CB realised he had left behind his mattress in the bed and breakfast place we had stayed last night, an expensive and vital piece of equipment that would be very difficult to replace. We had another 10 kms to go to finish the day and there would be no easy way out from there. He decided to hide his pack, head back down the 1200mtrs, get his mattress, and return to the top, collect his pack and finish the days stage to the refuge. Apart from the physical effort, the problem was daylight hours. CJ and I arrived at the refuge to find it was full. We would have to camp and it was raining. Plus we had to wait at the refuge for CB. By 7pm I decided to leave my pack and head back to find Chris before it got dark. I bought a can of beer from the refuge to give him when i found him and was just about to go when he showed up. Smiles all around. And as 3 people didnt show up at the refuge, we got bunks for the night.

Wed 19th Sept Pineta to Parzan 19 kms

After yesterdays effort we were looking for an easier day, but every day on the GR11 is a hard day. We had blue skies and set out late at 9am. Up the road to the Parador we turned right into the woods and straight into a stiff climb. 1000 mtrs up over 8 kms. On the way up we cleared the tree line and had fantastic views of Monte Perdido and Añisclo, the vertical face we had climbed down yesterday. As we got near the top we saw a "Quebrantahuesos" (Bonecrusher) eagle gliding overhead. There are only 40 pairs of these left. The afternoon was spent following a long forestry road down to the village of Parzan. A couple of beers and then a 3 km walk down the highway to the town of Bielsa. We wanted have a break and get a few jobs done in a town but Bielsa had nothing we needed. We stayed the night and bussed to Ainsa. We stayed 2 days. It was like having a weekend off from work.

Incoming weather

At 2000 plus metres in the Pyrenees, the first warning you get that the weather is about to get nasty is cloud production on the tops. In this photo, what had been a sunny, mild day was about to become a freezing cold thunderstorm in the space of the next 20 minutes. Things happen fast up here.

Ordesa National Park

This section through the Ordesa National Park was the best track surface we had walked on. Sadly it didnt go far. The forest and views up to the canyon rim were spectacular.

No problem with signage here.

We THINK we might know where we are...

Thanks to all

I would like to take a moment to thank everyone for helping us with this trip and especially to those who send messages of encouragement.
Unfortunately because I am uploading photos and text by email from my mobile phone to the blog, I cant read the comments that you leave until I get to a internet cafe, which in these parts are few and far between. But thanks anyway to Vicki, Tim and my dad, the Bennett mob,

y muchisimas gracias a Lola y Carlos por los mensajes SMS de animo. Los aprecio muchisimo.

Up here in the mountains we are very isolated and to know that people are thinking about us means a lot. You can send texts directly to my cell phone +34677216283 I dont always have coverage but I will receive them when I do. Richard Gerard, if you are reading this please let us know how the Rugby World cup is going. Here in Spain it doesnt exist as far as the spanish press and tv are concerned. And we are only 10 kilometres from the french border!!

the Monte Perdido glacier

Knocked that one off.

Jaime y Refugio de Pineta. ¡Que vengan las chirris neocelandesas!

