The
bordermarkers of the Pyrenees : all my trips
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wednesday 16 june
2021 -
Redoing bm296-305bis and visiting south-side railway-tunnel
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Summary:
part of a series of 8 daytrips in june 2021 near Bagnères-de-Luchon and
Col de Somport. This is day 6.
Today: two trips:
- redoing bm296 to 305bis
- in Canfranc a visit to the south entrance of the derelict railway-tunnel.
Weather: half-cloudy, nice.
Basecamp: Camping Le Gave d'Aspe in Urdos
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According to Garmin
Basecamp (uncorrected original track):
Distance: 16,6 km
Max-height: 1812m
Min-height: 1528m
Elevation: +947m -949m
Total elevation: 1897m
Start 9:03 Finish 16:24
Total time: 7:21
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| Parking my car at a giant parking in Candanchu and on my way to bm296.
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| In the distance the remarkable rockwall
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| where once bm297 was engraved.
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| This is the approximate position of the lost bm297,
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| I follow dirtroads and then trails towards the upper valley and source of le Gave d'Aspe.
That is the stream which gives the name to the Vallée d'Aspe.
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| I spot a helicopter and suspect an emergency operation.
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| Getting closer to the Pas d'Aspe.
Good view of the rockslides which make access to bm296 above the stream difficult.
Yesterday, I tried to reach bm296 climbing along the stream but got blocked.
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| Emergency workers downhill
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| But it is a training, someone tells me.
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| Meanwhile I am looking uphill how to traverse above the rockslides to bm296.
First I climb uphill towards the trees/bushes.
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| Then over the grassy part
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| until I cannot avoid crossing a rockslide.
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| But luckily, there is a trail passing it.
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| At the other side of the rockslide, it's not difficult to descend towards the stream
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| and get to bm296.
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| Bm296
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| Bm296
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| Bm296
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| Bm296
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| Bm296
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| Bm296
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| From bm296 looking downstream.
At this moment, the stream is too strong to cross.
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| Later in the summer, that might be better to do.
At the other side of the stream, I see cairns and in general that side looks more easy to climb uphill along the stream.
But in the end you have to cross the stream anyway.
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| Impression of how the hillside is eroding into the stream.
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| I go back, crossing the rockslide again
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| and descending back to the trail, the way I came.
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| But before I descend, I see that there is also a path crossing the the next rockslide, arriving at the main trail further on.
But that is not useful for our goal: reaching bm296.
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| Now descending back to the trail.
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| Once at the trail, I look back uphill with the route I took in red.
Note the small signpost which indicates a diversion of the trail to the
stream. From that signpost, you should climb and traverse like I did to bm296.
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Let's summarize the information on a screenprint of Google Earth.
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| I return along the main trail, curving through the forest around the rockwall.
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| Having arrived at the vast plateau where I will do bm297 to 305bis.
The route towards bm297 indicated.
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| But first I refill my waterbottles at the stream nearby.
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| Easy progress in the beginning
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| with a blossoming vegetation.
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| Then the rocky climbing starts to
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| a kind of Col where we can already see the giant rockface with (the lost) bm297.
Altogether, this connection to bm297 is tougher than you might expect: hardly any trail and rocky.
In my case: I had a energy dip, possibly a bit dehydrated.
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| Approaching the spot of the original location of bm297
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| At that is on this rockface. But where exactly was bm297 engraved?
I made my own geodetic estimation - using my walking stick as an geodetic tool - on 27-8-2012
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Picture from 2012,
You see my walking stick lying on the replacement of bm297 which was placed ± 175m N of the rockwall.
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Same picture but now annotated.
I pointed my walking stick in the direction of the next marker, bm297-sub1.
And because the borderline from the original bm297 up to bm298 (via two
submarkers) is a straight line, I could establish the beginning of that
straight line. Thus where bm297 geodetically measured should have been engraved.
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| But Robert Darrieumerlou did his own research along the rockwall and points at his website at a possible original location of bm297 on this page.
With help of his pictures, I'm going to see for myself.
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| Zooming in to that original location according to Robert Darrieumerlou
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| A further zoom-in to that spot
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| And this what might possibly be the original original location of bm297, according to Robert Darrieumerlou
We see indeed a rectangular 'bas-relief' but in my opinion too irregular and incomplete to be handmade.
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| From the spot of the lost bm297 a view to the replacement of bm297, ± 175m N.
