Ascent descent: 1361m (36319m) / 1351m (35838m).
Altitude (start / end / highest): 740m / 750m / 1618m.
Weather: Cloudy in the morning, sunny and some clouds later.
The dull weather outside isn't doing anything to improve my mood, even though I saw the sun for a short moment yesterday the days are characterized by the grey weather and I'm a little bit tired of it now. There have been many dark forests and valleys to walk through in the Ariege. Today I'm back in the hands of the guidebook and is going to Aulus les Bains, where I will pass a prominent landmark on the way, Cascade d'Ars.
St Lizier d'Ustou in the night. I woke up in the middle of the night and for some reason had to take some pictures.
When I arrive at Col de Fitté (you have to excuse the Frenchmen for their somewhat indecent naming here seen from Norwegian eyes) I have walked up through yet another long stretch in a forest again. At the pass (1387m) I'm met by blue sky and I feel that my mood is improving. The landscape around is more visible now and views are opening up, mountain peaks are appearing. The trail is continuing further on around Picou de la Mire.
Cirque de Casiérens, a lovely hanging valley.
Col d'Escots (1618m) is offering a view to the valleys made by the green arms of the mountains below, the pass itself is unfortunately a part of a larger ski station and are somewhat marred by that. After a fresh pause in the wind that blows over the pass I continue alongside the mountain side. The trail is undulating between several fields of huge stones before I arrive at Cirque de Casiérens, a lovely hanging valley where it's possible to find a nice place to pitch a tent.
Étang de Guzet.
On several places on the route today it has been possible to take a short cut down to Aulus, useful in bad weather, so also at Jasse du Fouillet (1170m). But that is not an option for me now. It is almost a little pity to have to walk inside the forest now that there finally is sunny and blue sky again, even though there are some clouds as well. I walk down to Étang de Guzet (1459m), a small lake encircled by trees. Here I eat lunch and can finally change to my hiker pants again. I washed it yesterday and it wasn't dry in the morning, so I had to walk with my rain gear while my hiking pants were hanging to dry at the back of backpack.
Passerelle d'Ars, a lovely piece of nature in the Pyrenees.
After Étang de Guzet the trail is gaining a little bit of height again and is going above the woods, there are some remarkable formations in the mountains above and a small cabin is passed by. I arrive at a gorgeous area; I'm at the Passerelle d'Ars (1485m) which is a very popular area. Here the Ruisseau d'Ars runs down from a valley I very much would have liked to have walked further up in. The river is crossed by a small bridge. I'm at the end of the last loop the route takes before it's moving down towards Aulus les Bains.
Cascade d'Ars.
But first I'll pass Cascade d'Ars, a wonderful three-story waterfall. Have to climb around a lot on the stones to get a better view of it. The waterfall is following me with its eyes when I'm walking further on down. The river is here going down in deep canyons and ponds. In the end I arrive at Aulus les Bains (750m) after a nice walk and a dear reunion with blue sky and sun.
Aulus les Bains.
I'm the only guest at the Gîte d'Etape La Goulue. The gîte is located behind a large and majestic house that formerly housed a casino, the owners of the gîte has planned to make a restaurant there instead. They also make dinner to me at the gîte, which feels kind of weird since I'm the only guest, but the food is very good (which is promising for the upcoming restaurant). Aulus is a larger village than St Lizier and it's noticeably more people here, but despite that it's relatively quiet here. I didn't see anymore of Claire today after having said goodbye in St Lizier in the morning.
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