Tuesday 18th Refugio de Goriz to Pineta 13.5 kms

The day dawned and the weather was very cold but looked settled. We decided to make a go of it. The distance was not long (13.5 kms) but the track was going to be the most difficult we had faced. From Goriz we had a 300 metre climb over 2 kms to get to the Collado de Arablo, then a 700 metre drop over another 3 kms to the Bellos river. this fall required a lot of hands on climbing to get down rock faces and as usual the track marks were not easy to find which slows down progress as we have to double check we are heading in the right direction. In these steep sided valleys, you only need to lose your direction for 5 minutes and you can get yourself in all sorts of trouble; there are high cliffs everywhere.
By the time we hit the bottom of the valley we were already tired but could not wait to rest. We now had a steep 600 metre climb over 2.5 kms to get to the high pass of Collado de Añisclo and the weather looked threatening. It took us nearly 2 hours to get there the going was so steep. To put it bluntly, I was buggered and we still had the worst of the day ahead of us.
As we reached the top were were surprised to find a Spanish guy there with GPS equipment. He worked for the National Park and they were revising all of the tracks in the park. At the top we were at a height of 2500 metres above sea level. We now had to go down an almost vertical cliff to the valley floor 1.2 kilometres below. Looking down was freaky. It was like looking out of the window of an aeroplane. It was unbelievable that the GR11 took this route and I began to see why the GR11 track was considered so difficult. Up until now it had been physically challenging but this was another dimension. The park employee gave us encouragement "Tomalo muy despacito porque es muy peligroso" (take it slowly because it is really dangerous). We stepped off the edge to begin the descent. To describe what we had to walk down as a track would be extending the use of the word way beyond what it was intended for. We were carefully stepping our way along slippery gravel ledges and climbing down vertical rock faces. I chose to concentrate on where I was putting each foot because to look down to the valley floor immediately gave me vertigo. Amazingly, even Chris Bennett our young and enthusiastic guide, was looking extremely white around the lips. He later admitted that it was the scariest thing he had ever done. To drop the 1200 metres took us nearly 3 hours.
At the bottom I was exhausted and my legs and feet were aching. Once again having 20 kilos on your back while climbing down made the trip even harder, and more dangerous. We were so happy to be on flat ground and looked up in wonder at where we had come from. It seemed incredible that we were alive. We walked to the Refuge of Pineta and were greeted by our host for the evening, Jaime. 2 cold beers each, a hot shower and change of clothes and we were filled with endorphin fever. We had a great evening with Jaime and a couple of other intrepid fools who were crazy enough to do the same thing as us. Chris Bennett wanted to know if anyone had died doing what we had just done and much to our horror we found out that only six weeks before someone had put a foot wrong on the same section that we had gone down and had plunged to their death. Not the first one either apparently. Many people do the walk we did and when they see what they have to go down they turn around and go back.
Jaime was a great host. He cooked a great meal, spaghetti bolognesa, salad, spanish sausages and chips. ¡¡Buenísimo!! Refugio de Pineta, good food, good beds, good time.
I include a photo of Jaime and he says that I have to put on this web site that all the New Zealand girls are welcome to stay at Refugio de Pineta anytime (¡Qué vengan las chirris neocelandesas!) Muchas gracias Jaime. Ha sido un placer concerte. Y para que sepas, ya hemos quitado los "porsiacasos" de nuestras mochilas para hacerlas un poco mas ligeras.

Monday 17th Bujaruelo to Refugio de Goriz 22 kms

It had rained during the night and packing up our tents and gear was a bit damp but the sun came out and we set out for a long day. We were now entering a National Park and after a few kilometres entered into a huge canyon not unlike the Grand Canyon in the USA. It was VERY impressive. we walked through forest with the most awesome views of massive cliffs on both sides of our route. We followed a river up the long canyon and had views of massive waterfalls and rapids. It was a long walk and a steady climb until we came to the end of the canyon. We knew that we had to climb another 400 mtrs over about 5 kilometres to reach the hut, Refugio de Goriz. The narrow, rocky track snaked up the canyon end and at every turn we were higher and higher above the canyon floor. The weather, which had been very mild, suddenly began to get much colder. Within about 30 minutes the temperature dropped 10 degrees and thunder and lightning were all around us. Rain and sleet began to fall heavily and we rushed to get our wet weather gear on. Within minutes we were soaking and freezing cold, and uncertain as to how far away the refuge was. The rain got heavier and we momentarily lost our way but fortunately got a glimpse of the roof of the refuge above us. Just as well as I could already feel hypothermia coming on. Another half an hour in this weather and I think I would have been in trouble. As it was I could no longer feel my hands.
We headed up to it and were surprised to find it absolutely full of people. Goriz is the busiest manned hut in the Spanish Pyrenees because it is the closest to Monte Perdido (Lost Mountain) which at 3150 is the 4th highest peak in the Pyrenees and a favourite for climbers both french and spanish. We had fortunately booked bunks and a meal for the night. we got our wet gear off and hung everything up and after a cup of very hot chocolate things started to look rosy again. We had an entertaining evening with our table companions, a belgian gentleman who loved Duvel beer, and 2 spanish guys one of whom, Miguel Gonzalez (gracias por la información Miguel) was doing the reverse trip to ours but going even further. He was heading over to the coast above Portugal. Quite a trip!
We were at an altitude of 2200 metres above sea level and the problem we now faced was the weather. the next stage of our trip to the valley floor of Pineta was known to be the most difficult of all of the GR11 walk that we were doing. If the weather was going to be bad it would be suicide to continue but at the same time there was no room for us to wait it out at the Goriz refuge. we could only stay one night. Later that evening the guy running the hut came to me with a new forcast; it looked like it was improving so he contacted the Pineta refuge and told them that we would be attempting the traverse through the next day.

