GR11 Day 20 Parzan to Refugio Viados

24th June

Set off up the road after a coffee with Tim to start the day. Clear blue sky but quite chilly, another good day for walking.

Little shrine where I turned off the road 

A straightforward day today, starting with a long climb up a gravel track.

It was very pleasant in the shade

Passing a hydro dam and power station high in the valley before leaving the trees and climbing on.

The hydro dam and power station 

The last bit leaves the gravel road and climbs up to the high coll for today. 

Towards the top

I stopped outside the little bothy at the top to repair my glasses as the lens had fallen out. Failed to tighten them as I couldn't see what I was doing without my glasses! Put some tape on them, that fixed it!

At the coll

A nice descent followed all the way down. Nothing too steep or 'exciting' with great views of the hills.

The way down 

The campsite was open contrary to the guidebook but I had booked the Refugio so kept going up the hill.

A typical Pyrenean sight 

The Refugio only takes cash and there was some confusion as I didn't have any and the lack of a common language caused some problems, but all was well in the end.

Refugio Viados

A beautiful place.

View from the Refugio 

GR11 Day 19 Refugio de Lafarri to Parzan

 23rd June

A windy night with light drizzle coming over the mountains but the wind dried it almost instantly.

Looking back to the campsite in the morning 

It was quite cold as I set off up the hill wearing a fleece and jacket. I met a teacher of English who told me that the weather was very un-Spanish and it should be summer, this temperature suits me much better.

That's where I came down yesterday 

The route climbs up and meets a gravel track that leads to a beautiful 'hidden' valley before climbing to the coll at Las Coronetas.

The hidden valley 

From there a steepish descent takes you to a small car park at the end of a long gravel road down to Chisagues.

Down to the track end and car park 

Chisagues is now just some new holiday homes but you can still see some of the old houses.

Chisagues 

A series of zigzags on the now tarmac road and I arrived in Parzan. 

Coming down to Parzan

Parzan is a tiny place with large supermarkets on a border crossing road, the drink being cheaper in Spain than France.

Parzan

A good restaurant and an interesting conversation with Tim, a young Spanish/French hiker who was walking ths HRP from the east. Followed by a comfy bed, what more could you ask for?

On my balcony 

GR11 Day 18 Refugio Goriz to Refugio de Lafarri.

22nd June

A beautiful night, no wind, a touch of frost and dry. Done high cloud that built during the day bringing occasional light drizzle.

On the way down

A short climb up to the Collata Arablo was followed by a brutal descent on loose rock, steep rock and steep rough ground to reach the Rio Bellos.

A long steep climb up near the river, through a couple of rock bands and I arrived at the Collata la Valle o d'Anisclo.

Collata la Valle o d'Anisclo 

There is a 1200m descent from here in about 1.5km starting with a band of snow to negotiate.

It's steep!

I managed to avoid the snow by tackling a very steep scree slope that soon joined the marked way down.

Still more to get down

The whole slope is extremely dangerous and I can see why the guide book says don't attempt it in snow.

Just starting through the trees

Even when you get to the tree line the difficulty continues with a number of difficult rock steps and washed out water crossings.

Rio Real

I have never made such a continuous difficult descent and hope not to do so again!

The Refugio de Pineta was full so I continued to a good, but windy camp near the Refugio de Lafarri.

The two difficult descents made it a very tiring day.

GR11 Day 17, Saint Nicholas de Bujaruelo to Refugio de Goriz

21st June

A quiet night in the refugio, some of it wasted trying to speak to a chap from Japan, the morning started cloudy but dry although everything was wet from yesterday.

Rio Ara

Walked down the track for a while then took the path that goes down high above the river, at one stage crossing a cliff face assisted  by a wire bolted to the cliff.

Bridge over the river at the start of the Ordesa canyon, plenty of tourists already

Down to cross the road and begin the walk up the Ordesa Canyon. The path, which is on the other side to the road, stays in the woods giving glimpses of the river foaming below.

One of many

Eventually reaching the huge car park, that had no cars in it, as they were only letting buses up to road. A quick coffee and cake at the bar/restaurant and I was on the tourist trail up the gorge gawking at the cascades like everyone else, 63mm of rain yesterday helped.

Cascade del Estrecho, probably the most spectacular waterfall in the Pyrenees.

The valley opens out, after passing the Greenwich Meridian, into the Circo de Soasa a huge level area surrounded by cliffs high above.

