We get up at half past seven. Audrey brings hot Chocolatines from the nearby Boulangerie and we have a breakfast. Then we say goodbye and drive to the village Chiroulett (1062m). There we take a track that goes up to Lac Bleu. On the way to the lake we go by the pasturing horses. Getting the sights near the lake we move on to the summit Les Aguillettes. After a short rest on the summit we descend to the pass and then to another valley – to Lac d’Ourrec. This path is slightly longer and harder to hike. We ar down at 3:30pm.
This is the end of our Pyrenees story. On the way to the airport in Pau we make a short stay in Lourdes to take a look at the famous pilgrimage sites.
Then we have a last hotel night in Lui de Bearn hotel near the airport and the way back home.
Today we drive to Aste village. The track follows the road then a rocky woody path. It’s cold and we follow the hills side in shadow. After a couple of hours hiking we are out of the wood and proceed through the meadows to the hillside and then climb up to the summit Casque du Lheris. At noon we are on the top. It’s sunny and warm. Marvelous sights around, to the Pic du Midi in particular – here almost all the snow has melted away. After a short break we start to descent. The weather is sunny and hot.
Next we drive to the pass Col d’Aspin – too take a look. The parking place on the pass is crowded by the goats – spoiled by the tourists. The goats lie by the cars, walk amidst the tourist and let the tourists treat them. We climb up the nearby hill Mount de les Salies (1641m, some 250m up from the parking place).
After that we drive down from the pass and have a lunch in a roadside café. Then we proceed to Campan village famous for the man-large dolls that are near almost every house.
We move out of our studio and drive to the pass Col du Tourmalet. Here we take a look on the monument for participants of the Tour de France and then move on to the observatory at the top of the Pic du Midi. At the beginning we go by the old road that has two tunnels. The snow gradually thicker and it is not easy to walk. Still – the group of kids with a teacher go ahead of us, a group of elder people follow us, so we have to move on. The last slope is particularly hard. The track is full of snow and we follow the school kids up to the top.
While ascending we watch how the cable car moves up to the observatory. The cable car moves really high above the valley (we see that better the next day – a small black point moves from one mountain top to another).
Up at the observatory winds strongly and gets cloudy. We watch the beautiful sights and just as we start to descend the top is covered by the thick fog. After an hour and a half we are back to our car. It snows and then rains while on the way down. I call Audrey, she agreed to be our hostess for the next two nights. Audrey is a little grumpy about me calling her so late. But still she promises to accept us.
We drive to Mongie – one of the largest sky resorts in Pyrenees. The town looks empty – the season has not come yet. Next we proceed to Bagneres de Bigorre. This is the largest Pyrenees town we travel. Traffic jams, no free parking place – everything like we have used to. We meet Audrey at here house and move in in here little flat. Audrey proposes her bedroom for us and moves to sleep in a smaller room. She serves us with coffee, we talk about the Pyrenees track and things.
When looking up to the mountains through the study window it is obvious today will be a good weather. Sunny!! We go to the Cirque de Troumouse. The road takes us 2103m high. The weather is perfect – sun shines, white snow all around. We start with the nearby hill to see the monument for virgin of Tromouse. Here we examine the steep cliff wall before us to find out where is the path uphill. Up there should be marvelous sights around. The chances of getting there does not look promising. Stil we select a direction and climb up by the hillside. After an hour or so it becomes obvious that we will not get to the top. Still we enjoy the beautiful sights around. We find the lake covered with ice ornaments. We descend to the car. The next stop is Gavernie.
We go to see the waterfall of the circus. Today the circus looks different then the last time. The sun shines from the Spanish side. The top of the wall is bright blank and above it sort of white clouds hang. It takes some time before we understand that the clouds are in fact the snow that the wind blow off the mountain ridge.
Time after time we hear a rattling sound from the waterfall. The snow heaps come down here. We proceed to the waterfall. It takes a couple of hours to get there. But it is worth it. We climb down. The sun descends rapidly as well. We manage to find a an elevation still in the sun light. Still while we have finished our fast lunch the sun has gone from there as well.
It reins all the night. The weather is terrible in the morning, we consider driving to Lourdes. When we are done with the breakfast the picture has changed. No rain and more light in mountain. We change our plans and drive to valley de Marcadou. We reach the Pont d’Espagne and leave our car in the giant almost empty car park.
We start our way in the middle of the group of French kids – apparently the classmates. Everybody (us including) is busy watching the goats high in the mountains. The mountains are covered with snow the still green plants are covered by snow and ice crystals. We follow the path almost till the Refuge de Wallon, then take the path to Lac de Arratille. There is a cold wind up there, dark clouds accumulate, puddles cover with ice.
It snows on the way down to the Pont d’Espagne but sun shows up from time to time.
