Outdoor Adventures with Ancient Brit
Pyrenees GR11 2003 - Day 4 : August 12th
Tuesday 12th August
It was difficult to sleep with the temperature only dropping to 25ºC overnight and
with the ringing of the bells from the horses and sheep with which I was sharing the hill.
I was woken at 7 am by a cock crowing to find myself in thick mist. I left just before 9am
and found that I soon climbed out of the mist, which was filling the valleys, but leaving
the hilltops clear. After 1¼ hours I came across a small fountain that had been built at a
spring in 1998 and stopped for a towel bath and to wash some socks. I was passed by a
couple of Basque backpackers, Ińaki and Alai, with whom I would spend quite a lot of
time over the next few days. I reached the Collado de Urballo at 890m by 1.30pm where
there was a hunters cabin. It was closed, but I was able to top up with water at the spring.
At these altitudes I was following mountain ridges covered with a mixture of grass and
bracken, together with beech woods. These hills were used for rough grazing by horses
and sheep.
I had a long stop at a piped spring in the woods above the Collado de Zaldegi. I was
joined by the Ińaki and Alai, who had made a navigational error. (a euphemism for “Got
Lost”!) They were not carrying the Spanish guide, as they didn’t know of its existence!
They intended to complete the GR11 and had a complete set of the French maps for the
Pyrenees. These maps were much more accurate than the Spanish maps that came with
the guide, but the GR11 was often off the bottom of the French maps! In these parts they
were depending on following the waymarkings, which were often inadequate.
Conversation with the Basques was a little restricted since they hardly spoke any English
or French.
In the next section I was unable to follow the route in my guide, due to a new high
fence that had been built along the ridge. I lost the waymarkings and made my way over
the summit of 1213m Argintzo, which was covered with giant granite blocks. Even at this
height the temperature was 36ºC. I dropped down to the Puerto de Urkiago (912m) where
I had left my first supply bag. This wooded pass was crossed by a road and there was a
water supply by a hunters hut. I had a long break while I sorted out my supplies and
rehydrated. Ińaki and Alai turned up having got lost again! We were joined by Martin and
Karen Kugelman who was walking with his wife. They were Germans aged about 50. In
2001 they had walked the GR11 from Andorra to Irun in 29 days and now they were
attempting the complete trail in the opposite direction. Karen didn’t speak any English,
but Martin spoke some poor English. (A little better than my atrocious German). They
had started a day behind me, but were now intending to have a few easier days. The
guidebook divides the route up into days, where possible ending at accommodation. This
resulted in the two longest days of the whole route being the first two days (both over
30km) and they also included 1000m of climb. Not a sensible way to start a long walk,
especially in this heat. Since I did not want to finish days in towns and villages I was
ignoring the official daily schedule.
After it had cooled down a little I headed up through the woods until, at 1160m, I
reached the grassy north ridge of Adi where I camped. As the sun was setting a man with
young daughter appeared. They had just driven up a pista and were setting off to climb
Adi (1458m). It seemed a bit foolhardy to me to set out so late with a young girl, when it
would be dark before they started their descent. They did manage to get down, but I don’t
know if they made it to the summit. Around 10.30pm I heard owls hooting in the woods.
It was difficult to sleep with the temperature only dropping to 25ºC overnight and
with the ringing of the bells from the horses and sheep with which I was sharing the hill.
I was woken at 7 am by a cock crowing to find myself in thick mist. I left just before 9am
and found that I soon climbed out of the mist, which was filling the valleys, but leaving
the hilltops clear. After 1¼ hours I came across a small fountain that had been built at a
spring in 1998 and stopped for a towel bath and to wash some socks. I was passed by a
couple of Basque backpackers, Ińaki and Alai, with whom I would spend quite a lot of
time over the next few days. I reached the Collado de Urballo at 890m by 1.30pm where
there was a hunters cabin. It was closed, but I was able to top up with water at the spring.
At these altitudes I was following mountain ridges covered with a mixture of grass and
bracken, together with beech woods. These hills were used for rough grazing by horses
and sheep.
I had a long stop at a piped spring in the woods above the Collado de Zaldegi. I was
joined by the Ińaki and Alai, who had made a navigational error. (a euphemism for “Got
Lost”!) They were not carrying the Spanish guide, as they didn’t know of its existence!
They intended to complete the GR11 and had a complete set of the French maps for the
Pyrenees. These maps were much more accurate than the Spanish maps that came with
the guide, but the GR11 was often off the bottom of the French maps! In these parts they
were depending on following the waymarkings, which were often inadequate.
Conversation with the Basques was a little restricted since they hardly spoke any English
or French.
In the next section I was unable to follow the route in my guide, due to a new high
fence that had been built along the ridge. I lost the waymarkings and made my way over
the summit of 1213m Argintzo, which was covered with giant granite blocks. Even at this
height the temperature was 36ºC. I dropped down to the Puerto de Urkiago (912m) where
I had left my first supply bag. This wooded pass was crossed by a road and there was a
water supply by a hunters hut. I had a long break while I sorted out my supplies and
rehydrated. Ińaki and Alai turned up having got lost again! We were joined by Martin and
Karen Kugelman who was walking with his wife. They were Germans aged about 50. In
2001 they had walked the GR11 from Andorra to Irun in 29 days and now they were
attempting the complete trail in the opposite direction. Karen didn’t speak any English,
but Martin spoke some poor English. (A little better than my atrocious German). They
had started a day behind me, but were now intending to have a few easier days. The
guidebook divides the route up into days, where possible ending at accommodation. This
resulted in the two longest days of the whole route being the first two days (both over
30km) and they also included 1000m of climb. Not a sensible way to start a long walk,
especially in this heat. Since I did not want to finish days in towns and villages I was
ignoring the official daily schedule.
After it had cooled down a little I headed up through the woods until, at 1160m, I
reached the grassy north ridge of Adi where I camped. As the sun was setting a man with
young daughter appeared. They had just driven up a pista and were setting off to climb
Adi (1458m). It seemed a bit foolhardy to me to set out so late with a young girl, when it
would be dark before they started their descent. They did manage to get down, but I don’t
know if they made it to the summit. Around 10.30pm I heard owls hooting in the woods.
Early morming mist
Argintzo
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