We started at Eylie in the Biros Valley for our second wild camping walk in the Pyrenees. The day before consisted of close monitoring of the weather forecast to ensure that it was worth while climbing up into the mountains. The next day was forecast drizzle but the day after it said “a glorious sunny day”. We decided it was…
As well as the two wild camping trips higher in the Pyrenees mountains, we also had five or so day walks to recover and shelter from bad weather. The weather this year was unusually bad compared to what we normally have over the summer. Walk 1 – Precipitous Backpacking Walk 2 – Into the Spanish Pyrenees Castillon-en-Couserans The weather was…
The first stage of my Pyrenees hiking trip was to get from England to France, and then into the mountains. I landed in Toulouse at 21.30 and spent the night at a hotel close to the airport. The next day we went to collect the hire car which my dad and I would share driving. The process went smoothly until…
Walking to the top of the world Vignemale and d’Ossoue Glacier The Vignemale Massif section of the walk was incredibly beautiful but also incredibly steep! We started in Cauterets, a tourist hotspot known for its spas and skiing. We joined the tourist crowd for an hour in the morning, whilst they looked at cheese shops and novelty stores, I was…
A slight detour due to misfortune After walking up the Aspe valley and over Col du Moine in my last post, we dropped down into the valley to shelter from thunderstorms. The tops of the mountains were quickly shrouded in cloud and so we thought it would be a good opportunity to buy some fresh food and relax. The following…
Up the Aspe Valley The holiday started with flying from Bristol to Toulouse on the 21st June. I arrived to find in typical French fashion that the train service up into the Pyrenees was on strike. The issue was quickly resolved by booking a lift on Blablacar. Blablacar is an app that let’s people advertise where they’re driving to and…
We arrived in the French pyrenees to find the mountains covered in cloud, obscuring the peaks and making us wonder if we had made the right decision. We camped at a nearby campsite in Cauterets and spent the day procuring supplies for the hike into the mountains and walking around the local town. The cloud had lifted from the mountain…