Bridge on the way to Ordesa

Cuello Brazato 2600Mtrs

mountains, mountains, everywhere.

View from Tebbaray

Sunday 16th Panticosa to St. Nicolas de Bujaruelo 22 kms

A long day today but the weather gods were no longer with us and we had heavy cloud. First breakfast at the hostal. Spanish breakfasts leave a lot to be desired. As I have said previously, we have been eating very well (too well, despite the exercise my waistline does not appear to be diminishing) but due to the Spanish feeding timetable the early morning breakfast does not figure highly on their food agenda. The average spanish working person typically gets up just before heading off to work and grabs a quick cup of coffee to get the brain into action. Breakfast for most here usually happens at around 9.30 to 10 oclock when they get a half hour break from work and they have a large sandwich with another coffee or even a beer! Lunch is taken at around 2 pm or later with a 2 hour lunch break (lunch is the main meal of the day here so is typically 2 to 3 courses with wine and coffee to follow). Back to work in the afternoon at around 4 to 5 pm your spanish worker doesnt knock off until 7 or 8 pm, and having dinner at around 10pm. Bedtime is usually between midnight and 1 am.
The problem we found was, the breakfasts that we were being given were mainly comprised of coffee and a sweet roll. Hardly enough to go and conquer mountains on. Being up in the mountains we couldnt buy a lot of provisions so we were always looking to supplement the breakfasts with something extra. Not always possible.
As usual we walked out of the hostal and straight into a hard long climb. we slowly climbed up the side of a mountain and into the clouds. Fortunately the rain held off and it was like walking in very heavy mist. We passed a high mountain Ibon (glacial lake) and soon were at the top of the pass (Cuello Brazato 2600 mtrs above sea level).
Climbing down from there alongside the rapids of a crystal clear mountain stream, we saw a herd of wild Chamois deer nearby. we had also been seeing Marmots and suddenly the little, chubby, furry animals were everywhere. Chris Bennett almost stepped on one as he strode along. We stopped for lunch and wrapped up warm as the wind had a cold chill. directly in front of us was the huge face of Mt. Vignemale (3298 mtrs) with the top masked by grey cloud. As we got ready to push on the clouds parted to give us a view of the high, craggy peak. Awesome.
Then it was off to St. Nicolas de Bujaruelo, a long down hill walk over rough farm land being grazed by absolutely huge Pyrenean cows. Bujaruelo is, like everywhere around here, beautiful. With high waterfalls and wide, clean rivers with transparent swimming holes.
We stayed at a camping ground tonight. It will go down in our memories as having the best hot showers of any place we had stayed at. We ate wild rabbit at the camping ground restaurant and drank rose wine. I dont remember climbing into my sleeping bag inside my tent that night but I do remember walking up in the wee small hours to the sound of rain falling.

