Ascent / descent: 1170m (33666m) / 430m (32385m).
Altitude (start / end / highest): 810m / 1550m / 1550m.
Weather: cloudy and grey, some blue sky.
The recent days on the walk has been cloudy and today was to be no exception, it poured down during the night. In my original plan for the walk Aunac was one of the places I'd planned to stop at. But since plans are in the habit of changing I need to look at another place. Aunac is just one hour away from Esbints, too short of a walk for today. Instead I put my index finger on the map where Cabana d'Aula is located, I really want to stay at least one night in one of these open mountain huts in the Pyrenees. Claire is also saying that she would like to go there as well, but are unsure whether it's too far to go for her.
Misty morning in the Esbints valley.
It's a little bit sad to be leaving Esbints, it was very nice place and I had a great stay. The hosts at the gîte were also going up in the mountains, to be herding their sheep up at a cabane for three days. It's cloudy outside and small clouds are swimming in the air down in the valley. The trail is following the road down from the small place in the beginning. After a little while the trail leaves the road and then follows a wet and muddy track through the woods.
The trail itself isn't passing through Aunac, but nearby at Camp de Peyrot. Down at Coume-Chaude the road from Seix is coming up and there is a marked path down to the village, I decide to follow it down. Next to the trail the Ruisseau d'Estours is running. In Seix (506m) I'm at lower altitude and then clouds are seizing the opportunity to clear up a bit for a while, but still I can't see the sun. I look around a little bit and then eat an omelet at a restaurant, to the great astonishment of the hosts. The village is nice, well worth a visit. I buy some food and drinks for the night before I walk back to the GR10.
Seix. The village is not on the trail, but is only about half an hour of walk away from it.
At Moulin Lauga (541m) a café is advertising for pancakes and I don't need to be asked twice. But there is absolutely no one there, so in the end I have to give up my cravings for a pancake (or two) and walk on. There is a nice walk up the Estours valley in the beginning, but after a while it becomes monotonous. A trail is taking over for the road and it's nicer, but in the end that too gets a little bit boring even though it's passing next to the Estours river. My backpack weighs a little bit more now and it's harder to walk.
Cascade d'Arcouzan. A great waterfall that you pass on the way up towards Pont d'Aula.
I left the blue sky at Seix, here it's cloudy. I arrive at Cabane de l'Artigue (1053m), where someone has written Refuge des Galapagos on the door. In view from the hut is a great waterfall, Cascade d'Arcouzan. I leave my backpack at the cabin and walk over to see the waterfall at close range. There is only one steep climb before I'm up at Cabane d'Aula.
And steep it is, but once up there is a gorgeous plateau awaiting me. In a circle around the green plains there are mountains towering above, now encircled by clouds. I know that Mont Valier (2838m) is guarding the mountains around from above, even though it's now hidden for my eyes. Horses and cows are grazing on the plains. And then I can see Cabane d'Aula (1550m) lying peacefully further into the plateau. It's a quite big hut, but it appears that it's only one half of it that is in use. It's cozy inside. Most of these huts are open and free to use for everyone, but not all of them.
Overlooking the Estours valley.
In the cabin there is a long table, three bunk beds and a large fireplace. In the window the book The Swallows Of Kabul by Yasmina Khadra in Norwegian is lying, so quite clearly someone from Norway has been here before. I make myself a large cup of tea which I enjoy outside the cabin. It really is a wonderful place. Then I go to gather firewood for the evening. While I'm standing with my arms full of branches and twigs is Claire coming up the hillside.
Plateau d'Aula with Cabane d'Aula below the mountains. Mont Valier hidden behind the clouds.
Todays walk was not the most memorable, but the evening in Cabane d'Aula was very nice. We're not the only ones in the hut; a little mouse is running around. We make a fire in the fireplace while the silence is descending outside. It's nice with company at the cabin, even though Claire's English and my French is a little limited. It's still crackling from the fireplace when we go to sleep
Inside Cabane d'Aula, Claire tending the fire in the fireplace.
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