Outdoor Adventures with Ancient Brit
Pyrenees GR11 2003 - Day 3 : August 11th
Monday 11th August
I woke at 3am with gentle drizzle falling. I overslept in the morning, not waking until
7.45am, to find the “normal” Basque weather with mist and banks of cloud rolling around.
It was still 23ºC! It was clearing by the time I left at 9am and was already getting hot and
was uncomfortably humid.
I was heading along pista through hilly pasture with occasional farms and wooded hills.
I came across water in a trough, which looked rather dubious as drinking water, but I
used it to soak my hat. I was beginning to realise why in Westerns the first thing the
cowboys do on reaching a stream is to fill their hat with water and put it back on their
head. When I reached Collado Esquisaroy, I was due for a break, but with a 300m climb to
follow it seemed sensible to carry on rather than lose all the benefit of a stop by starting
straight up a steep hill. It was very hot in the open, but in deep shade at 800m the
temperature was a comfortable 25ºC. I was traversing high ridges in the afternoon. I saw
a Red Kite hunting for small mammals and 12 Griffin Vultures soaring over the ridge. I
hit a minor road at the Plano de Amezti where I came across a new, deserted picnic site
with a water fountain. I washed all my clothes, which were very sweaty by now, and had a
towel bath.
When everything was dry I descended to Elizondo down the road. In Spain the shops
are open in the morning and late afternoon/evening, with a long break (siesta) at
lunchtime and during the afternoon. I was able to buy 3 litres of fruit juice and a couple
of cans of beer, as well as filling my water bottles. I stopped in front of the church to
rehydrate, before setting off back into the hills at 7.15pm. The temperature which had
been at 35ºC in the shade, when I had arrived in the town was still at 32ºC, but it didn’t
feel as hot as the sun was low so I didn’t have to walk in the direct heat of the sun. The
GR11 sign on leaving Elizondo was the first that hadn’t been vandalised. Any signs in
Spanish are vandalised, and even if signs are in both Spanish and Basque they are usually
vandalised. Fortunately the waymarking today had been better than yesterday. I stopped
to camp after I had climbed 440m in an hour, which is pretty good going at the end of a
hot day.
I camped on a grassy patch on a small spur on bracken-covered hill. In the fields
above me, farmers were removing hay, which had been drying in the sun, from stacks
they had built on the very steep slopes. The slopes were much too steep for any vehicles
so the had to carry the hay down to the road using manpower.
I woke at 3am with gentle drizzle falling. I overslept in the morning, not waking until
7.45am, to find the “normal” Basque weather with mist and banks of cloud rolling around.
It was still 23ºC! It was clearing by the time I left at 9am and was already getting hot and
was uncomfortably humid.
I was heading along pista through hilly pasture with occasional farms and wooded hills.
I came across water in a trough, which looked rather dubious as drinking water, but I
used it to soak my hat. I was beginning to realise why in Westerns the first thing the
cowboys do on reaching a stream is to fill their hat with water and put it back on their
head. When I reached Collado Esquisaroy, I was due for a break, but with a 300m climb to
follow it seemed sensible to carry on rather than lose all the benefit of a stop by starting
straight up a steep hill. It was very hot in the open, but in deep shade at 800m the
temperature was a comfortable 25ºC. I was traversing high ridges in the afternoon. I saw
a Red Kite hunting for small mammals and 12 Griffin Vultures soaring over the ridge. I
hit a minor road at the Plano de Amezti where I came across a new, deserted picnic site
with a water fountain. I washed all my clothes, which were very sweaty by now, and had a
towel bath.
When everything was dry I descended to Elizondo down the road. In Spain the shops
are open in the morning and late afternoon/evening, with a long break (siesta) at
lunchtime and during the afternoon. I was able to buy 3 litres of fruit juice and a couple
of cans of beer, as well as filling my water bottles. I stopped in front of the church to
rehydrate, before setting off back into the hills at 7.15pm. The temperature which had
been at 35ºC in the shade, when I had arrived in the town was still at 32ºC, but it didn’t
feel as hot as the sun was low so I didn’t have to walk in the direct heat of the sun. The
GR11 sign on leaving Elizondo was the first that hadn’t been vandalised. Any signs in
Spanish are vandalised, and even if signs are in both Spanish and Basque they are usually
vandalised. Fortunately the waymarking today had been better than yesterday. I stopped
to camp after I had climbed 440m in an hour, which is pretty good going at the end of a
hot day.
I camped on a grassy patch on a small spur on bracken-covered hill. In the fields
above me, farmers were removing hay, which had been drying in the sun, from stacks
they had built on the very steep slopes. The slopes were much too steep for any vehicles
so the had to carry the hay down to the road using manpower.
Collado de Cello
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