Saturday 15th Respumoso to Balneario de Panticosa 16 kms

The morning was cold. We were already up at 2100 mtrs above sea level and had a 700 metre climb to get to the high pass of Cuello Tebarral. It was to be the highest point so far n the walk. We set off surrounded by high peaks and walked through a hangin valley filled with small alpine streams. As we climbed the going got steeper and soon we were scrambling our way up a rocky scree slope. It just got steeper and steeper and with a mountain in front of us it was difficult to see exactly where the track was taking us. Suddenly the track hooked sharply to the right and we could see a very narrow pass (3 metres wide) in the immense rock wall in front of us. As we approached it, the way became totally vertical and so it was a hand over hand climb up a solid rock face, no easy feat with a 20 kilo pack on the back. I didnt look backwards because I didnt want to see where I would end up if I fell. Once at the top it was a relief to say the least. There was already a few Spanish climbers there and we all enjoyed the spectacular view of Mt Balaitus (3150 mtrs) and a ring of peaks to our left called the Infiernos in Spanish ( the Hell peaks, I can see why they got their name). After that it was a long down hill walk of some 12 kilometres stopping to have lunch beside some beautiful glacial lakes in the sunshine.
We arrived about 6pm at Balneario de Panticosa, which is a very expensive spa resort first made fashionable by the Spanish King Alfonso the 13th in the late 19th century. The whole town was a construction site with new hotels and apartments being built but fortunately there was a hostal for trampers and climbers call Casa de Piedra, complete with bar and restaurant. We immediately ordered 3 large, cold beers (which was beginning to become a bit of a custom) and booked in for the night. We had dinner with 3 spanish mountaineers who were also staying at the hostal and had a great evening. As usual with these mountain refuges or hostals, we are all crammed together in bunkrooms with a variety of nocturnal nasal sounds being emitted by various people. Fortunately for me I am usually so exhausted that I collapse unconscious immediately. Others are not so lucky and I note here that sometimes, while asleep, I get requests from others in my vicinity to cover my face up with a pillow. I dont know why, they seem to have some problem with my breathing.

Rock on!

 

I guess this is the way...?

 

Most of the time on the GR11 there was very little in the way of proper tracks, and if as well as that the white stripe-red stripe markings were thin on the ground as well then you spent most of the day hoping you were going the right way.

Our highest point so far.

sunshine and a cold beer after a hard climb. What more could u ask ?

Friday 14th Sallent to Ibon de Respumoso 8kms

Only a short walk today though all of it a steep climb. There is a Refugio (tramping hut) at the lake of Respumoso. It is at 2200mtrs above sea level and we wanted to use it as a staging ground for the next days push up and over one of the highest passes we would face on the trip (Cuello Tebarral 2800mtrs). We arrived at just after midday at the refugio and were pleased to find that they had accommodation, and a bar and meals! 2 cold beers were rapidly despatched and we made ourselves the usual lunch while looking up at the incredibly high peaks that now completely surrounded us.

the climb to Respumoso

Wednesday 12th Candanchu to Sallent de Gállego 2 2 kms

A very long climb up a steep sided valley with an incredibly high almost vertical face to get over at the end of the valley. Chris B and J wemt ahead but i had tn take a 10 minute breather before plodding up to the top of the 2200 mtr pass. We saw chamois and marmots. At the top was a large alpine meadow with another glacial lake Ibon d'Anayet. A quick lunch of our usual Pyrenean cheese, chorizo, sardines, bread and fruit. It has to be said here that spanish food is excellent however the bread is definitly lacking. For this walk we need good quality grain bread and while it does exist it is almost impossible to find in the small mountain villages. A long 10 km downhill to the village of Sallent now tho half way down we ran into a newly developed ski field which had obliterated the track. We ended up walking down beside 4kms of highway (really hard on the feet) before getting into the village. We had decided to have a rest day on thursday and i definitly needed it. We had some really big stuff coming up.

the mountains we have to climb

a hard day

Tuesday 11th Guarrinza to Candanchu 22 kms

The day started early with the local cows trying to eat our gear and licking Bennets pack which wound him up somewhat. A beautiful morning we had a fast walk along a river canyon before starting up a climb to a pass which led thru to the valley of Aguas Tuertas, a FLAT walk! Amazing. Not for long tho. A climb up to 1915 mtrs then down to our first glacial lake, Ibon d'Estanés. Crystal clear water and warm sunshine, we took our boots and shirts off and ate lunch while feet soaked in chill mountain water. We pushed on dropping thru beech forest. The track then headed into a blind canyon with the most massive wall of rock at the end. We traversed along a very narrow (a times 20 cm wide) track above an almost vertical drop of moraine. With a 20kg pack ones mind became extremely focused on the loose gravel track. Then a grind uphill and we arrived at the ski resort town of Candanchu. Being the end of summer it was a ghost town. We finally found a little old bar and drank 3 cold beers each. We we buggered and there appeared to be nowhere to stay. The woman that owned the bar said we would have to camp and sold us food at extortionate rates. We were at 1500 metres above sea level and a thick evening mist had rolled in. A 2 kilometre walk into the mountains to flnd somewhere to camp did not appeal. At the last minute as we were preparing to leave the bar an english tourist walked in and told us about a hostel 500 metres up the road right on the french border. Our elderly bar owner claimed to know nothing but had made a nice profit from provisioning us for camping. Hmmm... With rain coming we headed for the hostel carrying a few kilos of excess food.

