Saturday July 29, 32.6km/20.3mi
Gavarnie Village (299.6km/1365m) (France) to Lacs de Barroude (332.2km/2370m) (France)
We packed up early, so we could hike our first climb in the shade. We left the campground at 6:45am, and I so the morning rush hour go by. 12 mules and one car!
We climbed steeply on switchbacks for a couple of hours, and once we were above the forest, I could see the mountains ahead.
We stopped by the Refuge Des Espuguettes for a quick bathroom stop. The refuge was operated by the National Park service (instead of the French Alpine club), and it had a smaller, cozier feel to it.
We continued on toward the past to finish our climb. It was still in the shade which was nice.
We got to the top of the pass just after 9am and found sunshine. We spent the rest of the morning descending into a valley.
It was a beautiful Alpine valley and a nice trail, the only downside was that we passed probably a hundred people.
After a couple of hours we approached a lake and a dam. We had to move over for hikers so often it was a little difficult to make forward progress.
I always love seeing these civil engineering structures, and I took the time to read the interpretive signs even though they were only in French and Spanish.
Once we got past the dam and the nearby parking lot, we saw no more hikers, which was a relief. We continued to descend down into this valley on a small road.
It was a pleasant roadwalk, and after an hour we left the road and got on another trail. We had lunch at the trailhead and sat by a creek where I rinsed out my socks and dried my tent. The usual. After lunch we had a big 1000m climb up to another pass, and by now it was pretty hot so we took it slowly.
Fortunately the trail mostly followed a small creek, so we were able to get cold water whenever we wanted. Then we took a short snack break at this little stone cabin.
Across from the cabin was this strange little memorial that was difficult to read and it was pretty damaged by time and weather.
The long climb continued up….
And up….
And at the very top, the trail got quite narrow as it was carved into the cliff.
I got to the top of the pass, and Adam was just a few minutes behind me.
We could see down into the next valley, and there was some fog that was starting to build.
The trail on the other side of the pass was also blasted into a narrow cliff.
It was a pleasant little traverse to the next pass a couple kilometers away, with the fog advancing and receding occasionally.
Once we got over the next pass, the fog was a little more persistent.
The trail traversed below a huge cliff, which is supposed to be an amazing view, but we just saw the bottom part of it through the fog.
Yep, dense fog.
When we got to our planned camping spot at Lacs de Barroude, some of the fog had cleared and it was an amazing view.
Adam and I set up our tents above the lake to avoid the cold air and resulting condensation. Even with the damp fog and some wind, it was a pretty amazing alpine campsite. I felt more tired than usual at the end of the day, and when I checked my GPS I realized why. We had climbed 2450 meters (8,040ft) of elevation today!