Ascent / descent: 1651m (28914m) / 245m (27233m).
Altitude (start / end / highest): 544m / 1950m / 2176m.
Weather: Cloudy, fog and rain.
It's with a clear and present danger for fog that I start walking in the morning. There was breakfast for four persons at the gîte, but while I stayed at the gîte I only saw one other person. The trail is going up through Fos before it takes to the woods past several derelict farms of stone. When I come out of the forest again I arrive at a new small little place, which in fact turns out to still be Fos.
Melles, a small place with majestic houses in a remote valley.
The clouds are hanging over the vale. The trail is going up on the road to Melles next to the Cascade de Sèriail, contrary to what it says in both my topo guide and guidebook. The first part of todays walk is going on a road, but it's still a pleasant walk. Arriving at Melles (719m) makes me wish that I had gone there yesterday instead. How come that such a small place in a remote valley (Val de Maudan) has got so majestic houses. A teddy bear is guarding the hostel which has a very nice seating outside with a water source next by. A lovely small place I really would have liked to spend a night at.
Walking on the road through the Val de Maudan.
High up the trees are tearing up the clouds without making the blue sky go through the layer of clouds. Alongside the road there are small farms and houses, the further up the valley I walk the more I get the feeling of being in a remote place (despite the road). It's an enjoyable walk.
Cabane d'Uls.
It's the end of the road after Labach (980m) and I'm now entering the kingdom of the bears, marked by a welcome sign. There are no bears in the beginning, only a steep hill through the woods and fog. And then it starts to rain.
Up at Plateau Marécageux (1868m) I'm covered in fog and the weather is sour. It's good then that Cabane d'Uls is located nearby. I cross a broken bridge and is moving through the fog until the contour of the cabin is appearing. There is no one in the hut. While it's blowing and raining outside I'm eating lunch and relaxing inside the cabin with a candlelight on the table, my rain jacket hanging to dry. But nothing lasts forever and I have to step out into the fog again.
Lunch inside Cabane d'Uls.
The path is fortunately easy to spot in the grass, so a repetition of la Serre seems unlikely. The fog makes the walk somewhat monotonous, but not enough to make me tired of it. I'm officially in the Pyrénées Ariégeoises up at Col d'Aueran (2176m), where more fog is greeting me. In nice weather I would likely had taken the walk up to Pic de Crabère (2629m) from here, which is nearby, but I'm reining in my curiosity today.
Étang d'Araing under the clouds.
Down towards Refuge de l'Étang d'Araing the lake is slowly appearing out from the clouds. Étang d'Araing (1950m) is situated next to the impressive Cirque d'Araing, but the low clouds are hiding the view. There aren't many at the hut. I think my food habits differs strongly from the food habits here, the guardian is quite surprised when I'm ordering an omelet. But he's smiling and makes a good omelet anyway.
Rainbow in the valley below the Refuge de l'Étang d'Araing.
At one point the guardian is suddenly running out and disappears around the corner, me and the other guests are wondering quite a lot and are then following after him. We're then met with a great sight, in the valley below there is a wonderful rainbow. The Polish family is arriving shortly afterwards, all quite wet. Despite the sad weather I had a nice walk today, even though it got a little bit boring towards the end.
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