Circo de Soasa

There is then a seriously steep climb that zigzags up through various rockbands eventually reaching the Refugio de Goriz which was closed for rebuilding. The opening time is for next month but it looked unlikely to me.

Looking down on the Circo de Soasa from near my camp

Found a beautiful, illegal, camp spot by a stream just before the next coll.

Chamois keeping an eye on me

I was soon joined by another who had been at the campsite with me yesterday.

Cold, clear beautiful night.

View from the tent 

GR11 Day 16, San Nicolas de Bujaruelo, sheltering from the weather.

20th June

Thunder storms all night and the forecast for today was the same. I thought of various options but the sensible one seemed to be to stay where I was. After a late breakfast in the tent I got to the bar/restaurant during a lull for a coffee.
The heavens opened then and the thunderstorms continued with a vengeance,  effectively trapping me in the bar until 18.00 when it finally stopped.
Had some interesting conversations during the day, some of which I understood!
Decided that a dry bed would be nice and one was available in the dormitory for the night.
When I got back to the tent I found the expected problem. In heavy rain and strong winds it drives in under the flysheet, everything was dry because it was on the mattress but under the mattress was a different story.
Emptied out the tent and retired to the dormitory leaving it to dry.
I have had the same problem with this tent in the past (Tarptent Notch Li) and had wondered whether to bring it on this trip , but it is light and Spain is dry!
It will be retired after this trip.

Looking out after the rain

GR11 Day 15, Refuge Wallon-Marcadao to San Nicolas de Bujaruelo

19th June

Another good walking day, cloudy and not too warm with a cooling southerly wind.

The HRP route uses this Refuge so the path South although not marked is well defined as it climbs up by the Gorge d'Arratillo.

The route ahead

Snow conditions didn't look as bad as yesterday's but there were a few steep patches to negotiate, not having an ice axe didn't improve security!

The Coll's up there somewhere 

There were some rocky ribs heading for the coll which gave me greater peace of mind and after a delicate traverse around a semi frozen lake I arrived at the coll and an almost snow free descent into Spain.

The frozen lake

Steeply down through the high mountains to the river gorge full of rushing meltwater, wet feet, and the path by the Rio Ara. 

Way down

Great views again as the path, then track, high above the river goes down to the campsite and refugio at San Nicholas de Bujaruelo. Camped, with forecast Thunderstorms.

A steep drop

Not a busy campsite 

Refuge Wallen to Coll de Arratille 2528m  

GR11 Day 14, An unintentional trip to France.

18th June

The day started well, good weather, a bit of cloud and a breeze to keep the temperature sensible.

Leaving Sallent 

The route up the Tena valley is beautiful with the path high on the side of the gorge with an occasional sheer drops to the river below.

The Tena valley 

As I started to clear the tree line the views to the hills and the dam high above opened up.

The Refugia de Repromoso is an amazing building perched on the hillside surrounded by a support structure that looks as if you cut one bit the whole thing would collapse into the lake.

I stopped for tea and soup but it didn't give off any welcoming vibrations.

Looking back to the lake

It was as I left the Refugia that it all went wrong! I hadn't read the guide book properly and, just remembering roughly what it said, I set off in the general direction. I followed route marks and cairns, passed an old Refugia and came to a lake with good campsites. All as mentioned in the Guide book, the trouble was they were the wrong marks, cairns, refugia and camping lake!

On the way up

I met a french couple coming down and asked about the snow, I didn't think to ask them where they had come from.

Getting 'interesting' 

The snow got interesting and relying on microspikes and faith I struggled up to the top admiring the view when my tenuous hold on terra Firma allowed.

It was when I got to the top I realised that all was not as it should have been, The National Park notice in French gave me a clue!

Newly sheared french sheep heading for the hills

I rooted in my rucksack and found a suitable map, located my position and, convinced that I wasn't going to try to go back down the treacherous snowfield, saw there was a path  that led to a Refugio in France.

Little lake on the way down 

A few detours to establish exactly where the path was and I was on my way to stay at the smart fairly new Refugio de Wallen. I was too late for dinner but nothing was too much trouble and they served me up an excellent meal.

From (14) I went east over the border and the Refugio is in the top left corner by the church symbol

A really good day, some 'interesting' bits, great walking weather and a bit of excitement. An excellent days walk made even better when it started to bucket down with rain soon after I arrived.