Across the Pyrenees on red wine and ibuprofen

Today we have had a relatively short day, only 8km but it still took the best part of 5 hours. The climb was good and the views today were stunning. We are at the Refugio Colomers which is really busy as this area is very popular. That means the Refuge is full and we could end up sleeping next to anyone, which on last nights form means a Frenchman who snores like a compressor from 9:00pm until 700:am!!!

Apart from the last hour, that was a great day – probably the best yet !

Not a great night’s sleep for me, Neil woke me up in the dormitory sometime around 2am with some comment about sounding like an air compressor… (Think he might have saved me from a lynching !)

Anyway, all packed up and ready to go by 7.45… and it was cool to start with (out of the sun), as we climbed up onto the tops – noting the rock has now changed from limestone to granite.

Stunning scenery then past the Estanh de Rius lake – where we stopped and had our lunch (second breakfast).

Only an hour and a half from there to the Refugio we believed – so had we actually got the chance to finish a day without being completely done in at the end ….?

Well no, a last sting in the tail saw us heading back up hill again – somewhat indignantly – thinking we may have gone wrong (a horrible feeling at the end of the day), but actually, we were right 😀 and got here about half an hour before it started raining

Back up in the high mountains today, heading to Refugio Restanca on our way to Espot by Monday night. The walk up the valley was tough but really nice and we got to the top of the climb in good time with fantastic views of the mountains and the natural lake. Then we need to descend (as usual) to the refuge. The terrain was granite which is very sharp and angular so it was slow going through some awkward boulder fields. We ended up climbing a short, steep ascent, which we thought was wrong, but eventually dropped to the refuge set alongside a high dam and reservoir.

Quiet day – got to the Refugio early afternoon and spent a few hours getting mentally and physically prepared for the next few days.. 😉

Interesting catching up in the evening with Patrick, (NL) and an Aussie guy last seen by us (or a bar of soap), since Sallent de Galleg..!)

So it’s been a strange few days and a feeling of treading water. The GR11 out of Benasque is another ‘tough and demanding’, stage to a Refugio with no options and the first of 5 long mountain days into Espot. We have learnt to interpret this as a day we need to avoid if we are to keep our overall hopes of actually finishing (and enjoying it !) – so we will stay another night here and re-join the trail with a more manageable 3 days to Espot 🤞

We will then be up in the mountains again so expect to be out of contact until then.

Overall, it’s probably been for the best as we were still sore from before – the recovery of 55 year old knees is not as quick as it used to be – and mine sound like Rice Krispies when I first start moving !

We have (of course), managed the museum, and had a personal tour of an art exhibition as well – it’s a good place to be but think we’re ready now to move on.

We’ve had a few more days off than we anticipated just because of the way things have panned out with rest days and recovery. Martin’s knees have been playing up so I went on a circular walk up to Cerla which is a ski resort. Walking without the dreaded pack was fabulous and really fast. Managed to stumble on a mini fiesta at Cerla before returning to Benasque.

Another walk today took us down to the reservoir “Embalse de Eriste”. We are a bit fed up with Benasque now and will be happy to head up high again tomorrow. It’s really very nice but we didn’t intend spending 3 full days here

Just a walk along the river today along the new and generally flat 😊 GR11 variant (we made up), into Bielsa.

So we can re-connect with the trail, we then took a white knuckle ride over the tops to Benasque – our support team of Sara and Karen would have gone a different way I think !

We are a bit out of place today after I messed up with the hotel booking for Parador de Bielsa. It turned out to be a top class mountain hotel and will be the most expensive place we stay at. And the most expensive laundry bill ever!! To get back on track we took a walk down the Valley to Bielsa then a taxi to Benasque. The taxi took the mountain route along an unsurfaced road with no edge barriers. Definitely one to remember.

w3w : ///exposed.guzzled.shops

So Day 23 was a rest day and we needed it. Spent mainly around the Refugio sympathising with anyone who had just come down the mountain – interesting quote from some battered Dutch guys in their mid twenties – ‘….and I’m fit, I do cross fit and I’ve run a marathon but was not prepared for that !’

Day 24 (Sunday) – we walked onto the next Hotel, which when we originally booked it, we thought was in Bielsa but is actually just further up the same valley – which is fine for an easy day 😎

And we have also come up with a new variant of the GR11 tomorrow to take us through into Bielsa and then on – it’s relatively flat (avoiding the 1000m climb), so good for legs still in recovery..

w3w ///thirst.consolidate.booksellers

A bad night’s camping – no real sleep. With my head at one end, my forehead touched the wet tent wall and my feet still stuck out of the bottom ! On the plus side, despite the thunder, it didn’t actually rain down on us.

We set off just before 8am, probably about 90 people all leaving at the same time but going different ways – a buzz of excitement in the air. Quite a few seem to be climbing Mt Perdudu which looks good for another time – maybe…

We got to the first Col and then followed the line of the original GR11 – which we didn’t plan on doing (!), so backtracked and lost a little time. But it was kind of fun too – on the fells trying to find the waymarks and discussing options with some Spanish girls and others – at one point, there were 3 or 4 groups strung out across the top looking for the way. (And it’s potentially really serious here if you get the wrong way, the official paths are bloomin steep enough !)

So back on track we dropped 800m down to the valley floor – only to have to turn left and climb a straight 1000m back up to the next col. It was beautiful, stunning even but we simply don’t have time to stop, rest and swim etc – we knew it was going to take us 10 hours and we needed to get back down before the daily storms which start rumbling from mid afternoon.

So at the top, knackered but still enjoying it and then looked down the other side – blimey ! We knew this was going to be tough, but it was horrible – 1200m of very steep, loose scree, boulder fields and even when the ‘path’ got to the forest, there was sections with chains and needing to down climb rather than just walking. Quite exhausting actually, mentally as well and the worst moment was a (incorrect), sign that said, 2 hours 40, still to go – actually only about an hour from the finish. We got back just as the rain started – another jelly bean stop along the way and we would have been soaked through as well.

Happy to report I will not be doing that descent again ever – I think most people here at the Refugio would say the same !

So tired tonight, aching all over – my left knee (the good one !), is screaming at me – and both feet are throbbing ! These long mountain stages are just a few hours too long to be only enjoyable, they seem to all need to be epic days.

Recovery tomorrow and a bit more planning required to see us through the next few days.