Outdoor Adventures with Ancient Brit
Pyrenees GR11 2003- Day 1: August 9th
Saturday 9th August
I did not get much sleep overnight. A small group arrived for a beach party and were
very noisy until 3 or 4am. Then at 6am, while it was still dark, beach workers came
along with 3 JCBs. An oil tanker had broken in two during the winter off the NW tip of
Spain and oil had spread all along the northern coast of Spain and along the Atlantic
Coast of France. The old tanker had been in trouble a few days earlier, but had been
refused entry to a Spanish port, because the Port Authority were concerned about the
danger of oil spills. Instead a minor problem become a major environmental disaster and
caused serious damage to the tourist industry along the Atlantic coast. I later met a
German family, who normally holidayed on the French Atlantic Coast, but had booked a
Mediterranean holiday because of the oil spills. The workers were using the JCBs to
clear oil off the beach. They were doing a good job, because there was no sign of oil on
the beach or in the water. Unfortunately one of the JCBs broke down near me,
extending the disturbance.
I should have made an early start in view of the high temperatures, but I spent the
morning on the beach. It did not take long for the beach to start filling up. The end of
the beach was (unofficially) naturist and by the time I left at 12am there must have been
hundreds of naked bodies on the beach. I left when as a bank of thin fog was rolled in off
the sea and I hoped this might drift inland to help keep the temperature down. It didn’t!
The GR 10 and HRP begin at Hendaye Plage, while the GR11 officially begins at Cabo
Higuer a couple of miles away across the Spanish border. I walked along the shore, past
the Nature Reserve, where Little Egrets were feeding, and across the border into Irun,
where I joined the GR11. I didn’t see any point in walking back to Cabo Higuer through
Irun and past the airport, returning by the same route
By now it was already 36ºC in the shade. I stopped for a big slice of melon at a
Fruiterer in Irun. They were willing to sell a slice rather than the whole melon! The path
climbed steeply up a stony pista (A pista is a rough track, motorable in 4 wheel-drive
vehicles) from the edge of Irun. Higher up the surface of the pista was concreted over to
provide better access to the houses (now holiday homes). At the last of these houses I
topped up my water bottles from the elderly lady who owned the house and had a shower
under her garden hose. I reluctantly refused three giant tomatoes she pressed on me, as
I didn’t want the extra weight. The pista was now stony as I continued up the hill. At the
higher altitude it was only 32ºC in the shade as I stopped for a break. I was soaked
through with sweat and I stripped off to be comfortable as my clothes dry. I was passed
by mountain bikers climbing the hill.
I continued up to the Collado de Erlaitz, which was a popular picnic area. I stopped
to pick up more water from a Spanish family. The 16 year-old son spoke quite good
English and I spent an hour with them. I had 2 glasses of “Patarine” a Basque speciality,
which I think was an aniseed-based spirit. I declined food for the second time today;
what’s life coming to! I continued for another half-hour before camping on the wooded
SE spur of Erroyarri at about 500m. It was still 28ºC as I sat out watching the sunset.
I did not get much sleep overnight. A small group arrived for a beach party and were
very noisy until 3 or 4am. Then at 6am, while it was still dark, beach workers came
along with 3 JCBs. An oil tanker had broken in two during the winter off the NW tip of
Spain and oil had spread all along the northern coast of Spain and along the Atlantic
Coast of France. The old tanker had been in trouble a few days earlier, but had been
refused entry to a Spanish port, because the Port Authority were concerned about the
danger of oil spills. Instead a minor problem become a major environmental disaster and
caused serious damage to the tourist industry along the Atlantic coast. I later met a
German family, who normally holidayed on the French Atlantic Coast, but had booked a
Mediterranean holiday because of the oil spills. The workers were using the JCBs to
clear oil off the beach. They were doing a good job, because there was no sign of oil on
the beach or in the water. Unfortunately one of the JCBs broke down near me,
extending the disturbance.
I should have made an early start in view of the high temperatures, but I spent the
morning on the beach. It did not take long for the beach to start filling up. The end of
the beach was (unofficially) naturist and by the time I left at 12am there must have been
hundreds of naked bodies on the beach. I left when as a bank of thin fog was rolled in off
the sea and I hoped this might drift inland to help keep the temperature down. It didn’t!
The GR 10 and HRP begin at Hendaye Plage, while the GR11 officially begins at Cabo
Higuer a couple of miles away across the Spanish border. I walked along the shore, past
the Nature Reserve, where Little Egrets were feeding, and across the border into Irun,
where I joined the GR11. I didn’t see any point in walking back to Cabo Higuer through
Irun and past the airport, returning by the same route
By now it was already 36ºC in the shade. I stopped for a big slice of melon at a
Fruiterer in Irun. They were willing to sell a slice rather than the whole melon! The path
climbed steeply up a stony pista (A pista is a rough track, motorable in 4 wheel-drive
vehicles) from the edge of Irun. Higher up the surface of the pista was concreted over to
provide better access to the houses (now holiday homes). At the last of these houses I
topped up my water bottles from the elderly lady who owned the house and had a shower
under her garden hose. I reluctantly refused three giant tomatoes she pressed on me, as
I didn’t want the extra weight. The pista was now stony as I continued up the hill. At the
higher altitude it was only 32ºC in the shade as I stopped for a break. I was soaked
through with sweat and I stripped off to be comfortable as my clothes dry. I was passed
by mountain bikers climbing the hill.
I continued up to the Collado de Erlaitz, which was a popular picnic area. I stopped
to pick up more water from a Spanish family. The 16 year-old son spoke quite good
English and I spent an hour with them. I had 2 glasses of “Patarine” a Basque speciality,
which I think was an aniseed-based spirit. I declined food for the second time today;
what’s life coming to! I continued for another half-hour before camping on the wooded
SE spur of Erroyarri at about 500m. It was still 28ºC as I sat out watching the sunset.
Hendaye Plage
Ancient Brit at
Hendaye Plage
Hendaye Plage
Nature Reserve
at Hendaye
at Hendaye
Ancient Brit with
Spanish family at
Collado de Erlaitz
Spanish family at
Collado de Erlaitz
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