Outdoor Adventures with Ancient Brit
Pyrenees GR11 2003 - Day 14: August 22nd
Friday 22nd August
It became cold overnight as the skies cleared. The sun hit the tent at 7.55am and didn’
t take long to warm up the tent. There were Crag Martins hunting for flies around the
tarn. I now had a steep descent in granite mountains with bare glaciated crags and slabs.
The final descent to Pandicosa was down a steep gorge with waterfalls dropping down into
deep pools. Despite being south-facing, not much sun would have reached the depths of
the gorge. Panticosa, in common with most other mountain villages in Pyrenean Spain,
was more like a building site with rapid tourist development and house building. It was
clear in the mountains, but it looked as if there was a weather front creeping up the
valleys from Spain.
I now had a steep 400m climb, up a well-graded path, up the side of the main valley up
to a hanging side valley. The weather was closing in as I took a break.
I climbed easily over pasture up to a small reservoir, Ibon dero Brazato, and then up the
west ridge of Pico de Bazias, to the sound of thunder from a distant storm. The path
deteriorated into boulderfields as I approached the Cuello de Brazato and a hail-storm
started as I passed over the col. I descended immediately in case lightning hit the ridge.
The descent was mainly down a boulderfields and I camped, as the storm was ending, as
soon as I reached a grassy area. It wasn’t long before I was sitting in my tent being
warmed by sun streaming through the entrance. I had to repair the tent where a mouse
(?) had chewed the groundsheet.
It became cold overnight as the skies cleared. The sun hit the tent at 7.55am and didn’
t take long to warm up the tent. There were Crag Martins hunting for flies around the
tarn. I now had a steep descent in granite mountains with bare glaciated crags and slabs.
The final descent to Pandicosa was down a steep gorge with waterfalls dropping down into
deep pools. Despite being south-facing, not much sun would have reached the depths of
the gorge. Panticosa, in common with most other mountain villages in Pyrenean Spain,
was more like a building site with rapid tourist development and house building. It was
clear in the mountains, but it looked as if there was a weather front creeping up the
valleys from Spain.
I now had a steep 400m climb, up a well-graded path, up the side of the main valley up
to a hanging side valley. The weather was closing in as I took a break.
I climbed easily over pasture up to a small reservoir, Ibon dero Brazato, and then up the
west ridge of Pico de Bazias, to the sound of thunder from a distant storm. The path
deteriorated into boulderfields as I approached the Cuello de Brazato and a hail-storm
started as I passed over the col. I descended immediately in case lightning hit the ridge.
The descent was mainly down a boulderfields and I camped, as the storm was ending, as
soon as I reached a grassy area. It wasn’t long before I was sitting in my tent being
warmed by sun streaming through the entrance. I had to repair the tent where a mouse
(?) had chewed the groundsheet.
Cuello de Infierno
from camp
from camp
Fountain at Panticosa
Vignemale from camp
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