GR 11 marks

This is what we look for all day long. The track at times is nonexistent so finding the white stripe over red stripe becomes a game. It can be painted on a tree, a boulder, a stone on the ground, a building, a sign, anywhere. Luckily with 3 pairs of eyes it is a little easier; many times the first two would walk right past a turnoff in the trail but then the last guy just spots the worn and hidden mark showing a turn in the track. You have to be careful, sometimes the trail has been moved because maybe a private owner objects to the GR 11 crossing his land, so then the trick is to try and differenciate between the old marks and the new marks. Get it wrong (and we did quite a few times) and it can mean adding up to another 5Km to your day's walk.
Mark top left means go straight on; top middle: change of direction; top right: wrong way. The bottom marks are what you see on stakes or signs; in this case these are for the GR65.3. Oh, and that is another thing; there are many "GR's" (Gran Recorrido or Great Route) and they are all marked with the white stripe over red stripe so there is another way to get yourself on the wrong track. We managed to cross over the wrong pass and ended up in a french village at one point when we should have been 20 kilometres to the south in Spain!

Monday 10th September Zuriza to Guarrinza

For me today was the hardest day so far. Most days we walk about 20 kms and they involve walking from one valley over a high pass and down into another valley. We are now camping at abont 1200 to 1500 metres above sea level and walking over passes at about 1800 to 2100 mtrs though these heights will increase as each day goes by and we get closer to the bigger mountains of the central Pyrenees. Altitude makes itself felt in many ways. The sun burns very hot and the wind blows harder. The air, especially after the sun goes down, gets really cold and when you are climbing mountains your lungs can't find as much oxygen as at sea level. So for me at least, being in the worst physical shape of the 3, this walk is really proving to be a challenge. Monday wasn't any more difficult than most days but I felt like the gas tank was empty and I didn't have lots of energy. Probably the climb over Ezcaurri had taken its toll. The climb up through today's main pass seemed to be interminable. when you are in the Pyrenees, it is always difficult to see exactly where you are supposed to be going, mainly because there are very few clear cut tracks. Most of the time you are just travelling across unmarked country. Just when you think you can figure out where the route is going to take you, you see a GR11 painted mark on a random rock which points you off in a completely different direction, heading you towards an even steeper climb than the one you thought you were going to have to do. Today we got a little lost as usual and ended up climbing around in steep country looking for GR11 marks. Its tiring enough just following the route without having to do extra distance in very steep terrain. We came to our end point for the day, a crossroads called La Mina and found no safe drinking water; there were a lot of big, mountain cattle in the valley with access to the river which made the water unreliable. To top it off our water purifier went on strike. The guide (Chris Bennett) recommended moving on and we really had no choice, we needed good water. Eventually further up the valley, we found safe water, a spring which came up through a handmade rock structure built for cattle to drink out of. The water was freezing cold and delicious. The next challenge was to find some flat land to erect the tents. This proved to be a bit of a problem and the day was drawing to a close. In the end we camped down near the river. Putting up the tents proved hilarious as they were an irresistable attraction for the local cows, who at first tried to eat the tents until we chased them away. As the sun set we had the most beautiful view up towards the tops of the mountains around us but the cold really bit in and I was glad I had warm clothes and a good sleeping bag. We had now been 2 days without seeing anyone and no cellphone coverage.

Refugio libre

 

This is a typical free hut. In fact this one is better than most. For those of us who are New Zealanders and are used to a network of well maintained huts, to find trashed and vandalised, leaking and filthy huts where bunks dont exist could be a bit of a surprise. However when the weather closes in here, you feel grateful to have anything blocking the wind and weather.

The going gets harder every day...

 

Guarrinza

The first cold night

 

Autumn was coming in fast and now we were beginning to climb in altitude, as evening came you really began to feel the cold and we were pulling out the thermal gear and being thankful for the down sleeping bags.

