The days are so long, I often think of things I want to include in each blog post and by the end of the day, I’ve forgotten them. No, I’m not going to make a note throughout the day. The daily posts at the end of each day is enough work as it is.
Last night was another excellent night’s sleep: no cow bells, no wind. What more could you ask for? Today was supposed to be easier, no longer an “E” rated day but a 2. So it was 2 steps down in the rankings but I’d give it just one down, a 3.
We quickly joined the GR-11 track, which is the Spanish trail that runs the length of the Pyrenees and like the French GR-10, is a much better trail than we are used to. We climbed up and felt a bit sluggish. Perhaps the days were catching up to us? I alluded in a previous day that we had solidified our plans for the end, and now that we have an end date we’re targeting, that’s always sort of on our minds, pulling us forward when we might otherwise stop. The climb was fairly uneventful. I will note that while I don’t remember much from my time here 7 years ago, I do remember there being a lot more cows. We’ve hardly seen any in this section and I wonder if it’s due to the high heat resulting in dead grass, and less opportunities for grazing.
The lake at the top of the climb looked like a man-made lake because the water level was so low, the sides that would normally be submerged were showing and looked as if they had been intentionally carved. With no good beach options, we decided to press on to the next lake before we took our first break.
Our next lake was along a scenic alternate where there was allegedly the most scenic lake in all of the Pyrenees. Our first lake though, wasn’t it, and also looked to be historically low on water. There was a nice shade patch on a sandy beach so we took a break there and I had a wonderful swim with no one else around. The moments we are truly alone out here on the HRP are fairly rare. There’s almost always someone in sight. The exception is the end of the days, but while hiking, there’s always someone around. And this swim was no exception, I just happened to time it between two people passing by.
After our break we climbed up again to another pass, before we would steeply descend to the beautiful lake. At the top of the climb, we met up with William again, from Phoenix, who informed us that he’s 70. I would have put him in his 50s or 60s. I doubt I’ll be doing this at that age. Hell, I’m pretty sure this is the last time I’ll be on the HRP. The descent started off brutally. It essentially required jumping down large, eroded portions of the trail. For the first time, the tendons above my knees actually hurt. Like all parts of the trail, it eventually ended and we made it down to the beautiful lake, where we found a comfortable shady patch near the lake! That never happens! I took an extended swim, and even left my watch running to document the occasion. Hopefully it shows up in the map below.
After lunch, we made our way around the lake, which gave Lake Tahoe vibes at times with its very blue color and turquoise shores. The traverse around the lake was anything but simple. I didn’t know you could make a walk around a lake that difficult, but the Spaniards managed. Another steep descent awaited us, and my knees continued to complain. Once near the bottom, it was quite crowded as there was a refuge nearby. We skipped the refuge and climbed up another mountain, to another lake, where guess what? Another swim. A 3 swim day here. We should all be so lucky.
After that we had another couple climbs before we could make it to our campsite. On one of those climbs, I fell going uphill on some rocks. I think I tripped, but when I was getting up I noticed one of my trekking pole latches had come open and the pole had collapsed. I was scraped up, but ok. Some people below seemed very concerned. That’s the problem with other people around, I had to get up and keep going to show them I was ok, despite telling them. They kept looking up at me to make sure I was really ok. I did want to sit there for a minute and reassess my choices, but I didn’t want them staring up at me, waiting the entire time.
I did the rest of the climb with Zoë, taking more time for photos and intermediate rests along the way. We descended on the other side only to have to climb and descend more, before finally reaching our campsite. I’m not really sure why I chose to punctuate the day or days with the climbs we do. Those seem to be the defining parts of our day I guess. Today in particular, I felt like we had gone quite far, mostly because of how many separate times we had climbed up. I apologize to the readers as this probably isn’t the most interesting thing. Maybe I’ll think of a better way to move the day’s plot, but today’s was all about the climbs. All 5 of them.
Tomorrow we’re heading to the town of Salardu. We actually may go to a different town, Vielha, which is supposed to have better options. I had a forecast yesterday which showed 0.75” of rain, but today’s forecast showed no rain. Anyway the next 3 days are supposed to be noticeably cooler, so that could be great! I just hope it’s not due to wind.