The
bordermarkers of the Pyrenees : all my trips
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- thursday 22 august
2013 -
Slow walking
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esfr-trip-track-20120822.kml
(click to open this trip
in Google
Earth or copy link to Google Maps; click right on this
link to download gpx-version)
Summary: part of a 12-days trip to the Pyrenees with a lot of targets
from the Ariège mountains to the Basque country.
Day 2: second day of a 6-days hike following the Ariège borderridge from bm418 to 425, today covering bm420
and 420bis via Montgarri
Weather: full sunshine, cloudy in the afternoon with thundering in the distance
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For
explanation of
the gps-coordinates and other cartographic backgrounds:
cartography-page
Start:8.45, break: 12.45-14; , finish: 18.30, net walking time: 8.30h
According to the gps-tripteller:
Distance: 21,9 km
Total ascent: 933m
Maximum height: 2505m
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According
to visugpx
- distance : 20,0 km
- cum. elevation gain : 947m
- cum. elevation loss : 1247m
- total elevation: 2194m
- altitude maxi : 2511m
- altitude mini : 1649m
- altitude average : 2088m
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From
my bivouac-place, I pick up the stream again. There are
some red/white waymarkings but following the stream
will do.
When the stream enters a sort of canyon, you have three choices to reach an old railway-track which leads you to Port d'Orle:
1. turn right, go over the hillridge, a small stream appears and follow
that one to the ruins of a mining building. From there the old railway-track takes you with a curve to
Port d’Orle
2. keep following the stream, which becomes a cascade: descending there I found too steep for me
3.
go left, follow the edge of the rocky and steep hillside and descend
when it gets more gentle and grassy to the track.
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This is option 2 which I tried first. I keep following the stream.
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From here - where the cascade begins - I found it too steep to descend to the railway-track.
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So I returned and where the stream enters a sort of canyon, I went S and crossed a hill-ridge.
This is option 1.
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On the other side of the hillridge there's another stream: this one.
Along this stream, I walk E towards the ruines.
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Now the ruines come in sight and also Port d'Orle is well visible.
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Zoom-in of the previous picture
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It takes some descending to get to the ruines. Some red/white
waymarks have appeared.
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I have arrived at the ruines and this panorama is taken from them. It
shows the two other access routes to the old railway-track. If you have
no interest in industrial archeology, I would advise option 3.
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Now I'm on the old & derelict railway-track
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which is well recognizable on this picture.
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Port d'Orle is getting closer
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and closer. You can already spot a large cairn
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on the Port itself.
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That cairn is close to
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bm420
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So bm420 can't be missed with so much cairns around it.
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Bm420
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Bm420
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Bm420, looking E (towards France)
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From Port d’Orle, a red/white trail
(though not abundantly waymarked) takes you down the valley and brings
me in 2½h to the nice pilgrimage-hamlet of Montgarri.
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I arrive at a dirtroad
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which brings me nicely to Montgarri with his church.
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In Montarri I take a break with a bocadillo de queso and a coffee. And take my chance to make a cellphone-call to my 'copine'.
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And finish my break by visiting the church.
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Then - it’s still hot - on the GRT-trail (Grande Randonnée Transfrontalière) which is well waymarked in 3½h to bm420bis.
This picture: looking back at Montgarri.
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Further on the trail passes a stream and bends back
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and climbs into a forest.
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Then, the forest is left behind and I see the ascent yet to do before me.
Climbing is still tiring but deliberately slow walking helps.
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A bit of nature
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NB: at the foot of the final climb, there’s a grassy plain, fit for a bivouac.
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There is a tiny stream/cascade at the hillside.
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Looking back, enough space for a bivouac.
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This picture: approaching the ridge of the bassin of the "Renadge d’en Haut".
This col is called "Port de la Girette".
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When arriving at the edge of the ‘bowl’ of the Renadge d’en Haut, you
can see the pass of the Passage de Lègne at the far end. I
expected to be able to see the contour of bm420bis but no. By the way:
the red/white route through the ‘bowl’ is a bit confusing. At one
point, there were two of them.
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At the col of Passage de Lègne, you have to climb 50m uphill to the W to reach bm420bis.
When I
arrive at bm420bis, I see why I couldn't see its contour from far: it has been broken in two, with brute
force.
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Bm420bis
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Bm420bis
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Bm420bis
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Bm420bis. You can see that this pillar was made of two pieces, 'glued' together.
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This picture: from Passage de Lègne looking NE to Port de Barlonguère.
The red/white waymarks will take me there.
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On my way to Port de Barlonguère, looking back to the Passage de Lègne.
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And then descending E to Étang Long
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I can already see the valley up to Col
de la Pale de la Clauère - my goal for tomorrow morning - partly
filled with …. snow.
That could be a problem tomorrow, it worries me.
There’s still a lot
of snow left in the Pyrenees due to the enormous snowfall of last winter.
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Approaching the lake
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where a perfect bivouac-spot waits for
me at the edge of it.
Despite the long day, I feel fit in the
evening. I’ve recovered from the exhausting day of yesterday,.
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Sunset.
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