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| Bm297 - replacement
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| Bm297 - replacement
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| Bm297 - replacement
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| Bm297 - replacement, looking back at the rockwall
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| Bm297 - replacement
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| The borderline ahead, a straight line via bm298 to bm299.
Between bm297-replacement and bm298, there are two unnumbered submarkers.
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| Bm297 - submarker 1 in the distance
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| Bm297 - submarker 1
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| Bm297 - submarker 1
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| Bm297 - submarker 1
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| The Pic du Midi d'Ossau in the far distance.
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| Bm297 - submarker 1
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| Bm297 - submarker 1, looking back to the rockwall of the original bm297
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| Bm297 - submarker 1
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| Bm297 - submarker 2 in the far distance
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| Bm297 - submarker 2, getting closer.
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| Bm297 - submarker 2
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| Bm297 - submarker 2
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| Bm297 - submarker 2
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| Bm297 - submarker 2, looking back to the rockwall of the original bm297
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| Further on, on this bed of rocks, I will find
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| bm298.
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| Bm298
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| Bm298, looking back to the rockwall of the original bm297
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| Bm298
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| Bm298
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| Bm298, zoom-in
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| Between bm298 and 299, there is also an unnumbered submarker.
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| Bm298 - submarker
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| Bm298 - submarker
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| Bm298 - submarker, in the far distance the rockwall of the original bm297
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| Bm298 - submarker
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| Climbing up the hillridge to bm299
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| Bm299
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| Bm299
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| Bm299, in the far distance the rockwall of the original bm297
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| Bm299
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| Bm299
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| Then following the hillridge to the E
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| Bm300 is on a sort of pass on that hillridge.
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| Bm300
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| Bm300
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| Bm300
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| Bm300
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| Bm300. looking back to the hillridge where I came from
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| Bm300, in the far distance the rockwall of the original bm297
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| Bm301 is almost covered under the green
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| Bm301
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| Bm301
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| Bm301
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| Bm301
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| Bm301
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| The spot of bm301 indicated with my walking stick. View from the trail.
You can't see bm301 from the trail.
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| Bm302 needs a little detour to the right from the trail and well at this point
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| Bm302
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| Bm302
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| Bm302
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| Bm302
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| The hillridge flattens
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| and I arrive easily at bm303.
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| Bm303
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| Bm303
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| Continuing to bm304
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| Bm304
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| Bm304
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| Bm304
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| Bm304
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| Bm304
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| From bm304 this view towards Col de Somport with an indication of the two possible routes to bm308.
I followed the red one yesterday and the blue one on
7-9-2009 and on
27-8-2012 (descending by the red route)
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| Zoom-in
Which one is the best? In terms of distance combined with effort, there is not much difference.
But the blue one is easier in terms of wayfinding.
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| Descending to Col du Somport
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| with this little chapel.
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| Arriving at Col du Somport with the old customs building.
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| Bm305bis in the middle of the road.
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| Bm305
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| Bm305
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| Bm305
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| Bm305
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| Bm305
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| Bm305bis, not mentioned in the Treaty.
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| Bm305bis
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| Bm305bis
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| Bm305bis, elevation indicated
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| The plaque on bm305bis
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| where we can read that it was erected to commemorate the building of the "route impériale 134".
But there is no date engraved at the 'Achevée'-line.
On this webpage we read "Passage du Col du Somport : construit de 1863 côté français (totalement modernisé en 1885), il ouvre en 1877 côté espagnol".
So I suppose that it was erected in 1863 with the little '305bis' plaque attached in later years.
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| Bm305bis and 305
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| On the other side of the Col a little stroll to have a better look on the two access-routes to bm308.
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| Zoom-in to the blue route, I think the better one (more obvious in its wayfinding).
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| Back to the Col with the closed customs building.
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| I walk back to the parking at Candanchu
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| and spot this Dutch sticker of a bycicle route to Santiago de Compostella.
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| Back at the parking.
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| I
drive to Canfranc-Estación to buy cigars and pastis and make some
pictures of the southern entrance of the derelict railway tunnel
underneath Col du Somport.
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| They liked those monumental plaques in the old days.
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| The entrance from above.
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| The railway-tracks have disappeared.
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| The railway-connection stopped in 1970 after a derailment on the French side.
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| Some
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| more pictures
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| and this plaque expressing the intention to reopen the railway connection.
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| A look inside the tunnel
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| with a fenced gate, blocking further access.
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| Then - to my surprise - a few cars arrive from within the tunnel.
But understandable because this old tunnel serves as a service-tunnel for the new motorway-tunnel.
Enough for today. I return to the camping.
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