Sunday 9th September Esaba to Zuriza

"En las montañas, hay que ir despacito". (with mountains, take them slowly). Sage advice to me from an old basque shepherd. Today we left the alpine pastures and high hills of Navarra and entered the hard rock, steep peaks of Aragon. From here on, it is the very big mountains of the Pyrenees. We left Esaba after a day's rest and straight into a hard climb to the top of Peña Ezcaurri (2047 mtrs see foto). After grinding up 1000 mtrs over 9 kms, at first through forest then pushing our way up above the treeline into the high country, we were faced with a 300 metre high wall of rock that we had to go up and over. Unbelievable. We could see it from quite a distance and I was thinking the whole time as we got closer that "surely we won't have to climb over THAT!!" As the pommie twit writer of our guide book states "One can hardly believe that one is expected to surmount this obstacle". It took me an hour and a half of hand over hand vertical climbing to cover the 300 meters. As always the 20 kilo pack on my back was answering the call of gravity the whole way. Chris J and B were a bit faster than me so it was an incredible feeling to finally pull myself over the edge of the last section and see their smiling faces looking down at me. It was exhilirating and I was tired but the view from the top was breathtaking. We had been seeing large vultures (2 metre wingspan) the whole walk, now we were looking down on them as they floated on the thermal air currents, their giant wings extended and motionless as they swooped up and down. After having a good look around the top and checking out all the different views, it was a 900 metre near vertical drop to Zuriza on the steepest downhill track so far. I was really glad to have my walking poles because with the weight of the pack, once you started moving downhill momentum starts to take over and if you can't slow yourself down in the difficult gravelly and rocky terrain then you would end up going for the tumble of a lifetime which would not probably end for another 100 meters of vertical drop and a few broken limbs as a souvenir of the trip. By placing the poles in front of me I was able to both slow my descent and, with the more vertical drops off the edge of rock steps, reduce the shock of the landing taking away the risk of damage to knees and ankles. We come back down into forest but the sheer verticality of the track never diminished. Finally we came out onto the main road and after about 500 metres walking on tarseal with the soles of our feet burning from the friction of the climb down, we arrived at the camping ground of Zuriza. Like all establishments of this type in Spain, sensibly they have a bar. We availed ourselves of its services and downed several cold beers in succession. Feeling quite elated with the day's events we set up the tents and had a hot shower followed by a hot dinner in the camping ground bar / restaurant. Sleeping was not a problem.

Peña Ezcaurri

"One cannot believe that walkers are expected to surmount this obstacle". Comment from GR11 guidebook.

Climbing Peña Escaurri

Santuario de Idoya

Mountains, mountains everywhere.

Friday 7th Sept

We stayed at a hotel in Ochagavia. 3 to a room and shared bathroom with the other rooms. But a good dinner with excellent navarra rose wine. Friday was a 24 km plod thru boring pine trees but after 5 hours we arrived at a high point with our 1st real look at the really big mountains that we were soon to face. A bit scary I have to admit. Then once again a steep drop off thru dense beech before arriving at a small 13th century church, the Santuario de Idoya. A narrow rocky path led us to Isaba, an ancient high mountain village with cobbled lanes and more importantly a bar. We downed 4 beers each in 10 minutes. We decided to stay 2 nights here and hav a rest day. The body needed some r + r. Sunday will be the toughest day so far and Im not looking forward to it. A climb up to 2050 mtrs with a 20 kilo pack will be no picnic.

Thursday 6 Sept

These blog entries hav 2 be short as i am tapping them out on a mobile. It would b nice 2 put in a bit more of the daily events but my thumb gets 2 tired. Wednesday and Thursdy were 2 big days. We walked over 50 kms over rugged terrain. Water has become an issue as we move away from the moist Atlantic zone and we hav 2 carry all of our daily needs. Weds night we hav 2 make an unplanned camp at 1100 mtrs just below the treeline as we run out of daylight. Next day we follow the track downhill thru beech forest to the Irabia lake and on to Irati then a hard climb up to the top of Abodi 1469 mtrs. From there a steep drop to Ochagavia villa. The drops r worse than the climbs. Harder on the feet and knees and they are always at the end of the day when u r most tired.

La vista de Alto Aragon desde Navarra