Outdoor Adventures with Ancient Brit
Pyrenees GR11 2003 - Day 18 : August 26th
Tuesday 26th August
It was clear at dawn. I left at 8am for the 2-hour walk down pista to Parzan, but by the
time I arrived there it had clouded over. On the descent I was stopped by a man in a van.
He asked me about a route he was intending to take up to a high mountain lake. His only
map was a poor road map, little better than nothing, which didn’t even show the pista that
we were on and certainly gave no details of the mountains. With the worsening weather, it
was easy to see how people get into trouble in the mountains. I picked up a supply bag
from the petrol station and had a sandwich at the bar-restaurante.
The route was not very interesting as it then followed a dusty pista through forest up a V-
shaped valley towards the Paso de los Caballos. It humid and felt hot during the breaks in
the cloud-cover. I stopped for lunch in a clearing, but I was being plagued by flies. I had
added 4 days supplies to my pack at Parzan. When I had sorted the food it didn’t look very
much, but after carrying it on 1200m of climb I appreciated its weight much better. I had
walked the section from the Paso de los Caballos 2 years ago when I walked the HRP. The
descent from the pass through high pasture was pleasant enough without having any great
interest. By the late afternoon I had dropped down to an area where there was a mixture
of forest and pasture. I camped at Collado de las Collas, which was probably the last
camping for some way as camping was not allowed in the valley ahead of me. It wasn’t an
ideal site because of degradation by the cattle and long grass on a rough surface. There
were a lot of flies as usual in cow country.
It was clear at dawn. I left at 8am for the 2-hour walk down pista to Parzan, but by the
time I arrived there it had clouded over. On the descent I was stopped by a man in a van.
He asked me about a route he was intending to take up to a high mountain lake. His only
map was a poor road map, little better than nothing, which didn’t even show the pista that
we were on and certainly gave no details of the mountains. With the worsening weather, it
was easy to see how people get into trouble in the mountains. I picked up a supply bag
from the petrol station and had a sandwich at the bar-restaurante.
The route was not very interesting as it then followed a dusty pista through forest up a V-
shaped valley towards the Paso de los Caballos. It humid and felt hot during the breaks in
the cloud-cover. I stopped for lunch in a clearing, but I was being plagued by flies. I had
added 4 days supplies to my pack at Parzan. When I had sorted the food it didn’t look very
much, but after carrying it on 1200m of climb I appreciated its weight much better. I had
walked the section from the Paso de los Caballos 2 years ago when I walked the HRP. The
descent from the pass through high pasture was pleasant enough without having any great
interest. By the late afternoon I had dropped down to an area where there was a mixture
of forest and pasture. I camped at Collado de las Collas, which was probably the last
camping for some way as camping was not allowed in the valley ahead of me. It wasn’t an
ideal site because of degradation by the cattle and long grass on a rough surface. There
were a lot of flies as usual in cow country.
Pic d'Ouridissetou
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