Outdoor Adventures with Ancient Brit
Pyrenees GR11 2003 - Day 6 : August 14th
Thursday 14th August
The sky was clear, but mist filled the valleys to the north in France and it was still
warm with a brisk southerly breeze. Another shepherd was already herding sheep up
towards the higher pastures. I climbed to the Collado de Lepoeder at 1445m where there
were about 30 vultures around a dead sheep. I imagine it was a recent death since the
vultures were still gathering.
Farmers vans on the pista were throwing up a lot of dust. They recently had scoured
the upper slopes of bracken and heather to improve the pasture and they were in the
process of building barbwire fences to enclose the pastures. Like farmers worldwide they
seemed to have little environmental concern and in addition to the destruction of the
mountain scenery they left the packaging for the wire as litter in the woods. I stopped for
a break with Martin and Karen at the Collado de Arnostegi. They had stayed at
Roncesvalles overnight and made an early start to their climb. There were 3 Red Kites
flying around the col. There were horses at a water trough, but unfortunately we couldn’t
get at the water before it mixed with the polluted water in the trough. There was road
access to this col from France and French tourists topped up my water bottles.
I followed the mainly grassy ridge down to Majada de Azpegi. From here I deviated
along the unmarked HRP and GR12, rather than make an unnecessary drop down to
Fabrica de Orbaiceta, an old armaments factory, which was the official end of the stage. I
climbed up into the mist, which had risen out of the valleys, over Sayerre, a grassy ridge
overgrazed by sheep and horses. I was short on water so I was quite pleased to be out of
the sun, but the mist made navigation tricky, since I had still not replaced my lost
compass. It was at all obvious where the HRP/GR12 rejoined the GR11. The detail on the
map was very confusing (i.e. wrong!) Eventually I found the GR11 at the top of the large
Iraty Forest. The path now dropped steeply down through the woods.
Eventually I reached the Morate stream just above the Puente de La Cuestion, which
was a strongly flowing stream. A couple of Basque families had cycled up from the tourist
campsite at the bottom of the valley and were scattered around the swimming hole in the
stream. They invited me to join them and I did so after putting up my tent on a large
grassy clearing. It had warmed up in the afternoon and at this lower altitude it was now
rather hot, so I was delighted to be able to take a swim.
There was a pair of Dippers in the stream and what I think was a Honey Buzzard was
hunting over the hillside. Martin and Karen arrived about 8pm by which time it had
clouded over and was threatening to rain. I had washed my clothing earlier and now it
wasn’t able to dry properly. I had stayed up reading until 12.30 finishing “The
Rainmaker” by John Grisham. His books are difficult to put down.
The sky was clear, but mist filled the valleys to the north in France and it was still
warm with a brisk southerly breeze. Another shepherd was already herding sheep up
towards the higher pastures. I climbed to the Collado de Lepoeder at 1445m where there
were about 30 vultures around a dead sheep. I imagine it was a recent death since the
vultures were still gathering.
Farmers vans on the pista were throwing up a lot of dust. They recently had scoured
the upper slopes of bracken and heather to improve the pasture and they were in the
process of building barbwire fences to enclose the pastures. Like farmers worldwide they
seemed to have little environmental concern and in addition to the destruction of the
mountain scenery they left the packaging for the wire as litter in the woods. I stopped for
a break with Martin and Karen at the Collado de Arnostegi. They had stayed at
Roncesvalles overnight and made an early start to their climb. There were 3 Red Kites
flying around the col. There were horses at a water trough, but unfortunately we couldn’t
get at the water before it mixed with the polluted water in the trough. There was road
access to this col from France and French tourists topped up my water bottles.
I followed the mainly grassy ridge down to Majada de Azpegi. From here I deviated
along the unmarked HRP and GR12, rather than make an unnecessary drop down to
Fabrica de Orbaiceta, an old armaments factory, which was the official end of the stage. I
climbed up into the mist, which had risen out of the valleys, over Sayerre, a grassy ridge
overgrazed by sheep and horses. I was short on water so I was quite pleased to be out of
the sun, but the mist made navigation tricky, since I had still not replaced my lost
compass. It was at all obvious where the HRP/GR12 rejoined the GR11. The detail on the
map was very confusing (i.e. wrong!) Eventually I found the GR11 at the top of the large
Iraty Forest. The path now dropped steeply down through the woods.
Eventually I reached the Morate stream just above the Puente de La Cuestion, which
was a strongly flowing stream. A couple of Basque families had cycled up from the tourist
campsite at the bottom of the valley and were scattered around the swimming hole in the
stream. They invited me to join them and I did so after putting up my tent on a large
grassy clearing. It had warmed up in the afternoon and at this lower altitude it was now
rather hot, so I was delighted to be able to take a swim.
There was a pair of Dippers in the stream and what I think was a Honey Buzzard was
hunting over the hillside. Martin and Karen arrived about 8pm by which time it had
clouded over and was threatening to rain. I had washed my clothing earlier and now it
wasn’t able to dry properly. I had stayed up reading until 12.30 finishing “The
Rainmaker” by John Grisham. His books are difficult to put down.
Early morning
mist over France
mist over France
Waymarkings,
Collado de Lepoeder
Collado de Lepoeder
 |  |
| |
Ancient Brit at
swimming hole near
Puente de la Cuestion
swimming hole near
Puente de la Cuestion
Ancient Brit at
swimming hole near
Puente de la Cuestion
swimming hole near
Puente de la Cuestion
Ancient Brit at
swimming hole near
Puente de la Cuestion
swimming hole near
Puente de la Cuestion