Sunday 25th June: Weather 4°C to 20°C
Borce to Refuge d'Ayous: 17.1k walk: 9.15am to 4.45pm: 7hrs 30mins
Altitude Gain and Loss: Total Ascent 1700m: Total Descent 300m
Accommodation: Refuge d’Ayous
Blogging in bed at 6am
So many highlights today. Our GR10 follows the spectacular Chemin de la Mâture, a rising traverse cut into a near vertical rockface built in the 17th Centrury so logs could be brought down to make masts for the French Navy . Next there was the crossing of the Col d’Ayous at 2180m, where there were spectacular views of the Pic du Midi d’Ossau, the most photographed mountain in the Pyrenees. It’s a solitary mountain with twin peaks that stands at 2884m and dominates the skyline. But also spectacular views to the Pyrenees along the Spanish border - all just as spectacular as our French Alps.
Same as, same as, start to the day. 6am rise with emails and blogs and chat to home. Breakfast is at 7.30am - not a typical French breakfast - home made nutty bread, yoghurt and muesli, sliced meats and cheese with a hot cup of tea. There’s no hurry, I’ve cut this next stage of teh GR10 in half, staying at the Mountain Refuge d’Ayous instead of hiking the 26k to Gabas. And I’ve ordered a baguette from Le Communal which doesn’t open til 9am.
High humidity, bathroom wet
From Etsaut, many Sunday walkers
On the Chemin de la Mature
Stick left and you won’t fall over
Sunday walkers on the Chemin
Coffee in the forest
How green is my valley
Misty forests and mossy streams
Up there is CVol d'Ayous
Lunch at 2pm cooling the feet
Follow the red and white signs
Hikers above us on the Col d’Ayous
Views to teh Spanish Pyrenees
At Col d’Ayous with views to Pic du Midi d'Ossau
Col d’SAsou at 2180m
Refuge d’Ayous beside Lake Gentau
Pic du Midi d’Ossau in reflection
A leisurely time to pack and pour the rest of our red wine from last night into a water bottle. I walk the 100 metres up the road to pick up our baguette, and decide to get 2, and two tomatoes that will fit snugly into our SPC fruit container. At 9.20am we’re up the road and following the signs to Etsaut, a 1k walk and 50m descent to the River Aspe. From there we follow the signs to the Chemin de la Mâture, about 2k up a road. It’s busy. It’s Sunday. And there's hordes of day trippers parking cars and walking a few k to the Chemin de la Mâture.
At every turn, I’m on the look out for the start of this famous section of the GR10. Then all of a sudden it looms around the corner and I’m suddenly standing in a limestne cutout with a 200m sheer drop below. It’s amazing. Very very safe, but very hairy scary. It’s about 1k long and a slow climb upwards. I pity the poor animals who had to haul logs down this narrow path - sometimes 1m and sometimes 3m wide. Many must have fallen to their death below. There’s dozens of day trippers, mostly young ones doing a Sunday hike. They whiz past us and I make sure I’m on the left as they pass on the outside closest to the 200m drop. For about 40 mins we climb the Chemin de la Mâture, amazed at the engineering, but wary of the sheer drop below. At times there are shrubs growing on the edge of the track which provide a false sense of security.
The track finishes in a non-defined area that merges with a forrest track. It’s dark, gloomy and damp and we’re looking for a coffee spot. At 11.30am, we spy a clearing with a few scattered rocks that someone has used as a fire place. Good spot for coffee for a 20 min break. Then on again. Ian checks teh GPs. We’ve only gained about 500 m in height from Ertsaut at 600 m and we have another 1100m to climb to the Col d’Ayous. The GR10 passes follows the River d'Ayous through a mixture of forests with pretty streams and open bracken before rising to clear grassland with the Col d’Ayous in sight a long way up the valley.
We’re afraid to stop to have lunch because we know there’s still at least another 500m to climb, and trekking uphill on a full stomach is not good - lunch legs. But it’s almost 2 o’clock and we’re both famished. So we pick a spot beside the stream, knowing that there’s at least a 2k walk on a gradual climb before the final steep ascent. Lunch is baguette with butter and sliced tomato salt and pepper (freshly ground from oz). Not too much or we won’t make it to the col.
The Col d’Ayous is deceptively close. It looks like it’s only 30 mins away but it takes us another 2hrs of slow slog up through the meadows to real the Col at 2180m. The viws are amazing. Good as any French Alps view as we’ve seen. The Spanish Pyrenees behind us and the famous Pic du Midi d’Ossau, the most photographed mountain in the Pyrenees is ahead of us, standing behind the Lakes de Ayous. We stay for a while absorbing the view. It’s now 4pm and we left Borce at 9.15am - almost 7hrs to get to the top of teh col. But we still have another 40 mins walk down to the Refuge d’Ayous (at 2185m) on the other side.
It’s an easy walk to the refuge, perched on a mound overlooking the Lake Gentau. There’s a flat camping area in front of the refuge, and we can see people swimming in the lake. Brrr! It’s probably 15°C. We arrive at the refuge just a few minutes before 5pm. Lucky we didn’t rush here as it doesn’t open til 5pm and there’s a queue. It’s a well organised mountain refuge - a place for the hiking shoes near the door, then a row of rubber crocs, then bookshelves for the back packs, then a plastic basket for the minimum amount of gear we can take into the refuge.
We’re shown to our dorm - we’re lucky, 6 people in a 12 person dorm with beds side by side. The Sanitaire room has 2 toilets and 2 wash rooms. We immediately set up our bed with our sleeping sheet and blanket/pillow provided by the refuge, then grab a clean set of clothes and rush down to the wash room which consists of a small room and a basin without a plug and cold water straight off the mountain. It’s quite civilised and a cold wash is better than nothing.
Back to the dining room where there’s time to blog and a glass of rose while waiting for dinner. 7pm and the dining room is full. There’s 4 Aussies, 4 Dutch and the rest are French - a total of 27 out of a possible 48 so the whole refuge is only half full. It’s a beautiful setting with views over the lake and mountains - good as any Alps setting. Dinner is thick soup, with casseroled veal and rice, then a slice of cheese and apple puree. We sit chatting for an hour to another Australian couple, Bill and Joan - they have also done part of the GR5 and will be doing the same walk as us down to Gabas tomorrow. It’s cold outside now but still very light at 9pm and Ian takes the most spectacular photos of the Pic du Midi d’Ossau with its beautiful reflection in the Lac de Gentau.
We’re in bed soon after 9pm. No snoreres in our dorm TG.