Monday August 14, 34.0km/21.1mi
Vallée d’Eyne (644.0km/2060m) (France) to Refuge de Pla Guilhem (678.0km/2275m) (France)
I was awake early and started hiking up the hill , while the valley was still in the shade.
Pretty soon the trees disappeared, and I could see the morning Sun making its way into the valley.
The sunlight made a surprisingly crisp line of shade and Sun.
An hour later, I was at the top of the pass.
It was a little windy on top of the ridge, but in a good way.
The rest of the morning was on ridgelines, and I took a ton of photos for all the views.
Looking down into Spain:
This was one of my favorite days on the whole trail. It was a cruise, hiking the boundary between Spain and France.
And I saw a few herds of the Isard creatures too.
And a kilometer later, I saw a lone Isard, looking down upon everyone else.
There were a few little summits along the ridge that I would briefly stop at and have a snack.
Most of the time the trail would be slightly on one side of the ridge or the other, which was a nice balance of wind and calm.
And despite it being on a rocky ridge, the trail was surprisingly smooth and enjoyable to walk. It felt like being on the Colorado Trail again!
Later in the morning, there was a creepy little trail junction that had nine crosses/crucifixes at it. Weird.
All morning the trail just kept going along this ridgeline. Amazing.
There wasn’t much wildlife up there except for grass and these little flowers.
As I approached a little bump on the ridge called Pic de la Vaca, I could hear mooing in the distance.
Sure enough, as if on cue, there were cows laying on their namesake peak.
After this point I left the ridge and descended into another valley….
…. Which of course was also full of cows. Hungry baby cows.
This part of the trail was in Spain, and I think it was more accessible from a nearby trailhead somewhere, as I saw more hikers and even a few mountain bikers.
I climbed a small pass and then dropped down into another valley which contained a ski resort.
Also in the valley was Refugi d’Ull de Ter, where I stopped for lunch.
For some reason, they didn’t want people sitting inside so I sat at one of the outside tables and ate.
As I was leaving the refuge after lunch, I noticed this hilarious sign. Apparently you are not allowed to shake your fist at the birds.
Pretty soon after leaving the refuge, I hiked through the ski resort, and then up a small climb.
And I was back up on the ridge line!
At the top of the ridge I had crossed back into France. They usually post a sign with all of the rules, which few people seem to obey.
Within an hour of seeing the sign I saw people walking a dog, picking the flowers, and smoking. The afternoon flew by on an easy trail, with more amazing ridge views!
Yup, just easy walking and soaking in the scenery.
I have no idea why there was a stone picnic table in the middle of nowhere, but I’m never one to turn down a good picnic table.
After having an impromptu snack break, I walked for another half hour and then arrived at my planned camping spot for the evening.
The Refuge de Pla Guilhem was an old stone shelter that had been fixed up recently. I could see that it had a new roof and new windows, and somebody had put a fresh coat of white paint on the inside walls.
When I arrived there was a woman inside napping, eventually she woke up and we talked for a bit. Lou is from France, and neither of us spoke the other’s native language, so communication was a little slow. As we were making dinner, two other girls from Barcelona showed up and stayed as well. After dinner we all went outside to watch the sunset, which I noticed has been happening a little earlier nowadays.
After doing all the usual evening chores, a few of us went outside to look for shooting stars, and we actually saw quite a few! We also saw a few swarms of those Starlink satellites, which was a little unsettling. It was a great day of hiking, and a fun evening of socializing… kinda a perfect trail day.